Swiss parliament calls for rules on paid family care

Switzerland’s parliament has called for nationwide quality standards for paid family carers, SRF reports, as the number of relatives employed to provide care has risen sharply. The Federal Council is to define who can be paid for the work, how much health insurers, cantons and municipalities should contribute, and what training carers need.

The National Council approved motions on the issue by a clear majority on Tuesday. The Council of States had already backed them.

Martin Steinmann, 53, has multiple sclerosis and has used a wheelchair for 10 years. His mother, Ursula, says he needs help with almost everything, including using the toilet, eating and transfers between his wheelchair and bed. “My son needs help around the clock,” she says.

Ursula Steinmann is employed by a home-care service provider and can bill for two hours of care a day at 34 francs an hour. She says the work must be documented precisely. The job matters to her less for the money than for the recognition it gives her. “I feel that all family carers are entitled to something,” she says, adding that caring leaves little time for leisure.

Steinmann and her son live with her husband in a farmhouse. Martin lives downstairs, while his parents live on the first floor; a stairlift connects the two levels. She previously worked for a private home-care provider, but says she often could not reach anyone with questions about her son’s care. She says the provider she works with now calls her back.

A Federal Council report found that a small number of organizations had specialized in employing family carers and could make large profits from the business model. Prioswiss, the health insurers’ association, estimates that family care will cost premium payers at least 350 million francs in 2026.

A survey of about 40 percent of home-care organizations, carried out for a report published in October 2025, recorded a steep increase. In 2024, nine times as many family carers were employed as in 2022, and billed hours had increased sixfold to about one million.

In 2019, Switzerland’s Federal Supreme Court ruled that family members could be employed and paid for providing basic care. It also noted that neither legislation nor regulations set minimum professional qualifications for employees of such organizations.

Prioswiss director Saskia Schenker told SRF that carers’ pay should not be cut, but that the organizations’ profit margins should be smaller. The association of private home-care providers shares that view and supports most of the proposed changes.

Steinmann says she hopes policymakers will recognize the work done by family carers. She also hopes to take a holiday again one day.