Vård av Barn: The Swedish parents paid to care for sick kids
When children fall ill in Sweden, parents can take time off to care for them, while still pocketing 80% of their salaries. But the pandemic has put pressure on the popular policy.
With three children in preschool, branding manager Jeremy Cothran was prepared for colds, bugs or Covid to affect his family at some point over the winter. But the run-up to Christmas was even worse than he expected.
“We had a rotating carousel of sick kids who had either fever or norovirus,” says the year-old, who works for a recruitment tech company in Stockholm. “The illness eventually culminated in night-time vomiting and early trips to our building’s laundry facilities to wash clothes and linens.”
However, some of the pressure on his family was eased thanks to a policy called Vård av Barn (usually shortened to ‘VAB’). It loosely translates to “care of child”, and gives parents the right to take paid time off to look after their children if they get sick. This means that Swedish parents, unlike many around the world, don’t have to scramble to find relatives or friends to help, take holiday or unpaid lea
Cookies used by the Swedish Social Insurance Agency
You can receive compensation to take care of a child who is reached the age of 12 but not yet 16 if the child needs more help than usual at that age. This may for example apply, if you need to accompany the child to a doctor's appointment or if otherwise healthy children become ill and cannot take care of themselves.
To receive compensation for caring for a child who has turned 12 but not 16 years old, you need a doctor's certificate from the first day you stay home.
If you apply for compensation for vab when accompanying your child to a doctor's appointment, it is sufficient for your doctor to sign your doctor's receipt, or state in a certificate that it was necessary that you accompanied your child.
If your child has a long-term illness or disability and the basic illness deteriorates or if they become acutely ill with another disease, you may receive compensation for vab if your child has turned 12 but not 16 years of age.
If your child needs special supervision or care due to illness or disability, Försäkringskassan may decide that you can receive compensation for vab in the same way as for a child who
This information is for EU/EEA citizens only
In Sweden, this system is called "care of a sick child" (vård av barn or VAB). VAB is when you have to stay home from work or refrain from looking for work to take care of your sick child. The benefits you receive are called temporary parental benefits (tilfällig föräldrapenning).
Temporary parental benefits in Sweden
If your child under the age of 12 becomes sick and needs to stay away from school or kindergarten, you are entitled to stay home from work and receive benefits from Försäkringskassan to look after your child. In certain cases, you are entitled to benefits until your child is 16 years old.
If the child stays at home for more than seven days, you must obtain a medical certificate from a doctor or nurse. You are entitled to temporary parental benefits for a maximum of days per child per year. You are also entitled to temporary parental benefits if you need to go to the child health care center, the dentist, or another facility in connection with the care of your child. The same applies if the person who would normally look after the child is unable to do so, for example, due to illness.
Kakor på Försäkringskassan
När du avstår från att arbeta eller går miste om a-kassa för att ta hand om ett sjukt barn kan du få ersättning för vab. Det gäller även dig som är egenföretagare. Ersättningen kallas tillfällig föräldrapenning.
När kan man få ersättning för vab?
Du kan få ersättning för vab när du
- tar hand om ett barn som inte kan gå till förskolan, skolan eller motsvarande på grund av sjukdom eller smitta
- följer med ett barn till läkare, barnavårdscentralen (BVC), tandläkaren eller BUP
- tar hand om ett barn på grund av att den ordinarie vårdaren är sjuk
- deltar i en kurs som ordnas av en sjukvårdshuvudman för att du ska lära dig att sköta ditt barn.
Du kan vabba hela dagen eller en del av dagen. En del av dagen kan vara 75, 50, 25 eller 12,5 procent.
Om du har uppehållstillstånd enligt EU:s massflyktsdirektiv gäller särskilda regler.
När du har fått uppehållstillstånd i Sverige
Försäkrad i Sverige
Du måste vara försäkrad i Sverige och barnet måste bo i Sverige, i ett land inom EU/EES eller i Schweiz.
Du är i regel försäkrad i Sverige om du bor och arbetar här. Du kan vara försäkrad i Sverige även om du bor i ett annat land, men tidigare har bott eller ar
.