From 18 to 26 hours: how long a domestic worker at the minimum wage works for her health insurance in 2027
In 2011, on the Swiss average, 17.7 hours of work at the minimum wage were enough to pay a month's mean health-insurance premium. In 2027 it takes 26.0. Over that period the premium rose by 64.2%, the minimum wage for domestic work by 11.8%. In Ticino it is 32.2 hours in 2027. The update of our Premium Hours study with the 2027 premiums: all 26 cantons, 17 years.
Summary
On 23 September Clino calculated how many hours a domestic worker at the minimum wage works for her health-insurance premium, and promised an update on the day the 2027 premiums came out. On 29 September the BAG (Federal Office of Public Health) announced the premiums: CHF 487.60 a month on average for adults, +4.9%. The NAV minimum wage stays at CHF 20.35 in 2027.
The update goes further back, to 2011, the first year of the NAV. Back then, on the Swiss average, 17.7 hours were enough, about 9.7% of a full-time month. In 2027 it is 26.0 hours, 14.3%. The figure has risen in every canton, most of all in Ticino, from 19.9 to 32.2 hours.
The reason does not lie with the minimum wage. From 2011 to 2027 it rose by 11.8%, almost exactly like the FSO nominal wage index up to 2025 (+12.8%); inflation was 5.4%. The premium rose by 64.2%.
The scissors: premium +64.2%, minimum wage +11.8%
The chart sets both values to 100 in 2011. The minimum wage follows other wages; the premium runs away from them, with a jump between 2014 and 2017 and a second one since 2023.
Mean adult premium (BAG StatKV to 2024, BAG tables 2025 to 2027, 2027 forecast) and the minimum wage for unqualified staff under the NAV Hauswirtschaft on 1 January. Dashed grey: FSO Swiss nominal wage index, 2011 to 2025.
Mean adult premium divided by the net hourly wage under the NAV Hauswirtschaft (after AHV/IV/EO, ALV, NBU). Before premium reduction. 2027: BAG forecast.
Every minimum-wage round has lost to the premium
Every few years the Federal Council adjusts the NAV to wage developments. None of these adjustments has made up for the premium rise over the same period. There is no adjustment for 2027: the NAV applies at the 2026 rates until the end of 2028.
| Period | Minimum wage (NAV) | Mean premium |
|---|---|---|
| 2011-2014 | +1.9 % | +4.8 % |
| 2014-2017 | +1.9 % | +13.1 % |
| 2017-2020 | +1.6 % | +6.2 % |
| 2020-2023 | +1.6 % | +5.0 % |
| 2023-2024 | +2.3 % | +7.9 % |
| 2024-2026 | +2.0 % | +9.8 % |
| 2026-2027 | +0.0 % | +4.9 % |
Change in the NAV minimum wage for unqualified staff and in the mean adult premium over the same period. Source: Fedlex (amendments of the NAV Hauswirtschaft), BAG.
The 2027 ranking: 32.2 hours in Ticino, 17.3 in Zug
Example: an unqualified domestic worker, at least five hours a week with the same employer, at the binding minimum wage without holiday pay. She lives and works in the same canton and pays her canton's mean premium, before premium reduction.
| # | Hours/month | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ticino2011: 19.9 h · minimum wage CHF 20.35 | 32.2 h |
| 2 | Jura2011: 18.1 h · minimum wage CHF 20.35 | 29.4 h |
| 3 | Basel-Country2011: 18.9 h · minimum wage CHF 20.35 | 29.0 h |
| 4 | Vaud2011: 19.7 h · minimum wage CHF 20.35 | 29.0 h |
| 5 | Neuchâtel2011: 18.4 h · minimum wage CHF 21.35 | 28.4 h |
| 6 | Basel-City2011: 23.9 h · minimum wage CHF 22.20 | 27.9 h |
| 7 | Geneva2011: 21.5 h · minimum wage CHF 24.59 | 26.9 h |
| 8 | Bern2011: 19.3 h · minimum wage CHF 20.35 | 26.4 h |
| 9 | Solothurn2011: 16.6 h · minimum wage CHF 20.35 | 26.3 h |
| 10 | Zurich2011: 17.1 h · minimum wage CHF 20.35 | 25.4 h |
| 11 | Schaffhausen2011: 16.6 h · minimum wage CHF 20.35 | 25.1 h |
| 12 | Fribourg2011: 16.6 h · minimum wage CHF 20.35 | 24.8 h |
| 13 | Aargau2011: 16.5 h · minimum wage CHF 20.35 | 24.8 h |
| 14 | Valais2011: 16.1 h · minimum wage CHF 20.35 | 24.6 h |
| 15 | Thurgau2011: 15.4 h · minimum wage CHF 20.35 | 23.1 h |
| 16 | St. Gallen2011: 15.2 h · minimum wage CHF 20.35 | 22.8 h |
| 17 | Glarus2011: 15.4 h · minimum wage CHF 20.35 | 22.7 h |
