Press &amp; Studies

Not income. Wealth. Who lives large in the canton of Zurich

The largest dwellings in the canton are in the rural Weinland, not on the Gold Coast: Buch am Irchel 29.0%, the city of Zurich 2.6%. Across all 160 municipalities dwelling size tracks wealth (r = +0.653), not income. Hold wealth constant and the income effect turns negative (r = −0.495), in three independent measures.

The household explosion: Zurich grew 46%, its households 89%

Since 1970 the population of the canton of Zurich grew 45.8% while private households grew 88.6% to 728,411. In all 160 municipalities households grew faster than the population, without a single exception. Household size fell from 2.87 to 2.22 people and one-person households rose 216%. With a map of all 160 municipalities.

Eleven minutes a week: all the help with the housework Zurich's over-80s get

87,216 people in the canton of Zurich are over 80, 84% more than in 1998. From 2019 to 2024 home-care nursing hours for the over-80s rose 53.9% while household hours fell 6.1%, and 18.9% per head. Only 15.4% of the very old receive any household help from home care. With a map of all 160 municipalities.

More work is done for free than for pay in the canton of Zurich

1.6 billion hours of unpaid work against 1.4 billion hours of paid work, counted by the canton itself. Women do 60% of it and almost 10 hours a week more than men. External household help saves women 3 hours a week, yet only 19% with a tertiary degree have it against 10% without. Properly registered, those 3 hours cost CHF 461 a month.

Bern raises Kita fees, but not for everyone: 24.6 percent for 12- to 18-month-olds from 1 August

From 1 August 2026 Bern's gross Kita tariffs rise 5 to 7.5 percent, and 24.6 percent for children aged 12 to 18 months, because the age boundary itself shifts. The childcare vouchers rise at the same time, for that same age from CHF 100 to CHF 157.50 a day: families with an entitlement often pay less, families above CHF 170,000 carry the increase alone, up to CHF 820 a month.

From the Second Child On, a Nanny Beats Daycare on Price

9-16% cheaper in Bern, 17-28% in Basel: a legally employed nanny already beats two daycare places. Computed with Clino's payroll calculator at a CHF25/h market anchor (n=750). For one child, daycare always wins.

Switzerland Is Losing Its Childminders

Childminder (Tagesfamilien) care places at kibesuisse member organisations fell 19.5% since their 2019 peak, while household demand rose around 51% over the same period. With the Worb, BE anecdote (-53.6% active childminders) and a Google Trends panel.

26,783 Listings: Switzerland's Invisible Childcare Market

The first census of the private online childcare market: 26,783 listings on the largest platform, spread across 24 of 26 cantons. On topnanny.ch, 7,787 carers offering their services face 4,003 seeking parents, nearly 2:1. And the lower a canton's institutional Kita usage, the stronger the private market pressure (Spearman rho −0.81). A market no statistic had ever counted.

What a Babysitter Costs: Switzerland's Rate Map

11,620 listings, 23 cantons: median CHF20 to 30 per hour (a 1.5-fold gap), Romandie and Ticino 25% cheaper than German-speaking Switzerland. Plus the legal framework: NAV Hausdienst CHF20.35, Geneva CHF24.59, a CHF750 exemption for under-25s.

The Daycare-Spot Lottery: How Your Postcode Decides If Your Child Gets a Place

Geneva 70.9% vs. Solothurn 22.5% in daycare usage, Basel-City 489 vs. Appenzell Innerrhoden 63 daycare places per 1,000 kids, and a Zurich quarter stuck at exactly 0.0% coverage since 2018: three independent official registers show the same cantonal inequality in childcare.

Switzerland's Biggest Daycare Is Grandma and Grandpa: 38.7% of Families

38.7% of Swiss households with children 0–12 use (also) grandparent care, the highest share on record. Canton data: Solothurn, Lucerne and Jura statistically tied at the top. What happens when grandparents cannot cover it all.

Nowhere in Europe Do Parents Pay More for Childcare

28% of the average wage for a childcare place: Switzerland tops the OECD's 2023 cost comparison among 12 countries. Worldwide, only the US (40%) and New Zealand (35%) rank higher. With a time series back to 2004 (58% to 28%) and a 100/67 honesty-check scenario where the Netherlands and the UK rank above Switzerland.

20 July 2026Study

Switzerland's Oldest Canton: Ticino Is Already Where Switzerland Arrives Around 2040

24.0% over 65, 8.0% over 80: Ticino tops both rankings. In the districts of Blenio and Locarno almost one in ten is over 80. By 2050 Ticino's 80+ grow 85% to around 53,000, and a legally employed live-in carer costs from about CHF 4,100 a month. A canton deep-dive with district data.

15 July 2026Study

Switzerland Never Went to Bed: The Argentina Night, Measured in the Power Grid

Quarter-hourly electricity data shows: on quarter-final night roughly one in three city households stayed awake — no alarms, they simply stayed up (kickoff jump: +1.6 points). Six match nights, six grids, 26 cantons: the Romandie stayed up most, Obwalden slept. The night cost 16 centimes of electricity per household — the sleep was dearer.

