Care of a sick child (VAB)
Care of a sick child (vab) is when you stay home from work or cannot receive unemployment benefit to take care of a sick child. The compensation you receive when caring for a sick child is called temporary parental benefit.
Can I receive compensation for caring for a sick child?
You can receive compensation for caring for a sick child
- from the date the child is 8 months old up until the day before the child turns 12. There are times when you are entitled to compensation even if the child is older, younger or covered by the Act regarding Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments (LSS). Read more about this in Frequently asked questions.
- if you stay home from work or refrain from receiving unemployment benefit to take care of a sick child.
- if you accompany the child to the doctor, children's health centre, dentist, or child and adolescent psychiatric services.
- if you are home with the child because the ordinary caregiver is sick.
- if you are participating in a course arranged by a healthcare provider in order to learn how to care for your child.
- if you are insured in Sweden. You usually are if you live or work here.
- if the child lives in Sweden or within the EU/EEA or Switzerland.
How much money will I get?
In the “Kassakollen” function, you can see how much money you can receive when caring for a sick child. The compensation for caring for a sick child is a little less than 80 per cent of your regular income, but there is a maximum limit for how much money you can receive.
How many days can I take for the care of a sick child?
You can receive compensation for caring for a sick child for maximum 120 days per year. For the final 60 days, you can only receive the compensation if the child is sick and not if the child's regular caregiver is sick.
If there are several people caring for the sick child, you can share the compensation days.
How do I apply for compensation for care of a sick child (vab)?
1. Apply for temporary parental benefit for care of a sick child
Once the child has recovered and you are back at work or begin to seek work again, you must apply for compensation for the days you cared for the child. Remember to apply no more than 90 days from the first day you were home with the child.
Apply for temporary parental benefit (vab) (in Swedish) (login)
If the child is sick for more than one week
Beginning with the eighth day of sickness, you must send in a certificate from a doctor or nurse. The days for which you do not take compensation for care of a sick child, for example Saturdays and Sundays, also count as part of the sickness period. Send the certificate to Försäkringskassans inläsningscentral, 839 88 Östersund.
2. Disbursement
If you apply no later than the 10th, the money will be paid out on the 25th of the same month.
If you apply after the 10th, your money will be paid out on the 25th of the next month.
If we need more information from you, this may affect the disbursement date. We will contact you if this is the case. The problem is usually that we have not received a doctor's certificate if the child has been sick longer than a week or a doctor’s statement if the child is seriously ill. It could also be the case that we need more information from the doctor.
When will the disbursement appear on My pages (Mina sidor)?
As soon as we have processed your application, you can see your preliminary disbursements under Disbursements (Utbetalningar) on My pages (Mina sidor). The actual disbursement will be shown 1 bank day before the money arrives.
3. Keep track with the vab calendar
My pages (Mina sidor) contains the vab calendar, where you can see when and how many days you, the other parent or any closely related person cared for a sick child.
You can:
- share the calendar with the other parent or other closely related persons who cared for the child during sickness, and see a breakdown of who used which days.
- keep track of whose turn it is to stay home the next time the child gets sick.
- see all days you applied for or received compensation for this year and last year.
- choose if you want to look at one or more children
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