Working in Sweden: the a-kassa was rebuilt in 2025, and that affects you
Swedish unemployment insurance is voluntary, and since 1 October 2025 entirely new: income-based, with a benefit that hangs on how long you have been a member — 80% after a year as a member, 60% after six months, 50% without. Dutch years can be brought along, but only after you have worked insured in Sweden. Plus: no minimum wage, but collective agreements that arrange everything, the pension that runs by itself, and the expert tax that exempts a quarter of your salary.
5 min read
Written and checked by Auke on , against the sources at the bottom. Is something no longer right? Report it below and I'll fix it.
If you work in Sweden, your unemployment insurance, the a-kassa, is voluntary. And Sweden thoroughly rebuilt that system on 1 October 2025: almost everything older guides say about it has been wrong since.
If you know the Danish chapter, you recognise the skeleton. Sweden too has:
- voluntary unemployment insurance;
- no statutory minimum wage;
- a pension that runs through the collective agreement.
And for anyone coming with a high salary, there is a scheme that keeps a quarter of that salary out of tax for seven years.
The new system: income counts, and membership pays
The old hours count has been replaced by an income requirement. Anyone who earned at least SEK 120,000 in the reference period (the months that are looked at), with at least SEK 11,000 a month in four months, is entitled to a benefit. What is new above all is that the level of the benefit hangs on your length of membership: how long you have been a member.
| Rule since 1 October 2025 | What applies |
|---|---|
| Access (main rule) | at least SEK 120,000 of income in twelve months, and at least SEK 11,000 a month in at least four months |
| Access (alternative) | at least SEK 11,000 a month in four consecutive months: then 66 benefit days |
| Duration | 300 days with SEK 11,000 or more in 11 or 12 months; 200 days with 8 to 10 months; 100 days with 4 to 7 months |
| Level | 80% after at least twelve months' membership; 60% after six to eleven months; 50% with five months or less, or without membership |
| Ceiling | at most SEK 27,200 a month before tax |
| Condition | registered with Arbetsförmedlingen on the first day of unemployment — without that registration there is no entitlement, member or not |
The lesson for a newcomer is the same as in Denmark, but sharper: join on your first working day. Every delay literally costs you a percentage of your benefit later. If you don't want to join the fund of your sector, you can turn to the neutral Alfa-kassan.
Bringing Dutch years along: be insured in Sweden first
Your Dutch employment and insurance periods count via the European aggregation rules of article 61 of Regulation 883/2004. Aggregation means that your Dutch time is added to your Swedish time. But there is a condition many people miss: aggregation only applies after you have most recently completed insured periods in Sweden.
In practice it works like this:
- First you work in Sweden and join an a-kassa; only then do your Dutch years count.
- Request the form about your Dutch periods (U1) via the UWV and hand it in to your a-kassa.
- Connect seamlessly. A gap between your Dutch insurance and your Swedish membership is exactly where rights leak away.
No minimum wage, but a collective agreement that is everything
Sweden has no statutory minimum wage. Pay, overtime, holidays, notice period and pension are in the kollektivavtal, the collective agreement of your sector. Arbetsförmedlingen, the Swedish public employment service, gives the tip: ask the union representative at the workplace what is reasonable, and read your industry's collective agreement before you negotiate.
The question you ask at every job offer is therefore not "what is the minimum" but "is this employer covered by a kollektivavtal".
- If so, almost everything is arranged as you are used to.
- If not, your contract is all that counts, and by default you also miss the tjänstepension, the occupational pension that runs automatically in collectively agreed jobs.
Union and a-kassa are, by the way, separate: one does not oblige you to the other.
What happens by itself: the pension
Through the tax deduction every worker accrues the allmän pension, the Swedish statutory pension. That is 18.5% of pensionable income up to 7.5 income base amounts (a reference amount set every year). Of that, 16% goes to the inkomstpension and 2.5% to the premiepension you invest yourself. On top of that, in collectively agreed jobs, comes the tjänstepension.
You don't have to do anything for it. But know two things: your Dutch accrual stops, and the percentage of tjänstepension is, next to the salary, the most important number in a Swedish job offer.
The expert tax: a quarter of your salary tax-free
For anyone coming with a high salary or a specialised role, Sweden has a scheme few Dutch people know: the skattelättnad (tax relief) via Forskarskattenämnden, popularly the expert tax.
It works like this. Foreign employees with particularly qualified tasks (expert, researcher or key person) or with a salary above a fixed threshold pay no income tax on 25% of their salary. The remaining 75% is taxed as normal, and employer contributions are also calculated on 75%.
| Expert tax | Condition |
|---|---|
| Salary threshold (the route without a test of your tasks) | more than one and a half price base amounts a month: SEK 88,801 a month for anyone starting in 2026 |
| Duration | seven years from the start of your stay in Sweden, for anyone who arrived after 31 March 2023 |
| Application | to Forskarskattenämnden; the clock runs from your arrival, not from your first working day |
The salary has to stay above the threshold every month, for seven years. The threshold is compared with the price base amount of the year you started; one month below — part-time, unpaid leave — costs you the scheme. Anyone just above the threshold has the employer fix it in the contract before signing.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.2: the same steps, but on your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Sweden or go straight to step 5.2 in the open plan.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- IAF — the new system from 1 October 2025 — iaf.se
- IAF — the European aggregation rules — iaf.se
- Arbetsförmedlingen — unemployed, what now (the maximum of SEK 27,200 a month) — arbetsformedlingen.se
- Arbetsförmedlingen — pay and conditions without a minimum wage — arbetsformedlingen.se
- Pensionsmyndigheten — how the allmän pension works — pensionsmyndigheten.se
- Forskarskattenämnden — the expert tax: 25% of salary tax-free, seven years — forskarskattenamnden.se
- Forskarskattenämnden — the salary threshold for the expert tax (SEK 88,801 a month in 2026) — forskarskattenamnden.se
Read on
- SwedenArrival4 min
Buying a house in Sweden: nothing counts until the signature — and sometimes you buy not a house but a share
Sweden is the mirror image of Belgium: a bid, a handshake or a won bidding war binds nobody — only the written köpekontrakt, signed by both parties, makes the purchase real. And anyone buying a flat is usually buying not property but a share in a bostadsrättsförening, with quite different rules and costs. For a real fastighet: lagfart within three months and 1.5% stämpelskatt.
Updated 26 September 2026
- SwedenArrival4 min
Your driving licence in Sweden: nothing is required, exchanging is allowed — until the Dutch one expires
A Dutch driving licence stays valid in Sweden as long as it is valid in the Netherlands, even once you are registered there. Anyone permanently resident in Sweden may exchange it: a form, the original licence by post to Örebro, 375 kronor for production, a photo at Trafikverket. What you cannot do is renew the Dutch document from Sweden — so the expiry date is the only clock that counts.
Updated 26 September 2026
- SwedenArrival5 min
School and förskola in Sweden: free from six, and the childcare you apply for four months ahead
Swedish school is free, including books and a hot lunch, and compulsory from the autumn of the year your child turns six. The förskola starts from age one and costs according to income, with a ceiling: since 1 July 2026 at most 1,547 kronor a month for the first child. The clock is in the application — four months ahead — and in the barnbidrag, which does not start by itself after a move.
Updated 26 September 2026