How does hostile politics in Germany influence the parental allowance debate and childcare? A personal experience report from Switzerland and Berlin.

How does hostile politics in Germany influence the parental allowance debate and childcare? A personal experience report from Switzerland and Berlin.

How family -friendly is Germany? This question is currently being discussed intensively. The impetus for the debate is the proposal of the Ministry of Family Affairs to delete parental allowance for couples with a taxable income of more than 150,000 euros. In this context, the Tagesspiegel headlined: "Who still wants children in this family anti -family?". The author of the comment points out that the problem goes far beyond the cut of parental allowance. She mentions insufficient care in daycare centers and the gender pay gap as further aspects.

as a Swiss woman who has lived in Berlin for four years, I think the family structures in this city are good, even almost paradise compared to Switzerland. Although Switzerland is one of the richest countries in the world, there is no financial support for families. According to a UNICEF study, Switzerland is at the bottom of family friendliness, while Germany is at least sixth of a total of 31 countries examined. Still, I really wanted children. At the end of 2016 I gave birth to my son in Zurich. At almost 36 I felt ready for this adventure. The compatibility of career and child seemed difficult for me at a young age, and I'm certainly not alone with this concern.

In 2021, the summary of the birth in Switzerland with 1.52 children per woman was just below the EU average of 1.53. However, at an average of 31.2 years at the birth of our first child, we are among the oldest mothers in Europe. In a PEKIP course, I exchanged ideas with other women in their thirties about sleep problems, breastfeeding and diapers. Our babies were not older than half a year at the time and made their first attempts to rotate in an overheated room.

Financial support ends after 98 days after birth. At least six months after birth, most women return to work and have no more time for crawling groups. Nevertheless, we had the privilege of being able to afford a longer unpaid vacation that our employers approved. Maternity holidays are the 14 weeks in which a woman is legally entitled to at least 80 percent of her wages. Since 2021, fathers have also been entitled to two weeks of paternity leave. Before that, it was only a day or two. After that, financial support is usually stopped, unless the employer or the home is more generous. The maternity leave in Zurich was 16 weeks. After all, women have dismissal protection during this time after birth and during pregnancy. However, there is no parental allowance, parental leave or maternity leave as in Germany. The motto is: work until the amniotic sac bursts.

My thoughts about how it would be to be a mother were not particularly pronounced before birth. I only read a book about French children who are said to be sleeping through at three months. I was convinced that I would succeed in the same way. After all, after the 14 weeks of maternity leave as a good Swiss woman, I returned to everyday work. Working in Switzerland will work until birth as if there was no tomorrow.

When my son reached the age of three months, he was neither slept through nor did we have a regular daily routine. At this point, professional life seemed to be a long way off. Writing articles for my newspaper as an editor seemed unthinkable. Fortunately, my employer kept my job free for eight months. Because only after the third month I could really enjoy being a mother. My son and I were traveling most of the time and we spent the summer in the outdoor pool. I would be happy to accept the loss of wages and the gaps in my old -age provision.

In August I had to go back to my editorial team. With a thick dick in my throat, I brought my baby into the daycare. I was not ready for this separation yet. In Switzerland, as a mother, you feel reminded of past times in Germany when there was no parental allowance. No wonder that many think about it.

my son got used to the daycare center. The employees were sensitive and took a lot of time. After about two weeks I was able to leave my almost eight -month -old baby there without any problems. Nevertheless, I sometimes wonder whether this early external care influences the safe binding of small children. In fact, many babies are used to the daycare center at four months.

Hannes Bielas, a friend of mine and child psychiatrist, believes: "With good care, this shouldn't be a problem - happy parents, happy children." Hannes lived in Zurich for a long time. When his son was nine months old, he and his wife decided to return to Berlin. He could not imagine spending a large part of his income for the daycare center.

A large part of my salary also had to be deducted from my son's care. He visited the crib two days a week, which cost us around 1000 euros per month - with full -time care, it would be 2500 euros. It is not surprising that only a few people use this offer, although gross income of 6,500 euros and more are completely normal and there are some with a smaller salary