Initiative for parental leave
When liberal environments give visibility to family leave
Economic associations host an initiative they reject on their Civic platform. A choice that strengthens their presence in digital campaigns.
The initiative requests an eighteen-week family leave per parent.
Gaëtan Bally/Keystone
- The new Civic campaign platform allows digital collection of signatures for political causes.
- The initiative for family leave requires parental leave of eighteen weeks per parent.
- Economic associations authorize the initiative on their platform for strategic reasons, although they reject it on the merits.
No to the expansion of the social state. The major economic associations of the country, such as Economiesuisse, the Swiss employers’ union and the Swiss Union of Arts and Crafts, clearly claim their position after the shock of customs duties. It is therefore surprising to see them promote a popular initiative, currently in the harvesting phase of signatures, which would lead to additional expenses for employees and employers.
Last Wednesday, these same associations launched a new platform called Civic. Its purpose is to support “people who wish to commit to a liberal Switzerland, innovative and economically strong”, according to the website.
The platform allows interest groups, parties and associations to collect signatures. Petitions can thus be signed directly online. For referendums and initiatives, it is possible to download the signature sheet as well as the argument.
The parties behind the initiative
On the site, there is a first petition from the Swiss Union of Arts and Crafts, which requires “a revitalization program for SMEs”. Next to a petition of the Swissmem association. There is in particular the following claim: “No increase in social spending – stop the development of the social state.” These are concerns that we can expect from liberal circles.
What surprises, on the other hand, is to see the initiative on family leave just below. It benefits from the support of an alliance of parties bringing together the PS, the Greens, the Vert’liberals and the Women Center. Many organizations also support the project, including work.suisse and alliance F.
The initiators ask for eighteen weeks of relative per parent at the birth of a child. This leave would be funded by allowances for loss of gain (APG). They are today funded by the contributions of employers and employees, which amount to 0.5% of the salary. According to the Ecoplan consulting company, this measure would result in additional costs of just over 1 billion francs per year. Contributions should therefore increase to around 0.7%.
Here’s what the Civic signature harvesting platform looks like.
Civic site screenshot
Economic associations are clearly not favorable to this project. “This is only a short-term measure that does not solve the substantive problem,” they write. Monika Rühl, director of Economiesuisse, adds: “We are very critical of this initiative. But we do not take an official position before the vote. ”
But then, why do economic associations offer a forum to their opponents? “Civic wants to represent the full extent of the Liberal camp,” explains Peter Gehler, president of the Civic association. The steering committee decides on a case -by -case basis of projects which may appear on the platform. In addition, an initiative online does not always mean that Civic members defend its content. “The initiative in favor of parental leave is precisely an example,” continues Peter Gehler. Civic aims to support direct democracy and liberalism in general, not only the interests of economic associations. ”
Concretely, initiatives that do not directly threaten their interests may appear on the platform. On the other hand, an initiative like that of young socialists on the taxation of successions, which will be subject to the vote in November, would have no chance of being published on the site.
The economic benefits of parental leave
The initiators of parental leave point out that the eighteen weeks scheduled strengthen the father-child link and promote the well-being of the child. They also put forward economic arguments, based on the Ecoplan study. The latter believes that long -term economic benefits would compensate for the increase in costs.
Experience abroad shows that in countries where parental leave is in force, women more often come back to the labor market after their maternity leave. Their occupancy rate is also higher. This situation is explained in particular by the fact that the leave encourages fathers to engage more at home. However, depending on the evolution of wages, it could flow several decades before tax revenue and additional social contributions compensate for the costs generated.
Civic did not want to reject an initiative that its promoters present as beneficial for the national economy. It is also a question of not restricting the orientation of the platform from its launch. The left already has two platforms, Wecollect and Campax. The right, on the other hand, manages the Team Freiheit site. Liberal environments want to play a more active role in digital campaigns.
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