Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Monday
Find out what's going on in Sweden today with The Local's short roundup of the news in less than five minutes.
How many dads don't claim paternity leave in Sweden?
Eighteen percent of fathers of a child born in 2017 used fewer than 30 days of their parental leave benefits in the first two years, according to the Swedish Social Insurance Inspectorate, the watchdog for Sweden’s social insurances, which include 480 days of parental leave per child.
Out of those days, three months are exclusively reserved for each parent on a use-it-or-lose-it basis – often referred to as the “daddy months” as they were originally introduced in 1995 (it was only one month at the time) to encourage fathers to take more paternity leave.
Fathers do claim more parental leave today, but for babies born in 2017 there were still 18 percent of fathers who claimed zero days, and 15 percent who claimed fewer than 30 days (up from 26 percent and 29 percent, respectively, when the scheme was introduced in 1995).
According to the report, it is more common for fathers on low incomes and fathers born abroad to claim zero days of paternity leave, compared to high-income fathers born in Sweden.
Swedish vocabulary: daddy months – pappamånader
News about new Covid measures in Sweden ahead of Christmas
Swedish Health Minister Lena Hallengren told public radio broadcaster Sveriges Radio’s morning show God morgon världen that she’ll announce the government’s decision on potential new restrictions to curb a renewed spread of coronavirus at the start of this week.
The government has previously hinted that some of the restrictions that could be in the pipeline – although it is not confirmed – could include extending Covid passes to venues such as restaurants and long-distance public transport, and reintroducing a work-from-home order.
Denmark has closed museums, theatres and cinemas from today and banned the sale of alcohol after 10pm, while Norway has banned serving alcohol and introduced a face mask requirement. But Hallengren said Sweden’s measures would be less restrictive and not introduced as quickly.
Swedish vocabulary: a decision – ett beslut
100 passengers miss pre-Christmas flights out of Stockholm
Around 100 passengers travelling with SAS missed their flights from Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport on Saturday, reports Swedish public broadcaster SVT. It was the first big travel day ahead of Christmas, and pandemic-related requirements to show valid vaccine pass or test documents and a high number of travellers led to a bottleneck at check-in at Arlanda.
SAS had urged passengers to come to the airport well ahead of schedule, but some people who were there hours before departure told SVT they had nevertheless missed their flights. The airline told SVT all passengers had been given help to rebook their tickets for other flights.
According to Swedavia, which runs Arlanda Airport, the situation was calmer on Sunday. SAS warned that December 22nd and December 23rd are also expected to be busy travel days.
Swedish vocabulary: a flight – ett flyg
Anti-vaccine pass demonstration in Malmö
According to police, around 800-900 people joined a protest against vaccine passes, held in Malmö in southern Sweden on Saturday afternoon. Few details were immediately available, but the demonstration was described as calm and no one was arrested. A police report was filed since it lacked the proper permits.
Sweden introduced an optional vaccine pass requirement for organisers of indoor public events with more than 100 attendees on December 1st, although organisers can choose to instead use other infection control measures such as a maximum number of people per square metre.
Swedish vocabulary: a permit – ett tillstånd
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How many dads don't claim paternity leave in Sweden?
Eighteen percent of fathers of a child born in 2017 used fewer than 30 days of their parental leave benefits in the first two years, according to the Swedish Social Insurance Inspectorate, the watchdog for Sweden’s social insurances, which include 480 days of parental leave per child.
Out of those days, three months are exclusively reserved for each parent on a use-it-or-lose-it basis – often referred to as the “daddy months” as they were originally introduced in 1995 (it was only one month at the time) to encourage fathers to take more paternity leave.
Fathers do claim more parental leave today, but for babies born in 2017 there were still 18 percent of fathers who claimed zero days, and 15 percent who claimed fewer than 30 days (up from 26 percent and 29 percent, respectively, when the scheme was introduced in 1995).
According to the report, it is more common for fathers on low incomes and fathers born abroad to claim zero days of paternity leave, compared to high-income fathers born in Sweden.
Swedish vocabulary: daddy months – pappamånader
News about new Covid measures in Sweden ahead of Christmas
Swedish Health Minister Lena Hallengren told public radio broadcaster Sveriges Radio’s morning show God morgon världen that she’ll announce the government’s decision on potential new restrictions to curb a renewed spread of coronavirus at the start of this week.
The government has previously hinted that some of the restrictions that could be in the pipeline – although it is not confirmed – could include extending Covid passes to venues such as restaurants and long-distance public transport, and reintroducing a work-from-home order.
Denmark has closed museums, theatres and cinemas from today and banned the sale of alcohol after 10pm, while Norway has banned serving alcohol and introduced a face mask requirement. But Hallengren said Sweden’s measures would be less restrictive and not introduced as quickly.
Swedish vocabulary: a decision – ett beslut
100 passengers miss pre-Christmas flights out of Stockholm
Around 100 passengers travelling with SAS missed their flights from Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport on Saturday, reports Swedish public broadcaster SVT. It was the first big travel day ahead of Christmas, and pandemic-related requirements to show valid vaccine pass or test documents and a high number of travellers led to a bottleneck at check-in at Arlanda.
SAS had urged passengers to come to the airport well ahead of schedule, but some people who were there hours before departure told SVT they had nevertheless missed their flights. The airline told SVT all passengers had been given help to rebook their tickets for other flights.
According to Swedavia, which runs Arlanda Airport, the situation was calmer on Sunday. SAS warned that December 22nd and December 23rd are also expected to be busy travel days.
Swedish vocabulary: a flight – ett flyg
Anti-vaccine pass demonstration in Malmö
According to police, around 800-900 people joined a protest against vaccine passes, held in Malmö in southern Sweden on Saturday afternoon. Few details were immediately available, but the demonstration was described as calm and no one was arrested. A police report was filed since it lacked the proper permits.
Sweden introduced an optional vaccine pass requirement for organisers of indoor public events with more than 100 attendees on December 1st, although organisers can choose to instead use other infection control measures such as a maximum number of people per square metre.
Swedish vocabulary: a permit – ett tillstånd
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