Swedish parents increasingly use new temporary parental‑leave scheme

At the turn of the year, Sweden expanded temporary parental‑benefit (vab) to cover meetings such as school appointments for children’s illness or disability. By the end of June, nearly 2,500 parents had taken advantage of the new provision, a small fraction of the 626,200 total vab users this year.

Most of the usage was for school‑related meetings, with about 1,600 parents citing this reason. The benefit also applies to instructions for child self‑care (e.g., diabetes, eczema) and meetings with social services. The majority of the cases involved eleven‑year‑old boys, reflecting higher diagnoses of ADHD and autism among boys and the associated need for school support.