On 27 September 2020, Swiss voters approved, by 60.3%, an amendment to the Loss of Earnings Compensation Act (LECA) introducing two weeks of paternity leave. Switzerland was then one of the last countries in Europe with no statutory paternity leave: fathers generally received only the single day granted for a « family event ».
The measure was the outcome of a long tug-of-war. In 2017, the umbrella organisation Travail.Suisse and the « Paternity leave now ! » association filed a popular initiative demanding four weeks. Parliament countered with a more modest indirect counter-proposal — two weeks, or ten days, to be taken within six months of the birth. The initiative was withdrawn, but a committee of SVP politicians, Young Liberals and employer circles launched a referendum against this counter-proposal, deemed too expensive.
The stakes went beyond fathers alone: they touched the modernisation of family policy, gender equality and the financial burden on the economy. The leave is financed through the loss-of-earnings scheme (APG/EO), whose contribution rate rises from 0.45% to 0.5% of wages.
On 27 September 2020, the yes prevailed clearly with 60.3% of the vote, on a turnout of 59.36%. Support was massive in French-speaking and Latin Switzerland; rejection was concentrated in rural central and eastern Switzerland.
▲ Cantons that accepted Geneva (79.4%), Jura, Neuchâtel, Fribourg, Vaud, Valais, Bern (56.9%), Ticino (67.3%), Zurich, Basel-City, Basel-Country, Aargau, Lucerne, Solothurn, Schaffhausen, Graubünden and Zug — 16 cantons (on the basis of the popular vote). | ▼ Cantons that rejected Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Glarus, Appenzell Inner-Rhodes, Appenzell Outer-Rhodes, St. Gallen and Thurgau — rural central and eastern Switzerland. |
Actors and personalities
▲ Yes camp • Travail.Suisse (initiator of the compromise with « Paternity leave now ! ») • SP, Greens, Green Liberals (firm support) • The Centre / CVP (majority in favour) • Trade unions (SGB, Travail.Suisse) • The Federal Council and the parliamentary majority (recommend a yes) | ▼ No camp • Referendum committee (led by SVP figures, including Christoph Blocher, and around a dozen national councillors) • Young Liberals (opposed to a state-imposed leave) • Employer and SME circles (fear of additional burdens) • Part of the FDP (divided) |
Arguments and verdicts
▲ Arguments FOR (Yes camp) Fathers will use this leave « Paternity leave is an important step towards a modern family policy. » — Travail.Suisse, 2020 campaign ✓ Argument confirmed As early as Q1 2021, a paternity allowance was paid in about 70% of births. The benefit was immediately and widely used by the fathers concerned. Source: Federal Statistical Office / CHSS (Social Security), 2021-2022. A modest, affordable cost « Two weeks are a reasonable burden, fully absorbable by the loss-of-earnings scheme. » — Committee « Yes to paternity leave », 2020 ✓ Argument confirmed Financing rested on a modest increase in the EO contribution (0.45% to 0.5%). In 2021 the system paid out around 150 million francs in paternity allowances — below the 230 million sometimes feared. Source: FSIO / EO, 2021 accounts. | ▼ Arguments AGAINST (No camp) A bill close to a billion « This leave will cost 230 million in direct costs, plus up to 900 million in indirect costs for companies. » — Referendum committee, 2020 ✗~ Partly refuted The direct cost proved in line with — indeed below — the Federal Council's estimates (around 150 to 230 million). The « 900 million » of indirect business costs, however, were a campaign projection that was never documented afterwards. Source: FSIO / EO, 2021 accounts; Federal Council estimates. Only a first step towards ever more « Two weeks today, but tomorrow an extended parental leave will be demanded. » — SVP opponents, 2020 ✓~ Partly confirmed The debate on an extension did not in fact close: parliamentary motions and cantonal initiatives (including Geneva's parental leave) revived the question after 2020. At federal level, however, no extension has been adopted to date. Source: Federal Parliament; cantonal votes 2023-2024. |
Affiches de campagne (3)
Factual record
2 Confirmed | 1 Partly confirmed | 1 Partly refuted | 0 Refuted |
| ✓ | A benefit that became routine Paternity leave entered into force on 1 January 2021. In the very first year, around 70% of the fathers concerned took it up — a sign of rapid, broad adoption. Source: FSO / CHSS, 2021-2022. |
| ✓ | A contained cost Financing through the EO scheme (contribution raised to 0.5%) delivered on its promise: spending stayed within the announced envelope, with no derailment of the scheme. Source: FSIO / EO, 2021 accounts. |
| ~ | The parental-leave debate revived As opponents predicted, the matter did not stop at two weeks: cantonal extensions and parliamentary proposals followed — without, so far, producing a federal parental leave. Source: Federal Parliament; cantons, 2021-2024. |
The vote of 27 September 2020 marks Switzerland's late but clear entry into the club of countries with statutory paternity leave. The parliamentary compromise of two weeks — more modest than the four initially demanded — secured a comfortable majority where a maximalist version might have failed.
In hindsight, the yes camp's arguments hold up well against the facts: the benefit was widely used and its cost stayed under control. The no camp's alarmist figures — particularly the near-billion bill — found no confirmation in the public accounts.
The only opponent forecast that is partly borne out is the « first step » one: the parental-leave issue remained on the political agenda. But at federal level no extension has been decided, and Switzerland remains, by European standards, rather cautious in this area.