Sweden launches groundbreaking new childcare law

Fifty years after Sweden became the first country in the world to introduce paid parental leave for fathers

Specified adult childcare credits provide a valuable opportunity for grandparents or other family members caring for a child to boost their own pension (Philip Toscano/PA) (PA Archive)

Sweden has launched a groundbreaking new law that allows grandparents to step in and get paid parental leave.

The law, launched on Monday, means grandparents will get paid while taking care of their grandchildren for up to three months of a child’s first year.

It comes 50 years after the Scandinavian country became the first in the world to introduce paid parental leave for fathers and not just mothers.

The development comes after the Swedish parliament, the 349-seat Riksdag, approved last December the government’s proposal on transfer of parental allowance.

Under the law, parents can transfer some of their generous parental leave allowance to the child's grandparents. A parent couple can transfer a maximum of 45 days to others while a single parent can transfer 90 days, according to the Social Insurance Agency, a government agency that administers the social insurance system.

This Scandinavian country of 10 million, known for its taxpayer-funded social welfare system, has over generations built a society where citizens are taken care of from cradle to grave.

In Sweden, you are entitled to be fully off work when your child is born. Parental benefit is paid out for 480 days, or about 16 months, per child. Of those, the compensation for 390 days is calculated based on a person's full income while for the remaining 90 days, people get a fixed amount of 180 kronor ($17) per day.

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.

Fifty years after Sweden became the first country in the world to introduce paid parental leave for fathers, the Scandinavian country has launched a groundbreaking new law granting paid leave allowing grandparents and other legal guardians to care for a child (AP2011)

Alexandra Wallin of the agency told Swedish broadcaster SVT the new law will "give greater opportunities."

Still, the rules for grandparents, she said, are the same as for ordinary parental allowance and require a person be insured for parental allowance, which most people in Sweden are.

There are conditions for parental allowance — a retiree can also take parental leave, for example, in which case the compensation is based on the person’s pension. A person may not look for work or study during the time they receive parental allowance.

In the central town of Avesta, about 140 kilometers (87 miles) northwest of Stockholm, Ritva Kärkkäinen told SVT she is considering taking time off work to care for her grandchildren.

In 1974, Sweden replaced gender-specific maternity leave with parental leave for both parents. At the time, the so-called parental insurance enabled parents to take six months off work per child — with each parent entitled to half of the days.

However, after that move, only 0.5% of the paid parental leave was taken by fathers, according to the Social Insurance Agency. Today, fathers in Sweden take around 30% of the paid parental leave, the agency said.