15 July 2026Study

Zurich Stayed Up: The City's World-Cup Nights, Measured at the Meter

The city spin-off of the World-Cup electricity study: on Argentina night roughly one in three Zurich households was awake at 4am; 131,000 kWh extra in one night; no alarm jump at kickoff. Colombia past 2am, Algeria at 5, Canada after work — match by match in the ewz data.

15 July 2026Study

Basel, Switzerland's Most Awake City: The World-Cup Nights at the Meter

No Swiss grid swung like Basel's households during the World Cup: +22.7% for the Canada game (tournament record), +14.8% through the whole Argentina night — and not even a twitch at the 3am kickoff (+0.1 points): Basel simply powered through.

The Multiple-Employer Trap 2026: Why Cleaners Earn a Full Income but Build No Pension

Over 350,000 workers hold several jobs, women twice as often as men. The BVG threshold is per employer: split across four households, a cleaner earning CHF 24,000 builds zero occupational pension. The reform meant to fix it was rejected in 2024 (67% No).

The Real-Wage Paradox 2026: Where Living Costs Most, Cleaners Earn Least

Across all 26 cantons, the higher the health premium, the lower the cleaning wage (r = −0.72). Not wealth but cross-border labour supply depresses pay. Geneva and Ticino: the highest premiums and nearly the lowest wages.

The Care-Pressure Index 2026: Switzerland Is Ageing Faster Than It Builds Care

The 80+ population doubles by 2050 (+92%), fastest in young high-growth cantons like Thurgau (+140%). At the same time Switzerland has the OECD's most expensive childcare (28% of income). Where care is missing, the grey zone fills in.

The Wage-Floor Lottery 2026: What Your Cleaner Must Earn Depends on Their Postal Code

Switzerland's legal minimum wage for household work ranges from CHF 20.00 to 24.59/hr in 2026 — by canton and now by city (Zurich, Winterthur, Lucerne). Even the highest floor sits 25% below the market wage.

22 June 2026Study

RAV Update: Cleaning Officially in 'Surplus' (5.3%) — Yet Households Still Can't Find Help

Cleaning is back on the 2026 reporting list (5.3% unemployment), job-seekers +9.5% YoY. But the 'surplus' only measures offices (code 91120), not private households (9111) — which the state doesn't track at all.

15 June 2026Study

After the No: Switzerland Voted on a Number — Every Household Decides on the People Behind It

The 10-million initiative is rejected (45.2% Yes). The higher the foreign share, the clearer the No (r = −0.63). What the ballot did not ask: 95% of cleaners are immigrants, only 1 in 7 households registers them.

15 June 2026Study

10-Million Initiative: Where Switzerland Lives Closest to Immigration, It Voted Most Clearly No

Analysis of all 2,117 municipalities and 26 cantons: the higher the foreign share, the clearer the No (r = −0.63). 58.9% of municipalities voted Yes, but the cities decided.

15 June 2026Study

The Village Said Yes, the City Decided: The Regional Split of the 10-Million Vote

Grindelwald voted 70.7% Yes, St. Moritz and Verbier No, Zurich's Gold Coast No, the Schwyz tax havens Yes. Why culture, not wealth, decided the vote.

3 June 2026Study

Who Cleans the 10-Million Switzerland? The People Nobody Votes On Are Already Here

Data study for the June 14 vote: ~95% of cleaners are immigrants, Geneva regularized 2,390 sans-papiers (declared work 41%→85%), and CHF 55–85M/year in AHV contributions are lost to undeclared household work.

13 April 2026Study

RAV Data: 23,000 Cleaners Seeking Work — Three Languages, One Invisible Market

First analysis of jobseekers on job-room.ch: 11,683 in German, 9,971 in French, 1,693 in Italian. Only 6 results for 'Putzfrau'.

25 March 2026Launch

Clino: Legal Household Employment for CHF 19.90/Month — Ending Undeclared Work

250,000 Swiss households employ their domestic help illegally. Clino makes payroll, contracts and social security registration simpler than ever — for 66 cents a day.

Swiss Household Employment Market 2026: Up to CHF 230 Million Lost to Undeclared Work

First comprehensive analysis: 500,000 households, 83 inspectors, one inspection every 1,645 years.

Swiss Cleaning Cost Index 2026: CHF 31–40/Hour by Canton

First complete employer cost comparison. Legality premium: 22.6% — around CHF 91/month.

Pension Gap: Every Undeclared Franc Costs Switzerland up to CHF 15

Around 73,000 women building zero pension. Future welfare costs: CHF 540M/year.

Enforcement Lottery: One Inspection Every 1,645 Years

304 inspections, 500,000 employers. Expected cost of non-compliance: CHF 0.15/year.

30% Wage Gap: Jura vs. Nidwalden

Minimum wages act as ceilings. Nidwalden +8.35%, Jura −7.15%.