Parents in Sweden can now switch paid parental depart days to people who find themselves not authorized guardians, together with grandparents and pals.
Sweden was the primary nation to introduce paid parental depart for fathers in 1974.
Today, fathers profit from round 30% of paid parental depart, in line with the Swedish Social Insurance Agency.
Now, 50 years later, grandparents in Sweden might be paid to care for his or her grandchildren.
The Swedish authorities’s parental depart reform carried out on July 1 permits paid parental depart days to be transferred to family or pals.
A greater work-life steadiness and the promotion of gender equality
The Swedish social safety company, Försäkringskassan, says the brand new scheme ought to present households with extra flexibility.
The new guidelines on parental depart permit mother and father to switch as much as 45 days of their paid depart to somebody apart from the kid’s authorized guardian, so long as the individual is insured for parental profit, as most individuals are Sweden. For single mother and father, it’s attainable to switch as much as 90 days per little one out of the 480 whole days of paid depart.
“The goal of the brand new regulation is to present extra flexibility and higher alternatives to oldsters and to facilitate the reconciliation of household and work life. Furthermore, the brand new reform presents extra alternatives, for instance, to single guardians and likewise makes parental depart accessible for a higher range of household varieties, which is prone to promote gender equality,” Stefan Forsberg, director of parental insurance coverage operations at Försäkringskassan, he instructed Euronews.
For instance, the brand new rule additionally permits pensioners to take parental depart, wherein case the profit is predicated on the individual’s pension. The recipient of parental allowance can not search for work or research through the interval wherein he receives parental allowance.
Maria Karlsson, who lives in Stockholm together with her three-year-old son, Liam, says she is glad to listen to concerning the new regulation. Karlsson is a working single mom who usually receives assist from her mother and father.
“My mom has helped and supported me since he (Liam) was born. She was very useful. And even now he helps me two days per week and picks him up from daycare, which permits me to work slightly extra at work since I work part-time (80%) simply to maintain the economic system going,” he stated. Maria instructed Euronews.
“It’s good now with this (new scheme) to have the ability to switch the mother and father’ days in order that she nonetheless receives some type of compensation,” she added.
Maria’s mom, Zhor Karlsson, labored for the Swedish Social Insurance Agency and is now retired. She thinks the brand new program is “one thing good for everybody.”
“For instance, I assist out twice per week. It’s nearly like a routine. But if I’ve to care for him for an entire week if he will get sick, it is good that you just get this parental allowance,” Zhor stated.
Once the times have been transferred, beneficiaries caring for the kid can apply for parental allowance.
Through the social insurance coverage web site, Maria moved to Zhor for about ten days to strive the brand new program in August.
“The subsequent time they arrive into use might be, nicely, if mother needs to return dwelling with Liam in the future or if he will get sick and she’s going to relieve me of staying dwelling with Liam in the future and I’ll do the remainder,” Maria stated.
Critics categorical concern about outsourcing little one care
When the proposal was introduced in September 2023, a number of commerce unions within the nation criticized that this coverage might foster a “nanny system”, successfully outsourcing little one care to family or skilled caregivers.
During an October 2023 query to the Swedish authorities, Anna Tenje, Minister for the Elderly and Social Security, stated: “The threat {that a} switch choice permits parental profit to be systematically used as a method of fee for kids companies rendered, for instance for an employed carer, is assessed as small”.
“We are additionally, as all the time, able to take very sturdy measures in opposition to social safety fraud and felony acts in opposition to the social safety system. So that is one thing that we’ve excessive on the agenda,” Tenje instructed Euronews.
Tenje additionally underlined that the goal of the brand new regulation is to permit mother and father to reconcile working life with lively household life and to decide on provide the most effective to their kids.
At the tip of August, round 1,456 individuals in Sweden had transferred days to somebody apart from their different guardian, the Swedish Social Insurance Agency writes to Euronews.
