Parents in Sweden can now transfer paid parental leave days to people who are not a legal guardian, including grandparents and friends.
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00:00Grandparents in Sweden can now be paid to take care of their grandchildren.
00:07The Swedish Social Insurance Agency launched a new scheme in July this year to provide
00:12flexibility for various types of families.
00:16The scheme helps parents like Maria Karlsson, a single working mother whose parents often
00:21help her take care of her three-year-old son, Liam.
00:25I have had my mother who has helped and supported me a lot since he was born.
00:32She has helped to unload and supported me, so it has been worth the gold.
00:37It has been really good.
00:39That's why I think it's nice that I can leave her for a few days so that she can get some
00:43kind of compensation.
00:45I help her twice a week.
00:47It's almost like a routine.
00:50I have helped her every week.
00:53It's good for me to have a lot of money.
00:57I have more and more.
01:01Sweden's new parental leave rules allow parents to transfer up to 45 days of their paid leave
01:06to someone who isn't the child's legal guardian.
01:09For single parents, up to 90 days can be transferred per child from the total 480 days.
01:16The director of operations of parental insurance at Sweden's social insurance agency says the
01:21new law also aims to improve parents' work-life balance and promote gender equality.
01:26The minister who introduced the law hopes Sweden might set an example for the rest of Europe.
01:32We think that this could be a good example for the entire Europe to have the flexibility
01:39and to encourage young people to have children but also stay on the labor market and to have
01:48an active work life and an active parent life at the same time.
01:53By the end of August, almost 1,500 people in Sweden transferred days to someone who
01:58was not the other guardian, Sweden's social insurance agency told Euronews.