Swedish benefits
The 10 best reasons to move to Sweden
The Swedish flag at the end of the rainbow
This post will convince you to move to Sweden, even if you fear high taxes, hate the cold and dark, detest Abba and herring, and tremble with the thought of “Swedish socialism“.
10 reasons why you should move to Sweden.
1. Swedish benefits are the best in the world.
Five weeks paid vacation to start. More if you’re older or work for the government.
480 days of paid parental leave = Happy Kids = Good society
Parents get a total of 480 parental days for each child. For most of those days you’ll earn 80% of a salary of up to roughly $45,000 per year, which in Sweden is very good money. Parents have time to bond with their children — one reason why Sweden was recently ranked the best place in the world to grow up.
Cheap daycare, unlimited sick days and free healthcare, need I go on?
2. High taxes aren’t high if you are getting your money’s worth.
I don’t think taxes are too high in Sweden. Yes, if you are a billionaire, like IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad, then you are going to pay a lot of taxes, which is why he moved to Switzerland in 1976.
Even Americans agree the progressive tax system in Sweden is just. A recent poll shows Americans prefer the Swedish system, they just don’t know it.
My income tax is 30%, which is normal by Swedish standards.
Sweden does have a 25% value added tax or consumption tax. That’s high, which is why Swedes go shopping like crazy when they are in the US.
But look at how much I get.
There is universal healthcare in Sweden. You don’t pay anything unless you have to go to the doctor. In that case, you pay a small amount per visit. Last year, I went to see a back surgeon and I paid around $40. For a normal visit to a clinic if you get sick, you’ll pay around $20. For kids under 18, you pay nothing. That’s right, nothing!
Daycare is heavily subsidized. It costs about $120 a month, but you get a monthly child benefit from the government which covers those costs. So basically daycare is free.
And, oh yeah, University is free.
Overall, I am happy with the taxes I pay in Sweden because I get a lot back. I’d rather skip paying the middle man for the essential services, which in the US tends to be huge corporations like insurance and pharmaceutical companies. No thanks, leave them out, I’d rather pay direct to the government.
Want more details on all the Swedish benefits? Check out Sweden.se, an invaluable website that describes all the Swedish benefits in detail.
3. It is cold and dark and then sunny and perfect
Honestly, I didn’t like the cold and dark when I moved here, and I’m not sure I like it now. But the extreme weather doesn’t slow Swedes down at all.
They’re out and about all winter long. They cross-country and downhill ski, ice skate, play hockey, take walks, run, sled, drink coffee, and even put their babies outside to sleep in their carriages. I was amazed the first time I saw it, but it’s true. They say it’s good for them. My kids do it too.
The summer is incredible.
The sun rises before you wake up and sets after you go to bed. If you work until 5 pm, you’ll have 5-6 hours of sun after work. That’s quality time for swimming, kayaking, walking, or picknicking — practically a professional sport here.
Celebrations like Midsummer’s Eve and the August Crayfish party (Even Will Ferrell loves crayfish parties…and Swedish sex habits) are the perfect way to salute the sun.
4. The people are beautiful and they dress well.
OK, this statement is subjective, but I’ve yet to hear anyone challenge it. Do you dare?
5. Sweden is a great place for women
If it’s good for women, it’s good for everyone. This Marie Claire article, reports that women thrive in Sweden, citing a 2005 report from the World Economic Forum that named Sweden the “most advanced country” for women.
6. Get green
If one of the most comprehensive public transportation systems in the world sound good to you, move to Sweden. Trains and buses go everywhere, from the big cities to small skiing villages like Åre in the Swedish mountains.
Take my family as an example. We are a family of four, with two children, and we don’t have a car, even though we live in a suburb. Can you do that where you live?
Stockholm was named Europe’s first Green Capital in 2010. Among the reasons cited by the European Union are the city’s successful 25% cut in emissions since 1990, large number of green areas, and the city’s ambitious goal to be independent of fossil fuels by 2050.
All throughout Sweden the air is clean, there is tons of nature and the water is perfect for drinking and swimming.
7. Transparent politics
Sweden always ranks among the top countries in the world in transparency with low levels of corruption. Yes, politicians are still politicians, but in Sweden they are less shady.
8. Strong, independent media
This is the main factor ensuring reason #7 remains on the list. I’ve seen TV shows, both investigative reporting and documentaries, on Swedish public TV that never in a million years would be shown on American public or network TV — maybe not even on cable.
The Swedish media does its job. Journalists cover the important stories, know they should and aren’t afraid to. This, in turn, creates an educated population and a transparent government.
9. You are in Europe
Close to all the other European countries. That means weekend trips, skiing in the Alps, drinking Pinot Noir and savoring fresh mozzarella in Italy, touring the museums of Paris, and anything else you can think of.
10. Will Ferrell is practically a Swede
He is married to one and comes to Sweden for a good part of the summer. Watch the film.
Did I miss any?
Ralph Nader asks what Swedes do with 7 vacation weeks
Ralph Nader called America’s faith in the free market a “destructive ideology” last night in Stockholm.
