BALANCING BABY...

Inside Switzerland Magazine, spring issue 2009
by Jennifer Rodney, illustrations: Stephan Schmitz

Safe, clean and prosperous, Switzerland would seem in many ways to be the ideal country in which to start a family. However, parents who move away from the traditional family model, in which the father is the breadwinner and the mother stays at home, find that there are many challenges to overcome. Even if you don't have kids, chances are you'll have heard friends griping about the day care system. People joke about needing to enrol their future son or daughter before they have even been conceived in order to guarantee them a place at the local crèche and how the money they earn will just about cover day care costs. Behind the humour lie some half-truths and a complicated, multifaceted issue.

Inside Switzerland Magazine, winter issue 2008/2009
by Andrea Zimmermann, photos: Regula Béarth, ZHDK

Although the reasons for being a single vary from person to person, most can be boiled down to just one: choice. If modern societies have one characteristic in common it is the freedom to choose. We choose our favourite cereal because we can; we choose a job because we can and we also choose our lifestyle, again, because we can.
The statistics for Switzerland prove exactly this: there are fewer people getting married and more people getting divorced. Take, for example, Vincent Donzé, 48, father of two children and now divorced: although he is still looking for a possible partner, he is also not unhappy to be on his own. "I have very clear expectations. And, as I have already experienced family life, I feel no real urge to restart one with another person," says Donzé.  more

FIVE ALIVE

Inside Switzerland Magazine, winter issue 2008/2009, by John Silk

Ever wondered what it would be like to run down the side of a building? Ever been curious about how it would feel to be strapped inside a giant transparent ball sphereing down a hill? Ever dreamt of taking a high-speed slide down a mountain with only a couple of centimetres between you and the ground? No? John Silk took some small, and occasionally fast, steps on our behalf to answer these questions and more. While trying all five of these adventure activities might be a bit extreme, try to add at least one to your new year's resolutions list. You might just find this one less difficult to stick to than the countless others that are consigned to the bin.

Subscribe to Inside Switzerland Magazine today to read this and more

WHAT A GREAT COUNTRY

Inside Switzerland Magazine, autumn issue 2008, by Peter Haffner
Illustration by Paolo Monaco

Is blind anti-Americanism one of Europe's greatest failings? Although some level of stereotyping is inevitable, most people do try to avoid generalising when discussing a nation. Peter Haffner lives in California and is the US correspondent for Das Magazin, published by Zurich's Tages Anzeiger newspaper. He reports how his experience differs from the common European perception and how the upcoming presidential election might well be the start of a new era.

more
Published in DAS MAGAZIN 2008

SAME SEX, DIFFERENT RIGHTS

Inside Switzerland Magazine, autumn issue 2008
by Karen Schärer and Boris Witmer, illustration by André Sandmann

Since January 2007, same-sex couples living in Switzerland have been legally entitled to register their partnership. However, Switzerland is far from being a forerunner by European standards. Back in 1989, Denmark became the first country to grant registered same-sex partners similar rights to married heterosexual couples. Then, in 2001, Holland became the first country to offer full civil marriage rights to homosexual couples. Switzerland has been slow to adopt similar policies, yet with its system of direct democracy, has become the first country where legal registration of same-sex partnerships has been supported by popular vote.
more

FOOTBALL FEVER

Inside Switzerland Magazine, summer issue 2008
by Andrea Zimmermann

This summer, Switzerland sees the culmination of years of careful planning as it welcomes UEFA's European Championship. It goes without saying that football fans prefer to watch their favourite teams play live, but unfortunately this isn't always possible. Now, hardcore football fans have found a virtual solution, called Hattrick, an online football management game developed in Sweden around eight years ago. Yet fashion fans will be glad to hear that they haven't been forgotten. 11 Meter Mode was the name given to the competition that showcased the football-inspired fashion of eleven Swiss and eleven Austrian designers.
more

THE SWAYING PALMS OF SWITZERLAND

Inside Switzerland Magazine, summer issue 2008
Photography by Spencer Tunick and Greenpeace

Switzerland appears to be feeling the effects of global climate change more dramatically than many other nations. With melting glaciers a particular concern, an extensive study of global warming forecasts "serious consequences" and "major damage" for the nation. Yet, despite the evidence, Rolf Ribi says the Federal Council and Parliament seem in no hurry to impose more stringent climate policies. As residents experience higher temperatures and rainfall, environmental issues are at the top of the political agenda in Switzerland. Heat waves and water shortages are increasingly common in the summer, accompanied by a lack of snow and flooding in the winter.
more

BACK TO BLACK

Inside Switzerland Magazine, spring issue 2008
by Andrea Zimmermann, illustration by Paolo Monaco

Switzerland = safe + solvent; most people's impression of a country whose main industries, finance, watches and chocolate, are bywords for affluence and luxury. Yet this image is being eroded by hard reality as more and more people find themselves facing the problems of personal debt.  Once upon a time Switzerland was seen as a country that prided itself on full bank vaults, residents with disposable cash and a societal disdain of spending what you don't have. Yet you only have to look at proliferation of shop banners offering credit on high-spend purchases to see that buying goods in instalments or "on the never, never" is less stigmatised here than ever before.
more