Childcare

Your child is supervised all day at day-care centres. Day-care centres (Kindertagestätten) are abbreviated to "Kitas" in German. Most Kitas are for children from the age of 3 months until school. Some Kitas also supervise school children before school, during lunchtime and after school.

You need to register your child well in advance, because the waiting lists are long. The prices charged by the Kitas vary. The commune pays a portion of the costs for some Kitas. You can ask the Kitas and the commune about how much it costs and how to register your child.

Many children attend a play group (Spielgruppe) before they start school. In the play group, children aged over 3 years meet without their parents. A trained supervisor occupies the children. The children play and do crafts together, for example. Play groups are voluntary.

Does your child not speak German at home? You child can start a play group to learn German. This will make it easier for your child when they start school.

At all primary levels and secondary levels, there are day school programmes (Tagesstrukturen) at school or nearby. A day school programme means that the children stay at school over lunchtime and receive a meal. After school, someone looks after the children and the children can do their homework.

Do you want your child to attend the day school programme? You will need to pay for it. The costs depend on how much you earn. Your child can then go to the day school programe on one day or multiple days per week.

You can also have your child looked after by a day-care family (Tagesfamilie). A day-care family is a family who takes care of your child all day or before and after school. Agencies can help you find a suitable day-care family. The agencies also inform you about how much a day-care family usually costs.

In Switzerland, young people can also work as babysitters on evenings or weekends. The young people are paid for this work. The Swiss Red Cross in Basel-Stadt (SRC) has a list of agencies for babysitters who have previously attended a course.

Emergency child care
You may have an emergency and urgently need someone to look after your child. For example, you or your partner need to go to hospital and no-one can take care of your child. The Swiss Red Cross in Basel-Stadt (SRC) offers emergency child care. You need to pay for this care. However, some health insurers assume the costs.