Swedish Grandparents Get Paid to Take Care of Grandkids

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Swedish Grandparents Get Paid to Take Care of Grandkids

Sweden’s generous social services systems now allows parents to transfer a portion of paid leave days to their grandparents. So, Swedish grandparents get paid to take care of grandkids.

Since July 1, Swedish parents can each give 45 days of parental leave to a third party, who will be compensated for looking after the child, a system designed to assist families’ organization.

The development comes after the Swedish parliament, the 349-seat Riksdag, approved last December the government’s proposal on transfer of parental allowance. This comes 50 years after the Scandinavian country became the first in the world to introduce paid parental leave for fathers and not just mothers.

Swedish Grandparents Get Paid to Take Care of Grandkids
Since July 1, Swedish parents can each give 45 days of parental leave to a third party. Photo: NHI.no

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This is not Sweden’s first foray into groundbreaking social services. Swedish citizens pay some of the world’s highest taxes, but in return receive state-financed health care, free education up through college and generous unemployment benefits.

Under the current system, Swedish parents are entitled to 480 days of paid parental leave – whether shared between two parents, or all for a single parent. For 390 days, the compensation is set at around 80% of the parent’s income. For the remaining 90 days, it is capped at a basic level of 180 kronor (€16) per day. These leave days must be taken before the child turns 12. During the child’s first 15 months, the parents can stay home together for 60 days; 90 of the 480 days are reserved for each of them.

Swedish Grandparents Get Paid to Take Care of Grandkids
Swedish citizens pay some of the world’s highest taxes, but in return receive state-financed health care and more. Photo: NHI.no

There are also other benefits for parents in Sweden — they can also work reduced hours until the child is 8 years old, while government employees can get those reduced hours until the child turns 12.

According to New York Times, Sweden’s guidelines are in sharp contrast to the United States, which is one of only a handful of Western countries that does not guarantee any paid maternity or parental leave.

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Related: Scandinavian Work-Life Balance: How It Influences Employee Productivity
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Though parental leave policies in countries like Sweden are seen as the “gold standard,” around the world, such generosity is “not realistic for the United States” because of resistance to higher levels of taxation, said Richard Petts, a professor of sociology at Ball State University and an expert on parental leave.

Swedish Grandparents Get Paid to Take Care of Grandkids
There are also other benefits for parents in Sweden — they can also work reduced hours until the child is 8 years old. Photo: Besteforeldreaksjonen

According to the latest report from Sweden’s Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan), published in mid-June, for children born in 2021, fathers took 27% of the leave, or 130 days – a 7-point increase over 10 years. For several years now, however, the debate has focused more on the advisability of extending parental leave compensation to other beneficiaries than on gender equality, partly to ease the burden on single mothers.

Swedish Grandparents Get Paid to Take Care of Grandkids, written by Tor Kjolberg

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