Amusing Facts About Sweden
Amusing facts about Sweden, Swedish Culture, and Swedish Governance, compiled by an American.
As of 2004 you can pay your Swedish taxes by sending an SMS message from your cell phone.
The government sends you a completely filled out tax form and if it looks good you just go online and click okay to pay your taxes.
Taxes are generally between 50 and 70% of your income. (Of course your employer already pays the full amount of your salary to the government in taxes before you even get anything.)
Companies must lay off employees in first-in-last-out order when they are downsizing.
You can take sick leave during your vacation if you are ill.
Parents get a total of 13 months of paid maternity leave and the father is required to take at least 1 month of it. (There has been a discussion about changing this to 15 months and requiring the father and mother to each take 5 and then split the last 5 as they feel appropriate.)
Parental leave can be used to take off time for parenting classes before your child is born.
Parents can save up their maternity leave for more than 5 years (i.e., use it for doctor's appointments, school visit days, etc.).
Daycare cost is based on your family income with a government imposed maximum. (Currently about 1/10th as much as in the U.S.!)
If you have a new child, your other children get a month of free daycare so you can concentrate on the new one.
All employees (including graduate students) get 5 weeks of paid vacation a year.
All employers (as of 2004) are required to provide free massage.
Yearly car inspections include comprehensive safety checks as well as pollution controls.
Car insurance is flat-rate depending on the deductibles (i.e., no "comprehensive" vs. "collision" vs. "uninsured" vs. "medical"), and liability insurance is not required.
The transportation department of the Swedish government works actively to reduce the number of traffic deaths each year to zero. (Mainly by reducing the speed limits.)
The government installs elk
As of 2004 you can pay your Swedish taxes by sending an SMS message from your cell phone.
The government sends you a completely filled out tax form and if it looks good you just go online and click okay to pay your taxes.
Taxes are generally between 50 and 70% of your income. (Of course your employer already pays the full amount of your salary to the government in taxes before you even get anything.)
Companies must lay off employees in first-in-last-out order when they are downsizing.
You can take sick leave during your vacation if you are ill.
Parents get a total of 13 months of paid maternity leave and the father is required to take at least 1 month of it. (There has been a discussion about changing this to 15 months and requiring the father and mother to each take 5 and then split the last 5 as they feel appropriate.)
Parental leave can be used to take off time for parenting classes before your child is born.
Parents can save up their maternity leave for more than 5 years (i.e., use it for doctor's appointments, school visit days, etc.).
Daycare cost is based on your family income with a government imposed maximum. (Currently about 1/10th as much as in the U.S.!)
If you have a new child, your other children get a month of free daycare so you can concentrate on the new one.
All employees (including graduate students) get 5 weeks of paid vacation a year.
All employers (as of 2004) are required to provide free massage.
Yearly car inspections include comprehensive safety checks as well as pollution controls.
Car insurance is flat-rate depending on the deductibles (i.e., no "comprehensive" vs. "collision" vs. "uninsured" vs. "medical"), and liability insurance is not required.
The transportation department of the Swedish government works actively to reduce the number of traffic deaths each year to zero. (Mainly by reducing the speed limits.)
The government installs elk