Parental benefits [Föräldrapenning]

Parental benefits [Föräldrapenning] Parental benefits are the benefits parents receive to be able to be at home with their children instead of working. A total of 480 days of benefits are paid per child. There are three different levels of parental benefits. One is based on the amount of income you have while the other two provide you with a fixed amount per day. Different rules apply if your child was born before 2002. Contact Försäkringskassan [the Swedish Social Insurance Agency] for more information. Parents can be off work with parental benefits for long continuous periods, individual days or parts of days. Pregnant women can receive parental benefits from the 60th day before the expected delivery date. Parental benefits can then be paid out until the child turns eight or finishes his or her first school year. Adoptive parents may take out parental benefits within eight years of the day when they first take care of the child, although at the longest until the child turns ten. Maternity clinics often offer parental training courses when you are expecting a child. Both parents can receive parental benefits at the same time to attend the course. If you have joint custody, you are each entitled to 240 days of parental benefits. Of this, 60 days are reserved for each parent, while the other days can be transferred to the other parent. If you have transferred parental benefit days, you can take days back if benefits have not yet been paid for them. If you have sole custody, you are entitled to all 480 days. In the event of the birth of twins, parental benefits are paid for an additional 90 days at the level of sickness benefits or at the basic level and for 90 days at the minimum level. In the event of the birth of more than two children at the same time, parental benefits are paid at the level of sickness benefits or at the basic level for an additional 180 days for each child beyond the two first children. It is important to plan parental leave in good time. This will make it easier both for you and your employer. 1 (8)

Who is entitled to parental benefits? [Vem har rätt till föräldrapenning?] Parental benefits are paid to the child s parents or to the person with legal custody of the child. Parental benefits are also paid to those who become adoptive parents. Furthermore, parental benefits are also paid to the person living with the parent who has or had children with the parent is or was married to the parent is or was the parent s registered partner. How much do you receive in benefits? [Hur mycket får man?] There are three different benefit levels of parental benefits. The first is called the sickness benefit level [sjukpenningnivå] and is based on your qualifying income for sickness benefits. You can read more about sickness benefit qualifying income in the section More about parental benefits and sickness benefit qualifying income. The second benefit level is called the basic level [grundnivå]. The basic level is SEK 180 per day. This applies if you have a low income or no income at all. The sickness benefit and basic levels are paid for 390 days, and the first 180 days paid for a child are always at the sickness benefit or basic level. The days reserved for each of the parents are also at the sickness benefit or basic level. The third benefit level is called the minimum level [lägstanivå] and is paid for 90 days. The minimum level is SEK 180 per day for children born on 1 July 2006 and later and SEK 60 per day for children born prior to 1 July 2006. Accordingly, the same amount is paid for the basic level and the minimum level in many cases. What is the gender equality bonus? [Vad år jämställdhetsbonus?] The purpose of the gender equality bonus is to make it easier for parents to share parental leave equally. In order to receive the bonus, you must have joint custody of your child when you take out parental benefits. But you do not have to be married or living together. Of the 390 days (approximately 13 months) for which you can receive parental benefit at the sickness benefit level or basic level, 60 days are reserved for each parent. These 60 days do not entitle you to a bonus. Parents can receive a bonus for the remaining 270 days. The gender equality bonus cannot be paid until the parent who has taken the fewer number of days takes out parental benefits. You do not have to apply for the gender equality bonus; you will receive it directly in your account a couple of days before you receive parental benefits. You will each receive SEK 50 per day. Example: Kim stays home the first 160 days with her child. After 160 days, Robin stays home with the child. For the first 60 days, they do not receive a gender equality bonus because these days are reserved for Robin. Once Robin has taken day 61 with parental benefit, they receive a gender equality bonus of SEK 50 for each day that Robin stays home. 2 (8)

