Geneva - Post Report Question and Answers
Are preschools available? Day care? Are these expensive? What has been your experience with them, if any? Do the schools provide before- and/or after-school care?
Available but very expensive. 3000-4000usd/month. - Jun 2022
Of course. One of the problems in the Swiss schools is that the kids come home for lunch and schedules can make it hard for working parents. - Jul 2018
Both public and private preschools and daycares exist and are very high-quality but waitlists can be VERY long and costs are also VERY high. Those with diplomatic status do not qualify for the subsidies on public daycares so the cost is essentially the same between private and public. If you need daycare immediately upon arrival, I suggest starting your search long before arrival. There are a number of unhappy spouses in the expat community who would like to work but can't justify it based on the cost of daycare. We used a private creche (daycare) and could not have been happier with it but the cost for part-time was much more than our mortgage. - Mar 2014
Yes, but not familiar. - Mar 2014
Yes, but I have no direct experience with this in Geneva. In neighboring France, the kindergarten starts at age 3. - Mar 2013
I don't have experience with that. But if you have pre-kindergarten children, check the prices before you come! I hear it's astoundingly expensive, so many families who would like to have the non-working spouse find work when they arrive at post, find they can't afford it as day care costs far more than the salary the person could ever earn. And spaces are hard to get on top of it all. There is a LOT of complaining about preschool care options, availability and cost at this post. LOTS. Be diligent before accepting this posting. - Feb 2012
