Föräldrapenning (parental benefit)
Föräldrapenning is the benefit from Försäkringskassan while you are home with a child. It gives 480 days per child, shared between the parents. Most of it is paid at sjukpenningnivå, roughly 80% of your income up to a ceiling, and a smaller part at a flat lägstanivå.
Days and levels
Of the 480 days, 390 are paid at sjukpenningnivå and 90 at lägstanivå. Sjukpenningnivå is about 80% of your SGI up to a ceiling of 10 price base amounts, 592 000 kr for 2026, giving at most 1 259 kr a day. Lägstanivå is 180 kr a day. If you have little or no income you get a grundnivå of 250 kr a day instead of the income-based sjukpenningnivå.
Reserved days and saving them
With joint custody each parent has 90 reserved days at sjukpenningnivå that cannot be handed to the other parent. The rest the parents split freely. The days do not have to be used at once: they can be saved until the child turns 12 or finishes year 5 of school, whichever is later. After the child's fourth birthday, though, you may save at most 96 days.
Transferring days
Since 1 July 2024 you can transfer days to an insured person other than the other parent, for example a grandparent or a friend. With joint custody each parent may hand over up to 45 days, and a sole custodian up to 90 days. The same reform expanded double days, days when both parents are home at once, to 60.
Worked example
Monthly salary 35,000 kr gives an SGI of 420,000 kr. Daily föräldrapenning at sjukpenningnivå: 80% × 0.97 × 420,000 ÷ 365 ≈ 893 kr. With joint custody, each parent gets 195 of the 390 sjukpenningnivå days (893 × 195 = about 174,000 kr) plus 45 lägstanivå days at 180 kr (8,100 kr). If your salary exceeds the 10 PBB ceiling (592 000 kr), you cap at 1 259 kr per day.
Calculate further
- Parental benefit calculator: model your days and amounts
- Parental benefit guide: the full planning picture
- SGI: the income measure behind the benefit