You have your personnummer and the flat is starting to feel like home, but no child benefit has reached your account yet. Swedish child benefit pays 1,250 kronor a month for every child, and it is normally paid without an application. For a family that has just moved here, the first payment waits until Försäkringskassan has confirmed that you and your child are insured in Sweden. If you have not sent your information to Försäkringskassan yet, do it now through its e-service or on form 5456.
The Swedish word is barnbidrag. Försäkringskassan, the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, calls it child allowance on its English pages, and it calls the extra money for larger families, flerbarnstillägg, the large family supplement. Being försäkrad i Sverige, insured in Sweden, has nothing to do with buying insurance: it means you are covered by Swedish social insurance because you live or work here.
What to do when child benefit has not arrived
Child benefit is paid automatically to families Försäkringskassan already has on record. A family that moves in has to be assessed first, and you can start that assessment yourself.
- Register with the Swedish Tax Agency. If you plan to stay at least a year, you normally have to be entered in the population register (folkbokföring) at Skatteverket. Your personnummer is the sign that this step is done.
- Answer Försäkringskassan, or contact them first. If you move to Sweden with children under 16, Försäkringskassan contacts you once you are registered, to find out whether you and the children should be insured here. You do not have to wait to be contacted. You can send your information through the e-service “Provide information when moving to or working in Sweden”, or on form 5456 if you cannot use the e-service.
- Both parents send in their own information. If you are two custodians, you each report that you have moved to Sweden. Children you have custody of go into your own registration rather than a separate one.
- Wait for the decision. Försäkringskassan has to investigate whether you and your child are insured in Sweden before the first payment, and that can take some time. Swedish citizens moving back go through the same assessment.
Once payments start, the money arrives by the 20th of each month, and on the Friday before if the 20th falls on a weekend. Mina sidor, Försäkringskassan’s logged-in service, shows each payment eight days before it reaches your account.
Contact Försäkringskassan straight away if
- you have been registered for a while and have heard nothing, and have not yet sent in your information
- you or the other parent works in, lives in or receives a pension from another EU or EEA country or Switzerland
- your residence permit, or your child’s, is about to run out
- you think months are missing: unpaid child benefit lapses at the end of the year after the year it relates to, unless you claim it from Försäkringskassan before then
For child benefit questions, call 0771-524 524 and say that it concerns barnbidrag. For cases involving another EU or EEA country or Switzerland, call 010-115 10 20.
Who gets child benefit in Sweden
You can receive child benefit when all three of these apply:
- you are the legal custodian of a child under 16
- the child lives in Sweden, another EU or EEA country, Switzerland or the UK
- both you and the child are insured in Sweden
Citizenship plays no part. Child benefit depends on living in Sweden. A person who comes to Sweden and can be expected to stay longer than a year counts as living here, unless there are exceptional reasons against it. A residence permit for temporary protection, or a permit granted after temporary protection, does not count as living in Sweden for child benefit.
Can you get child benefit while waiting for a residence permit?
If you have a valid residence permit, other than one for temporary protection, and both you and your child live in Sweden, you can receive child benefit even if your child’s own permit has not been granted yet. If you are still waiting for a decision on your own permit, you are not entitled to child benefit, even if your child was born in Sweden.
Once the permit is granted, benefits based on residence can be paid back to the day it takes effect, but no further back than three months before the date it was granted. If you hold a temporary permit, apply to Migrationsverket for an extension, for yourself and your child, before the current permits expire. When the new permit arrives, contact Försäkringskassan so they can make a new child benefit decision.
How much child benefit pays in 2026
Child benefit is 1,250 kronor a month for each child, and neither the benefit nor the large family supplement is taxed. It is paid from the month after the birth and runs up to and including the quarter in which the child turns 16.
Who receives the money depends on custody and on when the child was born. With joint custody and a child born on or after 1 March 2014, the benefit is divided equally between the two parents unless you tell Försäkringskassan you want it paid to one of you. You can change this together on Mina sidor. For a child born before that date, the whole amount goes to the parent who gave birth. With sole custody, the whole amount goes to you. If only one of the parents is insured in Sweden, that parent receives the whole amount.
How much the large family supplement adds for two children or more
From the second child, a large family supplement is added on top, and it grows faster than the number of children. These are the monthly totals when one parent receives everything:
| Children | Child benefit | Large family supplement | Total a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1,250 kronor | none | 1,250 kronor |
| 2 | 2,500 kronor | 150 kronor | 2,650 kronor |
| 3 | 3,750 kronor | 730 kronor | 4,480 kronor |
| 4 | 5,000 kronor | 1,740 kronor | 6,740 kronor |
| 5 | 6,250 kronor | 2,990 kronor | 9,240 kronor |
| 6 | 7,500 kronor | 4,240 kronor | 11,740 kronor |
When two parents share everything equally, each of you receives half: 625 kronor with one child, 1,325 kronor with two, 2,240 kronor with three and 3,370 kronor with four.
When children in a blended family count together for the large family supplement
If you move in with a new partner who also has children, the two of you can count all the children together for the large family supplement only if you are married or have a child together. Living together as sambo, unmarried partners sharing a home, is not enough on its own. A couple who have been married to each other before or have had a child together before can count children from other relationships too, but have to notify Försäkringskassan on form 5220. When the children are counted together but the child benefit is split differently, the supplement is divided in proportion.
Child benefit can take longer when one parent works in another EU country
Within the EU, the EEA and Switzerland, a common set of rules decides which country pays family benefits first, and you cannot choose.
- If both parents work or receive a pension, it is usually the country where the child lives that pays.
- If only one parent works or receives a pension, it is usually the country where that parent works, or receives the pension from, that pays.
- If the other country’s benefit is higher, that country may pay the difference as a differential supplement.
You still receive child benefit, but Försäkringskassan has to work out with the authority in the other country which of them pays, and that can take longer. Tell Försäkringskassan early, so the investigation can start as soon as possible.
Families who move to Sweden from 2027 must qualify for child benefit
From 1 January 2027, a person who settles in Sweden will have to qualify before child benefit, including the large family supplement, can be paid. There are two ways to qualify:
- by having lived in Sweden for a total of five years within the last 15 years, where time living in another EU or EEA country also counts
- by earning at least 40,032 kronor a month for six months in a row, or at least 20,850 kronor a month in 12 of the last 24 months, counting only income earned after moving to Sweden
The income levels are adjusted every year. Some people with a particularly strong earlier connection to Sweden are exempt. The same requirement applies to parental benefit at the basic and minimum levels.
If you settle in Sweden before 1 January 2027, transitional rules keep the current conditions for you: you do not have to qualify, and only need to be found insured in Sweden after registering with Skatteverket and Försäkringskassan. If you are planning a move for next year, factor the new rules into your budget.
How trips abroad and family changes affect child benefit
A holiday usually does not affect child benefit. Within the EU, the EEA or Switzerland, a holiday of up to twelve months leaves it unchanged. Outside the EU, stays of up to six months usually leave it unchanged. If you plan to be away longer, you are generally not entitled while abroad, and you have to tell Försäkringskassan before you leave. If a trip outside the EU is extended beyond six months, contact them within 14 days.
Also report custody changes, a separation when you receive the supplement as a couple, or a parent starting work in another EU or EEA country. If you receive money you were not entitled to, you may have to pay it back, together with a penalty fee.
At 16, child benefit ends and study allowance from CSN takes over for a child in upper secondary school. Our moving to Sweden checklist covers the rest of the first weeks, from BankID to finding a doctor, and our guide to vab and what it pays explains the benefit for days at home with a sick child.
Last fact-checked: 18 October 2026