“No Monster like the Beveridge Plan”. Employers and the Shaping of the Welfare Mix in Switzerland

This paper assesses employers’ role in the development of Swiss welfare policy in a comprehensive way. The paper analyzes new sources from the archives of the Swiss peak employers’ federation, the Zentralverband Schweiz. Arbeitgeberorganisationen. These sources, dating from 1908 to 1991, provide for a comprehensive understanding of the debates that occurred among employers over social policy. The paper investigates employers’ specific attitude in different branches of social policy—family policy, protection against disability, old-age, sickness, and unemployment. In all these domains, the role of employers—on the company level or organized in employers’ associations—appears as crucial in the shaping of welfare policy. The paper concludes with an extensive discussion on the commonalities and on the differences that can be observed in the century-long history of employers’ influence over Swiss welfare policy.