Becoming and being a parent is the best thing in life. I'm sure many people can attest to that. But being an entrepreneur and a parent can be difficult at times. There are not as clear times and frameworks as there might be if you are employed. There are also some other differences between being an employee and being self-employed that can be useful to know.
If you are or will be a self-employed parent
As a self-employed person, you can get compensation from Försäkringskassan if you have to stay at home to take care of your child. The amount of the allowance depends on how much you earn or how much surplus you make from your business.
Sole proprietorship, partnership or limited partnership
If you are a parent, or about to become a parent, the same rules apply to those who have their own business as to those who are employed by a company. What is different from being an employee is that Försäkringskassan calculates your basic income for sickness benefits, often referred to as SGI, based on your expected income from the business.
How do you calculate it then?
It is simply the income from the profit or loss of the business after deducting expenses, charges and provisions for accruals. The Tax Agency determines the income from the activity on the basis of the declaration. It is not always easy to calculate your SGI, as you can read more in the article with Tom and Rebecka in Nässjö.
Limited company
If you are going to be or are a parent, exactly the same rules apply to you as to an employee. The parental benefit you receive is based on the salary you receive from your company. If you are paid a low salary, or no salary at all, you can only receive compensation at guarantee level.
So it's important to take a salary if you own and run a limited company!
Start-ups
If you have a start-up company and a relatively low income, you will receive a basic income for sickness benefit for the first three years that is actually equivalent to what an employee with equivalent work, education and experience would have received from Försäkringskassan.
Flexibility is good for entrepreneurs
A positive aspect for many entrepreneurs is that they do not have to take full days of parental benefit. So you can take parental leave for part of the day and then work the other part of the day. You can also make changes afterwards if you have applied for parental benefit for one day, but instead had to work part or all of the day.
Parental leave for self-employed persons
Whether you have or adopt a child, you are entitled to parental leave until the child is one and a half years old. If you have employees who want to take parental leave, they must give at least two months' notice before they want to take time off work.
Parents of one child receive a total of 480 days of parental benefit. They can be taken as full days or as partial days. One parent can choose not to take the days and let the other parent take them, but 90 days are reserved for each parent that cannot be given to the other parent. Depending on whether the child was born before or after 2014, days can be taken until the child is 8 (before 2014) or 12 (after 2014) years old. If there is joint custody, the parents are entitled to half of the 480 days.
As mentioned above, you and your partner are entitled to a total of 240 days of parental benefit each. However, 195 of these are based on your basic income and 45 of them are based on a minimum level of 180 SEK/day - regardless of income!
The first ten days
If you are not pregnant, you are entitled to take 10 days off in connection with the birth. You can take these days off at any time of the week, provided you would have been working during that time. You can only take 5 days in a 7-day period.
Pregnancy benefit
If an employee has physically demanding duties, pregnancy allowance may be granted. An expectant mother has the right to be off work for the entire time she is receiving pregnancy benefit from the Social Insurance Agency. If there are risks in the working environment for the pregnant employee, she may be entitled to pregnancy benefit if she is not allowed to continue working.
Smart planning tools and e-services at Försäkringskassan
Find out more and plan your parental leave with smart tools and services on the Swedish Social Insurance Agency's website. Easily log in to My Pages with BankID, apply for parental benefit, VAB (Care of Child) and much more. You can also get tips, smart checklists and things to think about as a parent-to-be, parent and business owner.
Balancing life as a business owner and parent
Sick children, deadlines, holidays, finances and much more. Being an entrepreneur and a parent is hectic. The jigsaw of life can be difficult at times, although many times being self-employed can be an advantage because you can control your own time in a different way than if you are employed. In most cases, it should be added.
6 tips for balancing life as a parent and entrepreneur
- Plan your week
Become good at managing your time and planning your calendar. Find time that you can set aside and earmark for your family - and vice versa. Then you won't risk that guilty conscience with your family. Include dinners and things related to shopping and the home in your planning. Then you can shop in bulk and save valuable time! - Workplace outside the home
Many small business owners work from home and risk blurring the boundaries between work and leisure. You may save time on commuting, but lose the feeling that you are "going to work" or that you get to come home after a long day's work and relax in the oasis that is your home. Another risk is that you do your laundry and cleaning while you work. Or maybe it's just an advantage. That you simply get more things done and more time for family and business. Try a change of scenery by working from a coffee shop, co-working space or outdoors. - Find a similar family
Maybe you know a family in a similar situation to yours? Then you can help each other and make the puzzle of being an entrepreneur and a parent work together. Plus, you can make friends for life by working together during this time. - Fixed email and phone hours
Today you can work around the clock using your smartphone. This can create a lot of stress. So set times when you can answer work-related things. Install the Moments app or use iPhone's screen time feature. Then you can see how many times you unlock your phone or how long total screen time is. Make it a competition to reduce that time with each passing day, week or month! - Plan a fun family activity
It doesn't have to be a trip to the heat. It can be smaller things like a trip to the woods, an afternoon at the swimming pool, a trip to the cinema or similar. Just make sure you are 100% present during the activity! - Recruit right!
Instead of hiring a babysitter to take care of the children while you do administrative tasks such as bookkeeping, maybe you should think the other way around? Hiring someone to do your bookkeeping or other tasks so you can spend time with the kids instead.
Tips! Read the article on coping with stress in How to become more stress resistant
7. Combine work and holiday
If you absolutely have to work during your holiday, there are a variety of ways to do it. Combine these tips with common sense and planning. Set aside an hour each day to keep in touch with customers and suppliers. When that hour is up, don't work any more.
Tips! Read the article Entrepreneur? Combine work and holiday!
Being a parent is not always a bed of roses. But try to remind yourself regularly why you've chosen to do what you do and live the way you do. It's probably because it's your dream and because you love doing it!
Good luck with your business (and family life)!
/The team at Qred
.webp){kind=logo}