How do I apply for parental benefits [Hur gör jag för att få föräldrapenning?] When you are pregnant, you visit the Maternity Clinic (MVC) to obtain a maternity certificate, which you should send to Försäkringskassan. This serves as an application for parental benefits. After we have received the certificate, we will send you more information about parental benefits. This certificate does not usually contain any information about the other parent. If you are the other parent, you must notify Försäkringskassan when you want to take out parental benefits. You can do this at the latest on the same day as you wish to take out benefits. You can notify Försäkringskassan and request benefits directly on our website, www.forsakringskassan.se. This notification must be made at the latest on the day on which you wish to take out the benefits. To make a notification on the website, you will need an electronic ID which you can download from your online bank. You can also notify us by calling 020-524 524. If you notify us by phone, you will be sent the Swedish form Ansökan Föräldrapenning [ Applying for parental benefit ], which you should complete and return to us. You can take out parental benefits in different ways [Du kan ta ut föräldrapenningen på olika sätt] Parental benefits may be paid as a full, three-quarter, half, a quarter or an eighth benefit. The amount of parental benefits you can take out per day depends on how much you work in relation to the normal full-time working hours in your occupation. You can take out: a full parental benefit if you do not work at all a three-quarter parental benefit if you work at most a quarter of normal working hours a half parental benefit if you work at most half of normal working hours a quarter parental benefit if you work at most three-quarters of normal working hours an eighth parental benefit if you work at most seven-eighths of normal working hours. You can take out full parental benefits at the basic or minimum level if you work up to seven-eighths of normal working hours. On our website, you can plan how to take your parental benefit days. Can I take out parental benefits for work-free days? [Kan jag ta ut föräldrapenning för arbetsfria dagar?] You can take out parental benefits at the basic or minimum level for work-free days. However, you may not take parental benefits at the same time as you are on holiday. To take out full parental benefits at sickness benefit level for days which are normally work-free, you must take out parental benefits the day before or after the work-free days. Correspondingly, you must take out half parental benefits when you want to take out half benefits for work-free days and so on. This applies if the work-free period is four days or less. 3 (8)

Can both parents stay home at the same time and receive parental benefits? [Kan båda föräldrarna vara hemma samtidigt och få föräldrapenning?] During the child s first year, both parents can take parental benefits for the same days. These days are called double days. Parents can take no more than 30 double days. Keep in mind that double days do not generate any extra parental benefit days. This means that if you both stay home, you will take out two days, one for each parent. After the child s first birthday, only one parent can take out parental benefits at a time. To take out double days, both you and the other parent must apply for double days for the same date and to the same extent. Double days do not entitle you to a gender equality bonus. As a result, parents of twins may find it more advantageous if each parent takes out parental benefits for one of the children each rather than taking double days. If you fall ill, you can receive sickness benefits [sjukpenning] instead of parental benefits [Om du blir sjuk kan du få sjukpenning i stället för föräldrapenning] If you fall ill while you are receiving parental benefits and cannot look after your child, you must notify Försäkringskassan of this. You can then receive sickness benefits instead of parental benefits. More about parental benefits and sickness benefit qualifying income [Mer om föräldrapenning och sjukpenninggrundande inkomst] You can work less before the child is born without reducing your sickness benefit qualifying income [Du kan arbeta mindre före förlossningen utan att sänka din sjukpenninggrundande inkomst] If you are pregnant, you can stop working or reduce your working hours within six months of the expected delivery date without having your sickness benefit qualifying income reduced. Different rules for different days [Olika regler för olika dagar] The first 180 days [De första 180 dagarna] Special rules apply to the first 180 days that parental benefits are paid out. To receive parental benefits calculated on your sickness benefit qualifying income during these days, you must have been entitled to benefits that exceed SEK 180 per day for 240 consecutive days before the expected or actual delivery date. When Försäkringskassan makes an assessment of whether you meet the requirement, we proceed from the date 4 (8)

that is most advantageous for you the expected or actual delivery date. If you do not meet the requirement, you will receive benefits at the basic level of SEK 180 per day. If you have worked in another EU or EEA country, you can be credited with this period to bring you up to 240 days and receive parental benefits calculated according to your sickness benefit qualifying income for the first 180 days. When Försäkringskassan makes an assessment of whether you meet the requirements to be entitled to parental benefits based on your sickness benefit qualifying income, we disregard periods when you have received municipal child-raising allowance [vårdnadsbidrag]. This may also apply to periods when you have been abroad as a development assistance worker. Contact Försäkringskassan for more information about this. The other 210 days [De övriga 210 dagarna] The same requirements do not apply to the other 210 days. This means that if you have received the first 180 days at basic level, you can receive benefit at sickness benefit level from day 181 if this provides you with more money than the basic level. You receive the same parental benefit for at least two years [Du behåller samma föräldrapenning i minst två år] Many parents of small children choose to reduce their working hours, which leads to a lower income. You may still keep your parental benefits based on the same sickness benefit qualifying income that you had before the birth of the child until the child turns two. If you as a mother become pregnant again before the child reaches the age of one year and nine months, you and the other parent will retain the same parental benefits after the child turns two even if your sickness benefit qualifying income has decreased. This means that the amount of parental benefits that applied for the first child will also apply for the next child for at least two years. The same applies if you adopt a child within two years and six months of the birth of your previous child or after a previous adoption. You can avoid having your sickness benefits reduced [Du kan undvika att få sänkt sjukpenning] As long as your child is under the age of one, your sickness benefits and temporary parental benefits will be based on your previous sickness benefit qualifying income. However, after the child has turned one, the sickness benefit qualifying income may be reduced to the same level as your actual income. This means that you will receive lower benefits when, for example, you are ill or looking after a sick child. The same rules apply after a year has passed since you adopted a child. 5 (8)

