Family obligations and the transition into working life: the influence of parenthood and family obligations on the transition of university graduates into working life

Abstract

This study focuses on the question of how well young university graduates succeed – despite their family obligations – in exploiting the potential they have gained through their education in the labor market. The findings are based on a survey of university graduates throughout Switzerland and present a positive picture. Natural science and engineering graduates are the only ones for whom active parenthood makes the transition to working life more difficult. Otherwise, starting a family and involvement in childcare generally do not present an obstacle to neither working life nor in finding positions with high level qualifications. However, it is relatively rare for recent graduates with children to accept trainee positions, a fact that could have a negative impact on their careers over the long term.