Family Futures

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nsuring

ork

-F

amily

alance

policy, making it possible for both parents to find support for

their unique situations in life and strike a balance between a

satisfying career and their choices of how to bring up their

children. The importance of a child perspective when making

policy choices cannot be stressed strongly enough. Sweden’s

child rights policy aims to ensure that children and young

people are respected, that they are given the chance to develop

in a secure and nurturing environment, and that they can

express their views in matters affecting them.

The Swedish model is characterized as a dual earner-dual

carer model with a high level of support from the public sector

throughout the first years of childhood. Sweden has had an ambi-

tious and flexible family policy for many years, starting with the

introduction of child benefit in 1947, which was followed by

parental insurance and childcare initiatives in the 1970s. The

system has evolved considerably since then, but the basis has

remained the same which makes it predictable and secure. Men

and women can feel safe in the knowledge of what conditions

will apply if they become parents. Generous spending on family

benefits, flexible leave and working hours for parents with young

children, and affordable, high-quality childcare are the main

factors for success in Sweden. High female and maternal labour

force participation, high fertility rates and good living standards

for families are the results, indicating that balancing work and

family life generally works well. The freedom for both parents

to choose, not between work and having children but rather a

successful combination of the two, also results in high fertility

rates – 1.91 in 2012, which is high for a European country.

In 2012, the employment rate of mothers and fathers with

children aged 0-17 years was 82 per cent and 92 per cent

respectively. High proportions of women use flexible working

arrangements and/or work part-time. Between 2000 and

2012 the proportion of children whose mothers work full-

time increased by seven percentage points to 42 per cent. The

proportion of children whose fathers work full-time was about

74 per cent during the same period.

Sweden has a highly developed and flexible parental leave

system that encourages both parents to spend time with their

children. A parent is entitled to full leave for the care of a child

until it reaches 18 months, regardless of whether they receive

parental benefit. A parent can also reduce normal working hours

by up to one quarter when the child is younger than eight years.

Parental benefit is paid for a total of 480 days. Parents with joint

custody of a child are each entitled to half (240 days) of parental

benefit. Parental benefit days can be transferred between parents,

with the exception of 60 days that are reserved for each parent.

The benefit may be granted to the expectant mother up to 60

days before the expected birth, and to either parent until the

child is eight years old. The length of leave and flexibility in

choosing when to take it ensures the possibility of not only an

extended period of time off work with young children, but also of

greater work-family balance through working part-time, shorter

hours or taking time off work when caring for older children.

The compensation rate is equally important for the acces-

sibility and success of the parental benefit system. Parental

benefit consists of two different kinds of compensation: 390

days are compensated at a rate based on parental income up

to a maximum ceiling, and 90 days are compensated at a flat

rate of SKr180 (US$27) per day. The income-related days are

compensated at around 80 per cent of the parent’s previous

income. If a parent does not have a previous income, parental

benefit is SKr225 (US$34) per day. For people whose income

is higher than the ceiling, collectively agreed supplementary

insurance schemes (agreed upon by the social partners) play

0 days

1-60 days

61-90 days

91-120 days

121+ days

2003

2004

2005

Year of birth

Per cent

2006

2007

2008

100

The percentage of four-year-old children born in 2003-2008 whose fathers have taken parental leave

Source: The National Social Insurance Agency, 2013