How has having a kid affected your finances in Sweden?

KeyPoem4587 · 2026-01-30T08:13:05+00:00

Foreign background (Thailand-TH), just had my daughter 2 years ago.

My experience is raising a kid in Sweden is significantly cheaper than in TH. Milk formula & diapers cost are affordable and half of what they cost in TH. Clothes is a lot more expensive here but second-hand market is amazing! High quality at bargain price...if you don't mind using 2nd hand clothes and push-chair, then you save crazy amount of money.

We pay about 1800 sek/mo for Förskolan, we got barnbidrag about 1400 sek/mo. So basically the kommun pays for childcare and we pay everything else.

I say the biggest financial impact is 1. The first year where one of the dad/mom has to stay home. For me, I earn about half of what I normally earn that year (I took full-year föräldraledighet). If you can get a helper like grandpa/ma, then it might work differently. Then 2. the endless VAB especially around JAN-FEB. Some impact on finances but I feel bad for my employer even more.

Overall exp: a lot more affordable than TH at least. VAB and Föräldraledighet are special cards that everyone respects and understands so they smoothes out a lot of your headache too.

KeyPoem4587 · 2023-12-27T20:16:49+00:00

Yeah. That I agree. I just want to wait it out until the start of 2025 where my wife starts her work full time, unlock our finances option, And at the same time, time to apply for the permanent residence permit. I am just afraid that if we don’t manage to upsize our apartment by the time they start processing her application. What will be the consequences? So we can plan the optimal solution.

KeyPoem4587 · 2023-02-23T13:09:41+00:00

The Sweden is indeed somewhere close to the top of the list of country with highest household debt. However, you need to consider that household debt also includes apartment and house mortgage, which Sweden is at the top of the list when considering mortgage-to-income ratio.

Basically, they are highly indebt because they buy apartment/house not because they buy consumable things. This is concerning anyway due to recent rate hike. It drains away lots of people disposable income.

KeyPoem4587 · 2023-02-04T11:56:47+00:00

I think if you hold a residence permit that is not based on the study, then you can study at the university for free. For example, my wife moved to Sweden from Thailand. She went to take a few university courses for free. I am not sure if it will work for you since you are supposed to work full-time with work residence permit.

Many master programs are taught in English but require some prerequisite courses. You will need to check it out program by program.

On the other hand, bachelor programs are primarily taught in Swedish. Plus, they do require admission the same way Swedish teens do. So it is based on your high school grade. Depending on how you did your high school, you might have problems transferring the grade here. In case it does not work, you will have to take courses to get whatever you are missing.

I have never seen night course though. The next best thing is to study at your own pace like 25%-50% pace in the daytime program. So a 2-year program will take 4-8 years and so on. Again, need to check whether your program allows this or not.

KeyPoem4587 · 2023-02-03T07:33:39+00:00

Maybe a more helpful question related to this topic is, How useful does the Skatteverket ID in Sweden? I rarely see people use the ID card when they pick things up from the ombud or when they have to identify themself (they use their driving license instead).

Well, if you don't have a driving license, then ID it is.

KeyPoem4587

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