Sick child benefits when you work in Sweden
If you work in Sweden and have a child under 12, you may be entitled to temporary parental benefits when you need to stay home with your sick child. Learn how VAB works, when you can receive compensation and how to apply.
What is VAB?
In Sweden, the system for staying home with a sick child is called “care of a sick child” (vård av barn, or VAB). If you need to stay home from work or pause your job search to care for your sick child, you may be entitled to temporary parental benefits (tillfällig föräldrapenning).
Read about VAB at forsakringskassan.se
Temporary parental benefits
If your child under the age of 12 is sick and cannot attend school or pre-school, you may be entitled to stay home from work and receive temporary parental benefits from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, Försäkringskassan. In some cases, you can receive benefits until your child turns 16.
If your child is sick for more than seven days, you must provide a medical certificate from a doctor or nurse. You can receive temporary parental benefits for up to 120 days per child each year.
You may also be entitled to benefits if you need to accompany your child to a health centre, dentist or other healthcare appointment.
The same applies if the person who normally cares for the child is unable to do so, for example due to illness. However, during the final 60 of the 120 days, compensation is only available if the child is sick.
How much compensation can you receive?
Temporary parental benefits are usually just under 80 % of the income used by Försäkringskassan to calculate your sickness benefits (sjukpenninggrundande inkomst, SGI).
If you are employed, your SGI is normally based on your salary. If you have a high income, the full amount may not be included when your SGI is calculated.
Contact Försäkringskassan if you have questions about your SGI or the level of compensation you can receive.
Transfer VAB days to another person
If neither you nor the child’s other parent can stay home from work to care for the child, you can transfer temporary parental benefits to another person who stays home with the child instead.
How to apply for VAB compensation
Once your child has recovered and you have returned to work or resumed looking for work, you must apply for compensation for the days you stayed home with your child. Remember to apply within 30 days from the first day you stayed home.
You can report VAB to Försäkringskassan by phone or online if you have a Swedish personal identity number or electronic identification.
You can also use Försäkringskassan’s “Mina sidor” app to manage your case and view your payments. Please note that you need a Swedish personal identity number to use the app, as a coordination number is not sufficient.
Did you find this information relevant?
Do you want to elaborate?
Got a job in Sweden? Follow these steps
Have you just got a job in Sweden?
We have a checklist with all the practical steps you need to take, and what you should consider
