Allowances

There are different types of financial assistance for parents in Switzerland.

Family allowances include child benefit and the vocational training allowance. In some cantons, parents are also entitled to a birth allowance or an adoption allowance. Some companies also give what is called an employer's allowance.

These should not be confused with maternity / paternity allowances intended to provide a replacement income, under federal law, for 14 weeks to a mother who has just given birth and respectively 2 weeks to the legal father of the child.