Why do Scandinavian countries need high taxation to support their welfare system, but Switzerland manages without it?

By Hugo Leitao

The answer is that Switzerland doesn’t manage without high taxes.

Switzerland is the only developed country in Europe without affordable universal healthcare. Everyone living in Switzerland is obliged to buy an health insurance in order to get access to healthcare. The cheapest insurance costs something like 250€ per month and gives you access to healthcare at Swiss prices (not a minimal fee) and the deductible is quite high (something like 2500€). Basically you pay 250€ per month to then be able to use healthcare at expensive prices and you’ll only stop paying if you reach your deductible of 2500€ per year. You can opt for a higher premium and get your deductible reduced to something like 300€. 

In this, Switzerland is a bit like the USA and nothing like the rest of Europe except that the insurance is mandatory. 

So while this is not counted as taxes, it is a mandatory fee that everyone has to pay and that is quite high, while this is included in everyone else’s taxes in Scandinavia.

Parental leave is another one. Until 2019, fathers in Switzerland were entitled to 1 day of parental leave. Yes, you read correctly. ONE DAY. They are now entitled to 2 weeks but this is nowhere near the time we get in Scandinavia. In Norway for example, fathers get at least 15 weeks. 

Maternity leave in Switzerland lasts 14 weeks. Think of it. Fathers in Norway are entitled to more leave than mothers are in Switzerland. In Norway, parents get 45 weeks in total receiving 100% of their salary up to a cap. Many companies pay the rest of the salary that is over this cap.

EDIT: fathers are still only entitled to one day. There\"s a pending referendum on the issue.

Childcare and daycare. Daycare in Switzerland costs anywhere between 60 and 150CHF per day. The cheapest option is still 4 times more expensive than daycare in Norway which has a maximum price fixed by the government for both public and private daycares.

These are just a couple of examples but I could go on.

The bottom line is that Switzerland doesn’t manage because their welfare is not even comparable to the Scandinavian ones.

You get what you pay for and in Switzerland you get very little