Comparisons - Denmark/Switzerland?

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1
Hi!

I have introduced myself in the introductions thread, but basically my husband and I are looking into relocating to Switzerland (for work, most likely Zürich but possibly Geneva) from Denmark.

I was wondering if anyone has lived in both countries and if you have any observations or comparisons about the 2 countries? My husband is very, very keen to relocate, but I have to admit, I'm a little more skeptical (partly because I feel very settled here). We have a 15 month-old daughter, and are expecting #2 at the beginning of March, and I suppose part of me puts a lot of stock on how life in Scandinavia really is geared towards the family, and I do keep thinking about how I'll probably lose that if we leave. If we do decide to relocate, we are also discussing whether is is best before the baby puts in an appearance (so I would give birth in Switzerland which makes me nervous as I don't know the system and have very basic (non-Swiss) German and French) or if I give birth here, but then we relocate afterwards (which has the downside of relocating to another country with a toddler and a newborn and without a support network of family/friends).

So, I suppose I am asking if anyone can give an idea of what to expect in terms of cultural differences / family life between Switzerland and Denmark?

Thanks in advance!

2
Hi there Chococat.

A grain of hope for you. My wife teaches German and as it happens she's had a lot of Danish students. She says they find it relatively easy to pick up the lingo. Of course, you many not be Danish...

As for culture, well I guess you'll find it a bit less laid back here. (But then I only know Copenhagen, maybe not representative?) If you are from Copenhagen you might find all the cities here a bit on the small side, but Zuerich at least is pretty cosmopolitan. Anyway, it's not the moon. We're still Northern Europe here really. I guess you'll miss the sea most of all, but there are some very pretty lakes.

By the way, there's a direct sleeper train from Copenhage to Zuerich. Could come in handy for you!

3
Before deciding where to have your baby, you should determine what the cost would be for having it in Switzerland, because it could be large. It certainly won't be straightforward getting health insurance when already pregnant, but I'm not an expert on this, so see the threads " Birth Insurance ", and a useful post in the thread " Medical costs concerning pregnancy / birth ". You may find further information by searching this forum for "pregnant", "pregnancy", or similar terms. You may also need an Introduction to the in's and out's of the Swiss health insurance system, which you can find here: " Health Insurance FAQs ".

Best of luck with whatever you decide!

4
You can go straight onto the basic health insurance when you are pregnant. It's only if you want supplementary cover where a qualification period would apply.

5
Hi there, you may want to get in touch with Wednesday as she moved with her bloke from Copenhagen to Bern earlier this year. All I know is your apartment will be much bigger !!!

With regards to having a child here, don't get too hung up on language, all the staff will understand your German & most also speak English (in my experience 22 months ago), I would assume its the same on the French side.

I have to be honest though, we are both non-Swiss & the experience of being on our own with a first child was pretty stressful, however I think that was more to do with the scary learning curve than anything ...

6
I lived in Gentofte for 8 years and now in Zurich for 2 years ( Montreal & Tampa in between). My opinion is that Switzerland is a better country to live in, however so is DK, though in a different way, if you weigh up the pros and the cons you will find it all evens out, so dont worry too much. Taking this into consideration look at the financial situation and weigh that against your present one, is it gain or loss?

Reference Baby wise, only you can make that decision, would you want too deal with the stress and relocation, culture shock etc with a young child or whilst heavly pregnant?

7
Thanks for all your replies Looking at the health insurance side of things, it does make more sense to have the baby here rather than in Switzerland. We're still weighing up all the pros and cons and discussing what's best for the family, but just wanted to thank you all.

ps, this forum is great - heaps of information and gives lots of various personal perspectives on life in Switzerland!

8
Hi Chococat;

This may get quite long...

I am Danish, Portuguese married, and have lived in a Basel suburb since Easter. We have 2 sons aged 1 and 8. We moved here from Denmark (Holte), but lived 4 years in Liverpool before having children.

In a lot of ways, I find life here more similar than a move to Britain would have been. The sports clubs for the older one and the school system is not way different, like in Denmark there is no problem in letting him walking to school alone. And that is nice.

On birth, my wife got pregnant with number two while stationed here (we went back and forth every weekend) and was under the Swiss system until she moved back 6 months pregnant. Her experience was that the system was more "technical" than the Danish; she was not once asked how she felt about being pregnant. But they made sure at the scans that they counted all fingers and toes!

If you move here while pregnant you will get in under the basic insurance system. That should be no worry, my impression is that the treatment and facilities are first rate. It really depends more about your view of birth: If you like the midwife-centred approach you may as well stay in Denmark; if you think a birth is a serious medical event that should be handled by a doctor come before. My impression is that there are more midwifes around in German-speaking Switzerland than the French-speaking cantons (but I could be wrong).

There is less space in Switzerland, both indoors and outdoors in the cities. All the wide open spaces is where they keep the mountains.

The big difference comes if/when you want to work. Whereas in Denmark, you have a fair chance of finding daycare from about one year of age, in Switzerland you find out why the taxes are lower as you pay the full cost (CHF2000/month) _and_ have problems finding much for less-than-2-year-olds. You may also be seen as a bad mother who does not stay at home with her kids.

With older kids, there is the detail the school ends at 12 (some days with restart at 14), counting on someone to be home to feed offspring.

Public transport is better, less need for a car.

Now, I don't know what your husband is doing, but the working week for normal jobs is longer here, 42 hours + longer lunchbreaks. Can add up to 1.h hour ekstra per day. Of course, he may be doing long hours already in which case there may be no difference.

If you want any more info, answer here or write me a PM

Good luck

Martin

9
On a lighter note, the bacon isn't very good here. My Danish mate assures me that Danish bacon is the best in the world.

10
First part is certainly true. But for years the best Danish bacon was exported, you could not get back bacon in the country where it was made.

/Martin

11
He told me that there is a joke where the Danish people are traveling through Europe looking for somewhere to live when they come to an intersection. The sign pointing south said "Warm weather, sunshine and beautiful girls in bikini's". The sign pointing north said "Wet, cold, miserable weather and good bacon". The leader of the Danish people sniffed the air and said "Mmmmmm, I smell bacon" and the rest is history.

I've never been to Denmark myself, so I don't know how accurate this is.