Grandpa and grandma now also have parental leave in Sweden
Grandma and Grandpa helping out parents with childcare from time to time is normal. In Sweden, grandparents can now even take paid parental leave for up to three months during their grandchildren's first year of life. This particularly benefits single parents, who receive more support.
Sweden introduced a new law today that allows grandparents to take paid parental leave for up to three months while caring for their grandchildren in the first year of the child's life. In December, the Scandinavian country accepted the government's proposal for transferring child benefits to grandparents. Sweden was the first country to introduce paid parental leave for fathers, not just mothers, over 50 years ago.
The new law allows parents to transfer a portion of their generously calculated parental benefit to the grandparents of the child. A parental pair can transfer a maximum of 45 days, while a single parent can transfer 90 days, according to the Social Insurance Agency, a state authority that manages the social insurance system.
Sweden, known for its publicly funded social system with a population of ten million, has built a society where citizens are cared for from the cradle to the grave. In Sweden, citizens have the right to a full exemption from work when a child is born. Parental benefits are paid for 480 days, or approximately 16 months, per child. The compensation for the first 390 days is calculated based on the full income of a person, while a fixed amount of 180 Swedish kronor (around 15 Euro) per day is paid for the remaining 90 days.
Additionally, parents in Sweden enjoy other advantages: Until the eighth year of a child's life, parents can claim reduced working hours, while civil servants can receive reduced working hours until the twelfth year of the child's life.
The new law expansion in Sweden now allows grandparents to use a portion of their children's parental allowance for paid leave, benefitting particularly single parents. This means grandparents can take care of their grandchildren for up to three months during the child's first year, enhancing family bonding in politics of support.
Sweden's societal model, nurturing its population from infancy to old age, has expanded parental leave benefits, enabling grandparents to take part in children's first year, subsequently easing parental burdens in their politics.
