Grandparents Caring for Grandchildren Also Get Paid Leave... This Nordic Country Truly Committed to Childcare

Sweden Allows Grandparents Up to 3 Months of Paid Parental Leave
AP "Sweden Implements Groundbreaking Policy"

Grandparents caring for their grandchildren in Sweden can now take up to three months of paid parental leave.

On the 2nd (local time), the Associated Press reported that "Sweden announced a bill on the 1st allowing grandparents to take up to three months of paid parental leave while caring for their grandchildren." The bill allows a portion of the paid parental leave granted to the child's parents to be transferred to the grandparents.

According to the law passed by the Swedish Parliament in December last year, two-parent families can transfer up to 45 days, and single-parent families can transfer up to 90 days to grandparents.

[Image source=Pixabay]

The AP reported that Sweden is implementing another groundbreaking system 50 years after it became the first country in the world in 1974 to allow both parents, regardless of gender, to take paid parental leave. The salary grandparents receive during the parental leave period is basically the same as what parents receive. However, if the grandparents are retirees, the salary is calculated based on their pension. Also, during the period of receiving parental leave pay, they cannot engage in job searching or studying.

Sweden's parental leave system, known as "parental insurance," guarantees that parents can share a total of 480 days of paid parental leave from the birth of the child until the child turns 12. To reduce the disparity in childcare burdens between men and women and the gender gap in the labor market, a parental leave quota system introduced in 1995 requires both fathers and mothers to use at least 90 days each out of the 480 days.

Regarding parental leave pay, for 390 days, parents receive about 80% of their previous monthly salary, and for the remaining 90 days, they receive a fixed amount of 180 kronor per day (about 23,000 won). Alexandra Vallin of the Swedish Social Insurance Agency said the new law allowing grandparents to take paid parental leave will "provide greater opportunities."

Meanwhile, Sweden's total fertility rate increased from 1.68 in the early 1980s to 2.14 in the early 1990s. However, due to economic recessions and other factors, the total fertility rate sharply declined, hitting a low of 1.50 in 1999. But by developing policies that reduce the burden on families with children, such as early implementation of child allowances and after-school programs without private education costs, the fertility rate rebounded. It recovered to 1.98 in 2010 but dropped to 1.45 last year.