How much does a family with children cost in Switzerland? The family budget with one, two or three children

A family with children has no single monthly cost: in the 2025/26 examples of Budgetberatung Schweiz, with CHF 7'000 net a month, CHF 840 is left with one child, CHF 720 with two and CHF 430 with three. What changes most is health insurance, which is due for each child, groceries and childcare; family allowances and premium reduction are the two public items to check.

Updated October 2026. Sources: Budgetberatung Schweiz, budget examples 2025/26 and its page “Familie und Geld” (in German); Federal Statistical Office (FSO), table T20.02.01.00.43; Federal Social Insurance Office (BSV), family allowances (in German, French and Italian); Federal Office of Public Health (BAG), press release of 29 September 2026 and priminfo; Federal Commission for Family Affairs (EKFF), childcare study (in German, with an English summary) (viewed on 20 October 2026).

How much does a family with children cost in Switzerland?

There is no figure for everyone: Budgetberatung Schweiz writes that the costs of children are very individual and that averages are of little help. Two kinds of numbers still help, and they should be kept apart: what families actually spent, measured by the FSO, and what to plan for, according to the budget examples.

These are averages of all couples in each group, high incomes included; for the FSO, “children” means biological children and stepchildren, at least one of them under 25. Taxes, social insurance contributions and basic premiums are not part of consumption. Gross income includes the 13th salary, so it cannot be compared with the budget examples, which start from net income. The years 2018-2019 are used because Covid changed the budget structure in part in 2020-2021. The table shows no cost per child: the three columns are different families, also in income and in the age of the children.

What does a monthly budget look like with one, two or three children?

The table shows only some lines of the example. The available amount is what remains after every line, housing and provisions included, and it still has to cover, according to the examples, items such as childcare, meals out for work, supplementary insurance, pension provision, saving, a car and holidays. With CHF 6'500 net, 720, 490 and 190 are left. The examples ignore the differences between cantons, do not consider individual tax deductions, for example for childcare, and do not replace an individual budget.

Which items change with children?

Health insurance, groceries, clothes and childcare change most, while taxes fall in the examples. For Budgetberatung Schweiz the most expensive periods are the start, because of the loss of income after the birth, and the end, because of education costs; kindergarten and primary-school age usually costs the least.

• Health insurance. Each child has their own premium: there is no family insurance (priminfo). For 2027 the BAG gives a mean premium of CHF 128.10 a month for children, 5.70 more than in 2026 (+4.6%); the actual premium depends, among other things, on residence, age and the deductible chosen. In the examples the line rises by CHF 120 for each child (own calculation). Children pay no ordinary deductible and the co-payment is at most CHF 350 a year. To compare premiums: switching health insurance.
• Childcare. Before kindergarten, institutional childcare (daycare centres and the like) is mostly the responsibility of the cantons, with no uniform national standards on quality and financing. Municipalities, often together with the cantons, pay part of it, but on the national average the public sector pays less than half of the costs (study by Ecoplan for the EKFF, 20 April 2026). Fees and ceilings for the tax deduction differ from place to place: ask your municipality or the provider which ones apply to you.
• Groceries and home. Food weighs more with each child, and so do the small household costs (body care, detergents, waste). In the examples the phone, internet, TV and Serafe line also rises. Full list: fixed costs.

How much are family allowances, and how does premium reduction work?

Only one allowance of the same kind is paid per child (art. 6 FamZG). The budget examples do not show allowances, which belong to the income in your budget, and they do not consider premium reduction, which Budgetberatung Schweiz recommends checking: some cantons pay it without an application, others require one (BAG). The offices are listed on priminfo.

How much to plan for groceries?

For 2025/26 Budgetberatung Schweiz gives, for food and non-alcoholic drinks, CHF 700 to 850 a month with one child, CHF 850 to 1'100 with two and CHF 1'000 to 1'250 with three, depending on net income, plus CHF 50 to 100 for each teenager from 12. The FSO measured CHF 794, 955 and 1'102 in 2018-2019: the first values are for planning, the second describe spending.

The line excludes restaurants, guests and alcohol. Each figure is explained in the guides to the family of three, the family of four and the large family; for a single parent there is the guide to the single-parent family.

Where to start today with the family budget?

1. Pick the example with your number of children, start from your monthly net income without the 13th salary and add the family allowances: the method is in the guide on how to make a budget.
2. Compare the lines with your contracts and check premium reduction and the childcare fee.
3. For groceries, keep a month of receipts and compare your figure with the guideline values.

Rappn, a free Swiss app (iOS and Android) that compares the current promotions of seven Swiss retailers and turns receipts into a spending overview, helps only with groceries: the list shows an estimated price and you can share it with your household and edit it together; add receipts, by photo or by hand, and you see your spending by category and by month next to your own monthly average. Rappn does not cover rent, health insurance, childcare, allowances or taxes. Rappn is building an AI assistant for groceries: you can join the waitlist.