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When it comes to parental leave, Sweden is thinking big. Swedish mothers and fathers are entitled to 480 days of paid leave – whether they are a couple or alone. But recently, they have been allowed to give some of these days to a third party, such as the child’s grandparents.
Since July 1, Swedish law allows grandparents or any third person chosen by the parents to be compensated to take care of their child in their place. This new system, approved by the Riksdag, the Swedish Parliament, last December, allows each parent to transfer 45 days of leave to the person of their choice, without age limit. The latter will then receive an allowance calculated according to their income, if they are employed, or their pension, if they are retired. Single parents can give up to 90 days of leave, depending on The New York Times.
The measure is intended to provide even more flexibility for parents in the Scandinavian country. In general, fathers and mothers are entitled to 480 days of paid leave. Parents can take 60 days of leave at the same time before their baby reaches 15 months of age, while 90 of the 480 days are reserved individually for the father and mother. For 390 days, the compensation they receive is approximately 80% of their income. For the remaining 90 days, this allowance is capped at 180 Swedish kronor per day (16 euros).
With this parental leave, Sweden is one of the countries in the world that offers the best benefits to parents. By allowing them to transfer part of their leave to a relative, Ulf Kristersson’s government aims to offer even more flexibility to families. The Swedish Prime Minister welcomed this progress on Facebookexplaining that it allows, for example, “a grandfather” to take care of his grandchild when he is born.
While Sweden is currently the only nation to offer this option to grandparents, American companies are doing the same. Booking and SentinelOne, for example, allow their employees who have grandchildren to take time off to care for their new family members. An innovative concept that, in this case, seeks to strengthen the attractiveness of these companies on the job market.