However, you can avoid having your sickness benefit qualifying income reduced after your child turns one. It will remain at the same level as before if you: take out full parental benefits at least five days per week work less than before the child s birth and take out parental benefits corresponding to the reduction in working hours study with study support [studiestöd] are registered as a jobseeker with the Employment Service [Arbetsförmedlingen]. You can follow your wage development [Du får följa löneutvecklingen] If you are employed, you may increase your sickness benefit qualifying income if you have a salary increase. If you are unemployed or self-employed, your sickness benefit qualifying income can be adjusted according to the consumer price index *. Municipal child-raising allowance [Kommunalt vårdnadsbidrag] If you receive municipal child-raising allowance and work less than before, your sickness benefit qualifying income will be reduced. If you do not work at all, it will thus be zero. However, when you no longer receive child-raising allowance, you can have the sickness benefit qualifying income restored to the level you had before taking child-raising allowance. The period with child-raising allowance is thus disregarded. This requires that you meet the conditions for the protection of sickness benefit qualifying income when you stop receiving child-raising allowance. This is the case, for example, if directly after you stop receiving child-raising allowance, you are on sick leave are looking for work and registered with the Employment Service are looking after a child under the age of one. Bear in mind, that if you or the other parent receive parental benefits, unemployment benefits [arbetslöshetsersättning] or an activity grant [aktivitetsstöd], you are not entitled to child-raising allowance for the same calendar month. This may mean that you will not have the same sickness benefit qualifying income as you had before you had child-raising allowance. Your sickness benefit qualifying income will instead be based on your current work income. If you do not have any work income, you are not entitled to sickness benefit qualifying income. You can obtain more information about child-raising allowance from your municipality. What is sickness benefit qualifying income? [Vad är egentligen sjukpenninggrundande inkomst?] Försäkringskassan bases its calculations of your benefits on your sickness benefit qualifying income. Sickness benefit qualifying income is your expected annual income from work, most often twelve times your monthly salary if you are an employee. However, there is a ceiling of 7.5 price base amounts [prisbasbelopp] for sickness * The consumer price index shows average price development in Sweden. 6 (8)

benefit qualifying income. The price base amount for 2011 is SEK 44,000, which means that the highest sickness benefit qualifying income for 2012 is SEK 330,000. However, parental benefits are an exception. When Försäkringskassan calculates how much you can receive in parental benefits, we count income up to ten price base amounts, which is SEK 440,000 for 2012. This means that the highest possible benefit per day is SEK 935. Calculate your benefits [Räkna ut din ersättning!] Parental benefits provide you with just under 80 per cent of your sickness benefit qualifying annual income divided by 365. You can calculate how much you will receive in the following way: Start with your sickness benefit qualifying income. Multiply it by 0.97. Multiply it again by 0.8. Divide the total by 365. The result will be your benefit per day. Example This example is based on a sickness benefit qualifying income of SEK 240,000 240,000 x 0.97 =SEK 232,800 232,800 x 0.8 = SEK 186,240 186,240/365 = SEK 510.24 per day (rounded off to SEK 510) Always report changes! [Anmäl alltid förändringar!] You must notify Försäkringskassan of any changes that affect your entitlement to benefit, for example if: your income decreases you reduce your working hours you work additional hours you or the other parent start to work or receive a pension abroad you, the other parent or the child moves abroad. If you receive benefits you are not entitled to, you will normally be obliged to pay back this benefit. This is the case even if it is not your fault that you have received the benefit. More information [Mer information] The fact sheet is not a legal text on this topic. For more information, read the following fact sheets: Sjukpenninggrundande inkomst (Sickness Benefit Qualifying Annual Income) 7 (8)

You can also read the brochures: Till alla som väntar eller just fått barn (For Everyone Who Is Expecting or Just Had a Child) Till alla barnfamiljer (For all Families with Children) All the informational material can be found at www.forsakringskassan.se. You can also use our self-service options to take care of a number of matters quickly and easily. Dial our self-service line at 020-524 524 to order certificates, forms and brochures. You can also submit certain applications. Questions? [Frågor?] If you have any questions, you can use Hanna, our digital online assistant. She will answer the most common questions about our insurance and services and she will point you towards the information you are looking for. You can also phone our Customer Service Centre directly at 0771-524 524 or dial the National Relay Service for Text Telephony at 90 160. Försäkringskassan checks [Försäkringskassan kontrollerar] Försäkringskassan checks the information you provide such as income, absence from work, civil status or where you live. We exchange information with other authorities and match data from, among others, the National Board of Student Aid [CSN], the unemployment benefit funds and the Swedish Tax Agency [Skatteverket]. It is a criminal offence to deliberately provide incorrect information or fail to report changes which may affect your entitlement to compensation. Försäkringskassan reports all suspected cases of benefit fraud to the police. 8 (8)