Ralph Nader spoke at the Hotel Rival in Stockholm last night at a seminar discussing “The Do’s and Dont’s of a Green Society – Alternatives for Sustainable Development.” Among those on the stage were representatives from Fair Trade, Green Peace and the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation.
In this video clip of Nader’s speech, he lists some of the benefits Swedes get out of their system — free healthcare and university, extensive public transportation system, cheap daycare, parental leave, weeks of vacations, and paid sick leave. “I don’t know what you do seven weeks of the year,” joked Nader, who is in the midst of a Scandinavian speaking tour.
He said Americans get none of these benefits “because of the destructive ideology that the free market was the best system and was going to take care of everything, even though it wasn’t a free market.”
You’re not in New Jersey anymore
Being a man...this is with Olivia
A woman in a hard hat and I am changing diapers.
Every now and then I get a reminder that I live in Sweden. Usually, it is something that happens, a series of events or something I see, that feels super Swedish. Something you can’t experience anywhere else.
I had a you’re-not-in-New-Jersey-anymore moment today.
I dropped off Olivia at daycare and then went to open daycare with Herman, my 7-month-old. Open daycare is a place where parents on parental leave in Sweden take their children to play and sing songs. Many parents feel isolated while at home with their children. For them, open daycare is an oasis of interaction and often acts like a community center. Best of all, it’s free.
At open daycare, Herman played with an orange stuffed dinosaur hanging from the ceiling. I talked to a mom I had just met about her 6-month-old son and we had the typical compare your baby conversation.
Then Herman got hungry. Then he pooped. Then he got tired. So I left open daycare and put him in the bicycle carriage and headed for home.
On the way, I saw a woman in a hard hat, jackhammer in hand, working on a construction site.
Now I know it’s the 21st century, and women construction workers are not as uncommon as they used to be. In Sweden, more so than in America, many women work in traditionally men-only professions — construction, politics, law enforcement.
I’m used to it after five years in Sweden.
What made today a you’re-not-in-New-Jersey-anymore moment was that I had just come from open daycare, from giving the bottle, changing diapers and baby conversations — all traditionally motherly and womanly activities. And now, me the man, the father home for five months with his 7-month-old, had just passed a woman whose current task it was to make a big hole in the ground.
It felt cool. I felt cool. What an opportunity I have, I thought.
But then I started to wonder, “Is it unnatural — does it go against biology- that I’m doing what I’m doing and she’s doing what she’s doing?” After some thought, the conclusion I came to was no. It wasn’t unnatural and I am comfortable in my roll as a stay-at-home dad. Actually, I take pride in it.
I think most men in Sweden would agree, but what about men in other countries? What’s your take? Does staying home with the kids and doing a job traditionally done by woman fly in the face of nature?
Share your opinions.
Is Swedish paternity leave the best in the world?
Paternity leave here we come – share your stories
My new bosses during paternity leave
Today work, tommorow paternity leave. I’m on the edge of the precipice. The next major stage of this interesting life. Five months home with my 7-month-old Herman.
It’s a strange feeling to know you’ll be on pappaledighet, which means free from work, but home as pappa. This is the second time I’ll be taking paternity leave and I’m not confused about the challenges and joys I will face.
First, let’s get one thing out of the way right now. It ain’t being free. Paternity leave is hard work. But it’s different than your normal work. For one thing, you trade in your real boss for a smaller one that is cuter and that you actually love, and would jump in front of a car for. That’s a plus.
Sweden is unparalleled in the world for the benefits it affords to fathers who stay home with their children. I’ll basically get 90 percent of my pay to be home. For our family that means no financial worries to raise your kids. It’s also nice to know that I am reaping the benefits of the high Swedish taxes I pay.
So with no financial worries and no real boss, my thoughts move to how to best take advantage of the time I’ll have with my kids. It’s a future, just one day away, that is completely up in the air.
That’s both exciting and scary.
Now, for all of you fathers who have had the incredible opportunity to be on paternity leave, please share the best and worst thing about it. And then the funniest anecdote.
Here’s one of my favorite memories. Watch the video. It’s called goats and snot.
Don’t you just want my Swedish vacation?
First week of Swedish vacation in the Stockholm archipelago
I talked to my brother yesterday on the phone. “I’m jealous of you man,” he said. “I can’t figure out how you’ve had three weeks of vacation. Then you’re going to take three more in the states and be away from work on father leave for six months. What does your boss say?”
That’s Sweden, I told him. You have the right to vacation and bosses don’t mess with you because they are on vacation too. There’s no fear of taking time off like in some countries. In Sweden, the boss encourages it.
There is good and bad about any country. In Sweden, one of the goods is if you have a full-time job, you start with 25 paid vacation days. Those days are required by law, and don’t include public holidays.
In fact, in most industrialized nations, vacation is required by law. Unfortunately, not in the US.
Second week of Swedish vacation on the Skanör beach in the southwest tip of Sweden
When my wife and I talk about moving to the United States, we know one of the hardest adjustments will be lack of vacation time.
Aren’t there any people fighting to increase the amount of vacation Americans get?
