Försäkringskassan for Newcomers: Child Allowance, Parental Benefit and Sick Pay in Sweden

Buddy Hive
8 min read · Oct 11, 2026

Försäkringskassan, the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, pays most of the benefits a new family relies on: child allowance (barnbidrag), parental benefit (föräldrapenning), sickness benefit after your employer's first two weeks of sick pay, and VAB when you stay home with a sick child.

There is no single "register" button. Försäkringskassan checks whether you are insured when you apply or, if you have children, contacts you once your family has a personnummer. This guide covers who is insured, what to do and when, the main benefits, and the new qualification rule for people who move to Sweden from 1 January 2027.

Photo: Radik 2707 on Pexels

The journey at a glance

1. Get your personnummer. Försäkringskassan uses Skatteverket's population register.
2. Get BankID so you can log in to My pages (Mina sidor).
3. Give Försäkringskassan your details: it contacts families with children, and everyone else does it when they first apply.
4. Check that child allowance has started if you have children.
5. Plan parental leave and apply on My pages.
6. Know the sick pay rules: tell your employer on day 1, apply to Försäkringskassan from day 15.

Who is insured

Swedish social insurance has two parts:

• Work-based benefits: sickness benefit, income-based parental benefit, VAB and work injury benefit. Anyone who works in Sweden is generally insured for these, from their first day of work.
• Residence-based benefits: child allowance, parental benefit at the basic and minimum levels, housing allowance and some others. These are for people who live in Sweden, which usually means you plan to stay at least a year and are registered with Skatteverket.

What that means for you:

• On a work permit: you are covered by both once you are registered and working.
• Partner on a family permit: covered for residence-based benefits, and for work-based ones once they work in Sweden.
• Student from outside the EU: generally not insured, except for work-based benefits if you work alongside your studies.

Official source: Försäkringskassan: insured in Sweden

New from 1 January 2027: the qualification rule

The Riksdag decided in May 2026 that people who settle in Sweden from 1 January 2027 must qualify before they get residence-based benefits. Before that, newcomers could get them straight away.

If you settled in Sweden before 1 January 2027, the rule does not apply to you, and benefits already granted are not taken away.

You qualify in one of three ways:

• Residence: you have lived in Sweden for five years within the last 15. Time in another EU or EEA country counts.
• Higher work income: at least SEK 40,032 a month for six months in a row.
• Lower work income: at least SEK 20,850 a month in 12 of the last 24 months.

The amounts are for 2026 and follow the income base amount (inkomstbasbelopp), so they change every year. Only income earned after you moved to Sweden counts.

What this means for a typical Indian family arriving in 2027:

• The working parent usually qualifies after six months on a full-time salary.
• Each parent qualifies on their own. A partner who is not working does not qualify through the other's salary.
• Child allowance: if only one parent qualifies, that parent gets the whole child allowance.
• Parental benefit: if only one parent qualifies, that parent controls all the days until the other qualifies.
• Housing allowance: couples apply together and both must qualify.

Official sources: Försäkringskassan: qualification requirements, Riksdagen: the decision (in Swedish)

Step 1: Get your personnummer and BankID

Försäkringskassan works from Skatteverket's population register, so register with Skatteverket first. Everyone in the family needs to be registered, children included. See our personnummer guide.

You do not strictly need BankID, as most things can also be done by form and post, but it makes everything faster. You log in to My pages with it to apply, check payments and send documents. See our bank account and BankID guide.

Step 2: Give Försäkringskassan your details

• With children under 16: Försäkringskassan contacts you once you are all registered with Skatteverket, to check whether you and your children should be insured. Answer quickly, as child allowance waits on it.
• Without children: you send in your details yourself, usually when you first apply for a benefit.

You do this in the e-service "Lämna uppgifter vid arbete, studier eller flytt utomlands" on My pages, or on form 5456 (Information when moving to or working in Sweden) if you cannot use the e-service. Each adult who applies for a benefit sends their own details, and you include your children in yours.

Have ready your passport, residence permit card, work contract and the date you moved. If you lived or worked in another country before Sweden, say so.

Official source: Försäkringskassan: moving to Sweden

Step 3: Child allowance (barnbidrag)

Child allowance is SEK 1,250 a month per child, tax-free, paid until the quarter the child turns 16. You do not apply. It starts automatically once you and your child are insured.

For children born on or after 1 March 2014, the money is split equally between both parents unless you tell Försäkringskassan otherwise. You can choose to have it all paid to one parent on My pages.

