Children in Sweden

The Importance of Children:
Sweden's Social Welfare Policy

Sweden places a major importance on their children. They do everything in their power to ensure the children of the country have a good future, and that their parents can take care of them finanicially and physically. Sweden's social welfare gives every parent a child allowance, an opportunity for their child to obtain a loan for their university studies and a loan for adults wanting to go back to school, and a set amount of money for the parents when the have a child so they can support the child, as well as themselves, while out of work. The loan given to the children allow the student to study and have some ting to live off of. They do not have to work and study at the same time, if they do not want to.

Parental Leave
When a mother has a child, she or her husband are given fifteen months of pay, while out of work, to split between the two of them any time during the first eight years of the child's life. After the child is born, the mother or the father can take anywhere from a year to a year and a half off of work and receive eighty percent of their normal pay up to a maximum of $35,300. The parent gets paid the flat rate of eight dollars a day for the remaining ninety days. This is called parental benefit. The parents are also given three months off of work yearly, with pay, for childcare or sickness. This gives parents time to spend with their kids and also a chance to work while supporting their children. This social system makes the povert level in Sweden practically invisible. Sweden cares so much for their children, and only wants the best for them.

References:
Berhardt, E.M. (1988). The Choice of Part-Time Work Among Swedish One-Child Mothers.European Journal of Population,4:117-144.
Netzer, Baie. (1993). Sweden: How to Care For Our Young Ones. Money, 22:76.>
Olah, L. (1999). Do Public Policies Influence Fertility? Evidence from Sweden and Hungary from a Gender Perspective. http://www.suda.su.seStockholm Research Reports In Demography,30:3-55.
Olsson, S.E.(1993). Social Policy and Welfare State In Sweden. Lund: Arkiv.
Ziegert, K. (1987). Children's Rights and the Supportive Function of Law: The Case of Sweden. Journal of Comparative Family Studies,18:157-174.

The purpose of this page is to educate browsers about the diversity in Sweden. This page was created by Kate Harris, Magda Hayes, and Sheri Goldberg as a collaborative website project forTulane University's Children and Society Freshman Writing Seminar. You can view the other country websites by going to Childhood Around the World. The class was instructed by Professor April Brayfield.