Housework

Housework

I recently read in the paper that a French politician is trying to get a new offence introduced into the penal code to punish anyone who doesn't take on their fair share of household chores! I hope that no such offence exists in Swiss law? Could such a preposterous idea also find its way into our country?

Jürg

You can continue to enjoy your sofa without fear of being arrested by the police, as the Swiss Penal Code currently makes no such provision!

However, the idea of ensuring that domestic work is shared, or at least taken into account, is not entirely foreign to our legal system, particularly in the rules on marriage.

Article 163 of the Swiss Civil Code (CC) stipulates that both spouses must contribute according to their means to the maintenance of the family and agree on the way in which each of them contributes, in particular by providing money, working in the home, caring for the children or helping the husband or wife in his or her profession.

Under art. 125 CC, a spouse who has given up a career in order to look after the household and the joint children for a certain period of time may, under certain conditions, request as part of a divorce that the other spouse pay a monthly maintenance contribution, which will be set taking into account in particular the division of tasks during the marriage, This contribution will be set taking into account, in particular, the division of tasks during the marriage, the duration of the marriage, the age and state of health of the spouses, their standard of living, income and assets, the extent and duration of childcare, professional training and earning prospects of the spouses, as well as their pension expectations.

In addition, AHV legislation provides for child-rearing bonuses, so that any loss of income suffered by one of the parents as a result of staying at home to look after the household and children can be taken into account when calculating the old-age pension, by compensating for it with a notional income that will be added to the total AHV contributions. These bonuses are linked to parental authority; at the time of a divorce, if the parents exercise this authority jointly, the authorities must therefore determine whether the bonus for educational tasks should be shared equally or allocated 100% to one or other of the parents, depending on who assumes the greater part of the care of the joint children.

As you can see, our country has adopted a rather progressive stance on the issue of sharing household tasks, and inaction in the home is not without legal consequences...

But don't let that stop you from making the most of the Easter holidays, which we hope will be a radiant one for all Tribune readers!