Any families living in or near to Geneva

[needtomovesomewherewarmer]

So DH has been talking for a while about a possible move to Geneva with work. It would be a good step for him and there are a few possible opportunities in the pipeline.

We have x3 dc 6,4 and 1. I currently work x3 days but should be able to not work until we were settled and I wanted to.

We have always talked about living aboard, but now it's coming to the crunch it's all a bit daunting.

Dd (4) will start school in sept so ideally it would happen before that. Dhs work would pay for school placements. So that's not a worry.

What is it like? Dh talks highly of it he goes regularly for work and has lots of colleagues out there. He suggests we would probably live outside of Geneva or possibly in France on the Swiss boarder. I speak zero French so would be reliant of an international community to start with.

Funnily enough I met an old friend last night who has lived in Switzerland within the last ten years with her husband (they moved for his job) and their 3DC. She hated it. She has always been a hard working professional herself and gone back to work v soon after each child. She assumed she would very soon after moving be working there too. But no. The prevailing attitude is very much that married mothers stay at home as housewives and not work. She found it a very sexist society and never actually found someone who would employ her all the while they were there. She volunteered at the DCs school for free in the end just to get out of the house.

I live about an hour from Geneva along the lake. We’ve been here a year and love it so far! Kids are 3 and 6 and happily in local preschool / school and picking up French at an amazing pace. I work and DH is ft sahd for now - we wanted to get settled and find our feet before he starts work.

The area is stunning and the leisure opportunities are fantastic. Quality of living is high overall.

It is expensive here so make sure the package is right. Feel free to pm me about this.

It is deffo less progressive than the uk in terms of equality. Pregnancy is viewed as an illness, maternity leave is short. Local school hours are irregular for the first few years with long lunches (kids expected to go home, before/after school care or lunch supervision is paid for and spaces are limited). But if your DH gets schooling this should be less of an issue in international schools.

Anyway as I say feel free to pm. We love it here and don’t intend to leave anytime soon!

I don’t have specific work advice but can offer you some general info.

I live just over an jour from Geneva,but in France. I can answer questions about life in the French alps, if that's what you're considering. Also about the tax and financial aspects of living in France but working in Switzerland.

Highly recommend nyon. Easy commute down Geneva and really beautiful. Great networks for non working mums as well.