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.
Source link : https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/sweden-childcare-grandparents-pay-allowance-b2572331.html
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Publish date : 2024-07-02 07:00:00
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