| 18 | Appenzell Outer Rhodes2011: 13.7 h · minimum wage CHF 20.35 | 22.5 h |
| 19 | Lucerne2011: 15.3 h · minimum wage CHF 20.35 | 22.5 h |
| 20 | Schwyz2011: 14.9 h · minimum wage CHF 20.35 | 22.3 h |
| 21 | Grisons2011: 15.2 h · minimum wage CHF 20.35 | 22.2 h |
| 22 | Nidwalden2011: 13.1 h · minimum wage CHF 20.35 | 21.2 h |
| 23 | Obwalden2011: 14.1 h · minimum wage CHF 20.35 | 20.6 h |
| 24 | Uri2011: 14.3 h · minimum wage CHF 20.35 | 20.1 h |
| 25 | Appenzell Inner Rhodes2011: 12.7 h · minimum wage CHF 20.35 | 18.2 h |
| 26 | Zug2011: 14.6 h · minimum wage CHF 20.35 | 17.3 h |
Mean premium 2027 for adults aged 26 and over (BAG, forecast) divided by the net hourly wage at the binding minimum for unqualified staff. Basel-City with the cantonal minimum wage of CHF 22.20; with the NAV it would be 30.4 hours. Before premium reduction.
The darker, the more hours. Source: BAG mean premiums 2027, NAV Hauswirtschaft and cantonal minimum wages, Clino calculation.
What changes compared with our September study
In Jura, domestic employees working five or more hours a week are covered by the NAV minimum wage (CHF 20.35), not the cantonal minimum wage of CHF 21.40: Jura's law gives precedence to standard employment contracts with minimum wages. Clino implemented this in all its calculators on 30 September. In Jura it is therefore 29.4 hours in 2027, rank 2.
For Basel-City, Clino continues to calculate with the cantonal minimum wage of CHF 22.20: 27.9 hours. The Basel minimum wage law exempts people covered by a standard employment contract with minimum wages; if that applies to a domestic worker, the NAV is decisive and it would be 30.4 hours. Clino is clarifying the question with SECO.
Surprising findings
Zug is the only canton where almost nothing has moved
In Zug the figure rose from 14.6 to 17.3 hours, in every other canton by about four hours or more. Since 2026 Zug has covered a larger share of hospital costs; as a result the mean premium fell by about 15% in 2026.
With a child: 32.8 hours
A single-parent domestic worker with one child pays the adult and the child premium. At the minimum wage, that comes to 32.8 hours a month on the Swiss average in 2027, compared with 22.2 in 2011. For children from low-income households the cantons reduce the premium by at least 80%, but it has to be applied for.
Geneva: highest premium, yet not at the top
At CHF 610.60, Geneva has the highest mean premium in 2027. Because a cantonal minimum wage of CHF 24.59 applies there, it takes 26.9 hours, rank 7. When the Geneva minimum wage came into force at the end of 2020, the figure fell by about four hours from 2020 to 2021.
Premium reduction: the second lottery
All figures are before premium reduction. How much of it a domestic worker gets back depends heavily on the canton: in five cantons a full-time domestic worker at the minimum wage receives nothing in 2027, in Ticino over 4,000 francs. This is shown in our study Premium Reduction Lottery 2027, with each canton's deadlines. In Lucerne the deadline for 2027 expires on 31 October.
For employers this means: correct registration and a salary certificate at the end of the year are the basis for the employee to be able to apply for the reduction at all. Clino produces both for private households. What employing someone at the minimum wage costs is shown by the wage calculator; the minimum wages in force by canton are in our minimum wage overview.
“Since 2011 the minimum wage has risen roughly in line with all wages. The premium has run away.”
Quellen
- BAG, statistics of compulsory health insurance (StatKV), mean premiums (2011-2024)
- BAG, mean premiums 2027 by canton (2026)
- Fedlex, NAV Hauswirtschaft (SR 221.215.329.4), all versions (2011-2026)
- FSO, Swiss Wage Index and Swiss Consumer Price Index (2025)
- Clino, wage calculator (deductions) (2026)
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About Clino
Clino is a Swiss SaaS platform enabling households to legally employ domestic workers: payroll, contract and AHV registration; Clino guides the household, insurance stays with the household. CHF 19.90/month. All 26 cantons. Founded 2026 in Zurich. clino.ch
