Barnbidrag (child allowance)
Barnbidrag is a tax-free monthly payment made for every child living in Sweden. For 2026 it is 1,250 kr per child per month. If you have several children, a large-family supplement (flerbarnstillägg) is added. The money comes automatically from Försäkringskassan, by the 20th of each month at the latest.
Amount and the large-family supplement
The base amount is 1,250 kr per child per month. From the second child a large-family supplement is added that grows with each child: 150 kr for two children, 730 kr for three, 1,740 kr for four and 2,990 kr for five children a month, on top of the allowance itself. A family with three children therefore gets 3,750 kr in child allowance plus 730 kr in supplement, 4,480 kr a month in total. The amount was not raised for 2026.
Tax-free and automatic
The child allowance is entirely tax-free and does not need to be applied for: for children born in Sweden the payment starts automatically. Nor is it means-tested, every parent gets the same regardless of income. That makes the child allowance one of the few completely unconditional cash payments in the Swedish system, and therefore something you can plan around from day one.
From birth to student grant
The child allowance is paid until the quarter before the child turns 16. After that the student grant (studiebidrag) takes over for as long as the child is in upper secondary school, at the same monthly amount of 1,250 kr, but now from CSN, the Swedish Board of Student Finance, rather than Försäkringskassan. For a family it is, in practice, an unbroken support from birth to the end of upper secondary.
Investing the child allowance
The classic personal-finance angle: because the child allowance is unconditional and you may not need every krona of it, it can become powerful saving. Set aside 1,250 kr a month from birth and let it grow at around 7% a year, and it becomes roughly half a million kronor by the time the child turns 18. It is compounding that does the work, not the size of each deposit. The guide on saving for your kids walks through whose name and which account fit.
How it is split between parents
For a child with two guardians the child allowance is by default paid out half to each parent. If you would rather the whole amount went to one of you, you can tell Försäkringskassan. The large-family supplement is counted on the children you have together, and with alternating residence it can be split. If the child lives only with one parent, the whole allowance goes there.
Calculate further
- Child-savings calculator: what regular saving grows into by 18
- Savings calculator: project any monthly amount over time
- Guide: saving for your kids, whose name and which account