The Scandinavian countries are known for their progressive social policies.
The latest is from Sweden, where grandparents have been granted paid parental leave for their grandchildren.
The Swedish government’s Social Insurance Agency – Försäkringskassan, announced that from July 1 parents will be able to transfer parental leave to their child’s grandparents for up to 45 days of a child’s first year or 90 days for single parents.
It makes a great deal of sense. According to Australian government figures two in five grandparents with a grandchild aged under 13 years were providing some child care. The proportion providing child care was higher (63 per cent) if the youngest grandchild was under 10 years rather than 10–12 years (33 per cent).
Would you like to see a similar program in Australia?
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