Welfare & Social Insurance in Sweden

The Swedish welfare model

Sweden has a universal welfare state: most benefits are available to everyone who lives and works in Sweden, regardless of income. The system is funded by taxes and aims to give people security through life — when they have children, get sick, lose their job, or retire. This is one of the cornerstones of Swedish society and a recurring theme on the medborgarskapsprovet.

Welfare in Sweden is divided between three levels: the state (mainly Försäkringskassan and Pensionsmyndigheten), the regions (healthcare), and the kommuner (social services, schools, elder care).

Försäkringskassan — Sweden's social insurance agency

Försäkringskassan is the state agency that pays out most social insurance benefits. To receive most benefits you need to be registered as living in Sweden (folkbokförd) and usually have a personnummer.

The biggest benefits Försäkringskassan handles include:

• Föräldrapenning — parental leave benefit (480 days per child).
• Sjukpenning — sick benefit when you can't work due to illness.
• Barnbidrag — child allowance, paid every month for each child.
• Bostadsbidrag — housing benefit for low-income families and young people.
• Sjukersättning / aktivitetsersättning — long-term disability benefits.
• VAB — temporary parental benefit for caring for a sick child.

Parental leave — 480 days per child

Sweden has one of the most generous parental leave systems in the world. Parents share 480 days of paid parental leave per child. Out of those, 90 days are reserved for each parent and cannot be transferred — this is meant to encourage shared parenting. The rest can be split as the parents prefer.

Days can be used until the child turns 12, but most of them must be used before the child turns 4. The benefit pays around 80% of your salary up to a ceiling, with a smaller flat-rate for unemployed parents.

Sick benefits and child allowance

If you're employed and can't work because of illness, the first day is unpaid (karensdag compensated as karensavdrag). For days 2–14 your employer pays sick pay (sjuklön). From day 15 Försäkringskassan pays sjukpenning at around 80% of your income, up to a ceiling.

Barnbidrag is paid every month for every child under 16 living in Sweden — currently 1,250 kr per child, plus a supplement for families with several children. From age 16 students get a similar amount as studiebidrag instead.

The Swedish pension system

Sweden's pension has three parts:

• Allmän pension — the public pension paid by Pensionsmyndigheten, based on your lifetime income. Includes inkomstpension and premiepension.
• Tjänstepension — occupational pension, normally paid by your employer through a collective agreement. Most employees get this.
• Privat pension — your own savings and investments for retirement.

If you have lived a long time in Sweden but earned little, you can get garantipension as a basic guarantee.

Socialtjänsten and försörjningsstöd

Each kommun has a social services department (socialtjänsten) responsible for elder care, addiction support, child protection, and emergency support for adults and families. If you have no income or savings and can't get other benefits, you can apply for försörjningsstöd (also called socialbidrag) as a last resort. It's a needs-tested, temporary benefit that requires you to actively look for work.

What else is on the test?

Welfare & Social Insurance is just one of 20 topic areas covered on the medborgarskapsprovet. The other 19 cover democracy, fundamental laws, history, healthcare, education, work, taxes, housing, geography, integration, and Swedish values. See the full topic list →