5 Temporary parental allowance

Entitlement to temporary parental benefit is enjoyed by an insured parent who refrains from carrying out doctoral studies and whose stipend is reduced in connection with the birth of a child or its need of care or in connection with the death of a child.

Temporary parental benefit is granted only to the parent who is a doctoral student (the insured) and cannot be transferred to another custodian.

Compensation is paid for a maximum of 120 days per child and year.

5.1 Benefits

Temporary parental benefit is granted according to the following benefit levels: Full, three-quarter, half, one-quarter or one-eighth temporary parental benefit is granted for a day when a parent has completely refrained from studies and whose stipend has been fully reduced in a corresponding amount (full, three-quarter, half, one-quarter or one-eighth).

5.2 Care of children under the age of 12

A parent is entitled to temporary parental benefit to take care of a child under the age of 12 if the parent needs to refrain from gainful employment in connection with:

• Illness or contagious infection in the child,

• illness or contagious infection in the child's ordinary carer,

• a visit to the community preventive child health services or

• a care requirement arising as a result of the child's other parent visiting a doctor with another child of either parent, provided that the latter child is covered by the provisions of temporary parental benefit.

5.3 Special rules for children under the age of 8 months

In the case of care for a child younger than 240 days, temporary parental benefit as above is granted only if childcare arrangements are of a permanent nature. Beyond this, compensation is granted only if the child is being cared for in hospital or is receiving equivalent care in the home.

In the case of care for a child 240 days or older, temporary parental benefit as above is not granted for any period for which parental benefit would otherwise have been granted. However, this does not apply if the child is being cared for in hospital.

Equated with hospital care is temporary care in transitional housing for children covered by Section 1 of the Act (1993:387) concerning Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments.

5.4 Children under the age of 12 with special needs

A parent of a sick or disabled child under the age of 12 is entitled to temporary parental benefit when the parent needs to refrain from gainful employment in connection with:

• A visit to an institution in order to participate in the child's treatment or in order to learn how to take care of the child,

• participation in a course arranged by a healthcare authority for the same purpose as stated in 1),

• a visit to a doctor because the child suffers from a serious illness,

• a visit to a doctor as part of the child's treatment or

• participation in treatment that is prescribed by a doctor for the same purpose as stated in 4).

Temporary parental benefit is granted for a total of no more than 60 days for each child and year.

If the parent needs to refrain from gainful employment for reasons stated above, temporary parental benefit is granted in addition for no more than 60 days for each child and year.

5.5 Children aged 12 or over, but under the age of 16

A parent is entitled to temporary parental benefit to take care of a child aged 12 or over, but under the age of 16, if it has been confirmed that the child is in need of special supervision or care due to:

• Illness

• cognitive disability or

• other disability.

A parent is entitled to temporary parental benefit only if he or she needs to refrain from gainful employment for reasons stated in 5.3 above.

In the case of a period for which parental benefit would have otherwise been granted, a parent is entitled to temporary parental benefit only if the child is being cared for in hospital.

5.6 Care of children covered by LSS

Parents of a child covered by the Act concerning Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments (LSS) can receive compensation for care of a child aged 16 or over but under the age of 21, and in some cases up to 23 years of age.

Parents of a child under the age of 16 who is covered by LSS may be granted contact days. Contact days are paid for at most ten days per child and year. The contact days may, for example, be used for visits to preschool and school.

5.7 Care of a seriously ill child

Parents of a seriously ill child under the age of 18 are entitled to temporary parental benefit when they need to refrain from gainful employment to take care of the child.

A child is considered to be seriously ill when there is a significant danger to the child’s life, or when the child is receiving treatment for their illness and their life is in danger without this treatment.

Temporary parental benefit is granted for an unlimited number of days.

The days that are taken out for care of a seriously ill child do not affect the 120 days per year that parents are entitled to for care of sick child.

5.8 Calculating temporary parental benefit

Temporary parental benefit is calculated in accordance with the provisions on sickness benefit at the normal level and Compensation Qualifying Income, but with the exception of the provisions on waiting days and the calculation basis for sickness benefit at the continuation level.

For full temporary parental benefit, the level of compensation corresponds to the parent's calculation basis for sickness benefit at the normal level based on a Compensation Qualifying Income calculated as follows (the calculation basis).

Temporary parental benefit calculated per whole calendar day is equivalent to the ratio between the calculation basis above and 365. Temporary parental benefit is rounded to the nearest whole krona, whereby 50 öre is rounded up.