Maintenance support – economic protection for the child
What is child support and how does it work? And what is the difference from maintenance support? Here’s what you need to know!
What is maintenance support?
Maintenance support is a contribution that the child, through their custodian, can receive from society when their parent does not take their financial responsibility for their child. That is, the child lives with one parent, and the other parent does not pay any child support at all or pays an amount lower than the child support.
The child is entitled to maintenance support until the month the child turns 18 years old. The child can apply for and receive extended maintenance support until June of the year the child turns 20 years old. The opportunity for extended maintenance support exists when the child is studying.
How much can the child receive in maintenance support?
If the parent does not pay any maintenance support at all, the child can receive so-called “full maintenance support.” The child’s age determines the amount of the contribution:
- 1,673 SEK per month until the month the child turns 7 years old,
- 1,823 SEK per month from the month after the child turns 7 years old until the month the child turns 15 years old, and
- 2,223 SEK per month from the month after the child turns 15 years old.
If the parent pays some maintenance but still below the threshold for maintenance support, the child can receive “supplementary support” to cover the difference between the payment and the level of maintenance support.
Example: a three-year-old child whose parent pays 600 SEK per month. The supplementary support would then be 1,073 SEK (1,673 – 600 = 1,073 SEK).
The parent pays to the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan)
When child support is paid out by the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, the parent responsible for child support must pay the corresponding amount to the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. If this occurs over a continuous period of 12 months, the Swedish Social Insurance Agency will explore the possibilities of payment directly between the parents, without the Social Insurance Agency as an intermediary.
If there is a threat against the custodian or the child from the other parent, payment may continue to go through the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. However, the starting point is that parents should be able to manage payments of maintenance for the child themselves.
Difference between child support (underhållsbidrag) and maintenance support (underhållssstöd) ?
Maintenance support is the contribution that the child can receive from society when their parent does not pay child support, either fully or partially.
It is not possible to receive both maintenance support and child support for equal amounts. However, maintenance support can be paid out from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency in the form of supplementary support, as mentioned above.
Good to know!
- When a decision about maintenance support is made by the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, the first payment is made within 10 days. After that, child support is paid out on the 25th of each month in advance for the upcoming month.
- It is important to report if anything happens that affects the child’s right to child support. For example, if the other parent starts paying child support directly to the custodial parent or if the child starts living alternately with both parents.