Check My pages a month or two after your children are registered. If nothing has started, call Försäkringskassan.

Official source: Försäkringskassan: child allowance

Step 4: Parental benefit (föräldrapenning)

Parents get 480 days of parental benefit per child, to use until the child turns 12 or finishes year 5 of school:

• 390 days at sickness benefit level: about 80 percent of your income, up to SEK 1,259 a day in 2026.
• 90 days at the minimum level: SEK 180 a day.
• Each parent has 90 days that cannot be transferred to the other. A single parent with sole custody gets all 480.
• From the child's fourth birthday you can save at most 96 days.
• You can take benefit for whole days or parts of days, and up to 60 days with both parents at home together.

Apply on My pages within 90 days of the first day you want paid, and tell your employer about your leave in good time, normally at least two months before.

If your baby is born soon after you move

For the first 180 days at sickness benefit level, you need to have had a qualifying income of at least SEK 7,083 a month for 240 days before the due date. If you have worked in Sweden for less time than that, you get SEK 250 a day for those days instead. After that, your benefit is based on your income.

If your child was born in India

The number of days depends on the child's age when they settle in Sweden:

• Before their first birthday: the full 480 days.
• Before their second birthday: at most 200 days.
• After their second birthday: at most 100 days.

Official sources: Försäkringskassan: parental benefit, Försäkringskassan: föräldrapenning (in Swedish)

Step 5: Sick pay, sickness benefit and VAB

When you are ill and cannot work:

1. Day 1: tell your employer you are sick.
2. Days 1–14: your employer pays sick pay (sjuklön), minus a waiting-day deduction (karensavdrag) worth 20 percent of an average week's sick pay.
3. Day 8: give your employer a doctor's certificate. Some collective agreements ask for it earlier.
4. From day 15: your employer reports your illness to Försäkringskassan, and you apply for sickness benefit on My pages. It is about 80 percent of your income up to the ceiling. The first payment comes within 30 days of a complete application.

VAB (temporary parental benefit) is for when you stay home with a sick child from 8 months old until they turn 12:

• Up to 120 days a year per child.
• Tell your employer as early as you can that day.
• Apply on My pages within 30 days.
• A certificate from a doctor or nurse is needed from day 8.

Official sources: Försäkringskassan: sickness benefit, Försäkringskassan: care of a sick child (VAB)

Sent to Sweden by an Indian employer?

Many Indians in Sweden are on assignment from an Indian IT company. The India–Sweden social security agreement lets posted workers stay in India's system for pensions, usually for up to 24 months (sometimes extended), with a certificate of coverage from EPFO. It covers pensions and long-term disability benefits only. It does not cover parental benefit, sickness benefit or child allowance, so those follow the normal Swedish rules above.

If your salary is paid from India rather than through a Swedish payroll, ask Försäkringskassan how it will work out your income for sickness and parental benefit, and, if you move from 2027, whether that income counts towards qualifying.

Official source: Försäkringskassan: working in Sweden (in Swedish)

Common problems

• Child allowance has not started. Check that every child is registered with Skatteverket, answer any letter from Försäkringskassan, then call if nothing happens.
• Parental benefit is only SEK 250 a day. You have probably not met the 240-day income rule yet. Later days are paid on your income.
• Your partner gets no child allowance (from 2027). Only the parent who has qualified gets it. It is paid in full to them, so the family total is the same.
• Försäkringskassan asks for more documents. Send them quickly. Missing work contracts and dates of moving are the usual cause of delays.
• You get calls or texts asking you to log in with BankID. Försäkringskassan never asks you to do that. Hang up and log in yourself at forsakringskassan.se.
• You do not speak Swedish. The Customer Centre on 0771-524 524 can book an interpreter, and the website has information in English and other languages.

After you are set up

1. Choose a vårdcentral (health centre) near home through 1177.
2. Apply for förskola or school through your kommun if you have children. See our school and förskola guide.
3. Sign up for SFI, the free Swedish course. See our SFI guide.

Our free Sweden newcomer checklist puts all of these in order and tracks what you have done.

Useful official links

• Försäkringskassan: moving to Sweden
• Försäkringskassan: qualification requirements from 2027
• Försäkringskassan: child allowance
• Försäkringskassan: parental benefit
• Försäkringskassan: sickness benefit
• Försäkringskassan: current amounts (in Swedish)
• Our guide: how to get a personnummer in Sweden
• Our guide: how to open a bank account and get BankID