Switzerland is the part-time leader

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The part-time trend continues. In Switzerland, 40 percent of all employees no longer work 100 percent. More than twice as much as the EU average, writes the “NZZ”. Only in the Netherlands is the part-time rate in Europe even higher. The average there is 44 percent.

Data from the Federal Bureau of Statistics (BfS) shows: the main reason for working part-time has nothing to do with a lack of desire or laziness. On the contrary, with the care of children. Part-time work enables people with young children to participate in the labor market at all. Without this option, many of them might not have a job at all.

Flexible labor market

Silja Häusermann, professor of political science at the University of Zurich, explains the popularity of part-time work in Switzerland and the Netherlands in the “NZZ” as follows: Both countries have a very flexible labor market. That means: many different working time models are possible – including part-time work and in a wide variety of workloads. “The part-time model has established itself in Switzerland because it is feasible for families,” says Häusermann.

In Scandinavia this is different. According to the article, only a quarter of Norwegians, Danes and Swedes work reduced hours. The reasons: First, Scandinavians worked fewer hours for a full-time job. In Norway, for example, a full-time job is 37.5 hours. In Switzerland, that would correspond to a workload of 85 percent.

Mothers often provide childcare

Secondly, norms in Scandinavian countries are more egalitarian than in Germany, says Häusermann of the “NZZ”. After all, women and men took care of the children in equal measure. Also because society in Scandinavia is more focused on families with two employees and childcare is considerably cheaper. As a result, women are more likely to have full-time jobs.

According to the political scientist in Switzerland, taking children to the nursery is hardly worth the effort. That is why many families take care of their offspring themselves. It is often the mothers who watch – because of the widely entrenched norms in society. But also because there is a corresponding supply of part-time jobs, especially in professions with a high proportion of women. (Okay)

Source:Blick