Economic security in old age
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerned economic security in old age and the proposals in the report SfU2. SD moved for approval of the proposal and emphasized the importance of a good safety net for pensioners who have contributed to society 1. SD argued that the benefits have reduced the proportion of economically vulnerable pensioners 1. SD criticized that the respect distance between those who have worked and those who have not has decreased due to increases in the guarantee pension 1. M also moved for approval and emphasized that it should pay to have worked 2. M argued that the respect distance must be restored as the guarantee pension has increased significantly 2. M emphasized the importance of the work principle and that foreign citizens who commit crimes should be deported 2.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Daniel Persson (SD)
Mr. Speaker! We shall now debate the Social Insurance Committee's report SfU2. I would like to begin by moving for the approval of the committee's proposal in the report on economic security in old age.
The report covers a number of benefits aimed at our pensioners, for example, the guarantee pension, survivor pensions for adults, housing supplements, elderly support, and the income pension supplement. These are parts that complement the general pension for many pensioners.
For us Sverigedemokrater, it is fundamental that Sweden shall have a secure welfare for its citizens and that there is a good safety net. Those who have worked, contributed to our welfare and built up our society shall be treated with great respect and gratitude. Swedish pensioners deserve a pension that makes it possible to live a good life in their later years. It is important that pensioners can feel that there is financial security in the autumn of life.
Mr. Speaker! It is worth noting in what is mentioned in the report that of Sweden's 2.3 million pensioners, approximately 71 percent receive some of the benefits within the expenditure area. The Government assesses that the benefits within the expenditure area fulfill the goal that they should contribute to a good economic standard for pensioners. The benefits have a tangible effect in reducing the proportion of pensioners who are economically vulnerable.
It is clear that these benefits contribute to an increased and good economic standard for pensioners with small margins. The proportion of pensioners with a low economic standard would have been more than twice as large if these pensioners had not been able to take part in any of the expenditure area's benefits. The proportion of pensioners with a low economic standard would then have been 22 percent instead of today's 9 percent. Last year, the figure was 12 percent, and that shows that the benefits make a difference and that the proportion has decreased from the previous year, which is positive.
Mr. Speaker! We have a stable pension system in Sweden. According to rankings, our pension system is among the ten best in the world. However, there are worrying trends that the Swedish pension system is losing ground, and in a Nordic comparison, Sweden ranks last according to international ranking. We must be careful and care for our pension system, which has been characterized by stability and security through the years. We have a good system, but there are deficiencies. And there are good conditions to make improvements within the pension system. It can also be stated that pension systems around the world are under great pressure due to the persistent inflation, the rising interest rates, and the prevailing geopolitical uncertainty.
Mr. Speaker! The Sweden Democrats and the government place a great focus on combating benefit fraud and stopping incorrect payments. Organized crime and its thefts from the welfare systems are a serious threat to society.
Welfare funds should go to pressing reforms and to the people who are in need of financial support. Regardless of which benefit it concerns, it is important to ensure that the recipient is the correct one. If tax money goes to financing criminals, it damages the legitimacy and the trust in the tax-funded welfare, and it also damages the public's trust in politics and our welfare systems. The Pensions Agency receives an increased appropriation of 20 million to combat benefit fraud and stop incorrect payments.
Mr. Speaker! It is pleasing that all parties in the Swedish Riksdag have for some time now been part of the new Pensions Group. There are principles that the new Pensions Group shall continue to work with, for example the life income principle. The pension shall become a reflection of working life, and the respect distance shall be protected.
There must be a difference in pension between the person who has worked their whole life and the person who has not worked at all. That gap has decreased significantly in recent years. The income pension increases by 4 percent in 2025, and the guarantee pension increases by 2.6 percent.
During the years of inflation, the guaranteed pension was increased by 8.7 percent in 2023 and 9.1 percent in 2024. Corresponding increases for earned pension were 3 percent in 2023 and 1 percent in 2024. This contributed to the respect distance decreasing. When the distance decreases or disappears entirely, it undermines what is the very foundation not only for our pensions but for our entire welfare system. It must be profitable to work according to one's own ability and in that way finance the public commitments.
All parliamentary parties have taken a positive stance on a "gas" in the pension system, meaning that the surplus in the pension system should result in higher pensions. That question lies within the Pensions Group, and I hope that an agreement can be reached on how to design such a proposal.
There is an expectation from many interest organizations and citizens that a gear in the system will be put in place. The pension group has a solid task ahead of them.
It must be acknowledged that the Sverigedemokraterna have criticized the Pension Group for not having delivered so much over the years, apart from an increased target age. But it is a different constellation today. Historically, there have been long lead times in the group. We must also be well aware that politics can take time. But I am optimistic and believe and hope that the Pension Group will, in the near future, deliver favorable proposals for our pensioners.
Magnus Resare (M)
Mr. Speaker! I did well when I grew up. I went to a tax-funded school. We had tax-funded healthcare on the day I needed care, and we had tax-funded football pitches so that I could play football with my friends after school when I wanted to.
The tax money that financed all of this came from many of today's pensioners, who were working at the time. I am very grateful that they worked and paid taxes so that I could have such a good upbringing as I did in Sweden.
That is why it is important for me to do what I can here in the Riksdag to make everyday life better for those who made my life good when I grew up, i.e., today's pensioners. That is what I work for every day here.
Moderate pension policy is about making it worthwhile to have worked. It is therefore pleasing that the income pension is increased by approximately 4 percent next year, which is the highest increase in nine years. We also continue to lower the tax for Sweden's pensioners, just as we did last year.
We do this because we believe that those who have worked and built Sweden should also have it well as pensioners and that Sweden should be able to offer its loyal servants a good old age.
Mr. Speaker! We must, however, be vigilant regarding the sharp increase in the proportion of pensioners covered by the guarantee pension. In just a few years, the proportion of pensioners receiving some form of pension-related benefit has increased from 30 percent to 70 percent. This is partly due to the fact that the guarantee pension has increased significantly in recent years as it is adjusted with the price base amount, but this has resulted in the respect distance decreasing. For some occupational groups, it no longer pays off at all to have worked a full professional life.
We Moderates do not consider this to be particularly fair. We uphold the principle of life income – that those who have worked and labored throughout a professional life should receive a higher pension than those who have not worked. Therefore, the respect distance needs to be restored.
At the same time, we see that more and more retirees want to return to work. The number of "job-retirees," i.e., people who combine their pension with going to a job, is steadily increasing. That is why it is good that the Moderate-led government makes it possible to, from January 1, pause withdrawals of the occupational pension. It means that one does not need to have the entire occupational pension taxed away but can take a break and then take it back when one returns to full pension.
It is also good that the government continues to let it be more profitable to work for those who have turned 67. I think it is high time that we start seeing people of retirement age as the asset they actually are.
Pensioners who return to work can contribute both through their own work and by being mentors to younger people who want to enter the workforce. We have today hundreds of thousands of people who stand outside the labor market, and I believe that many of them would find it easier to get in if they were trained by pensioners who return and help out.
Mr. Speaker! The Moderate-led government is working in several ways to get Sweden in order. It is about strengthening the work line so that it pays more both to work and to have worked. But it is also about increasing security by reforming the migration policy and the crime policy in our country. That we create security is an important issue for our elderly. All elderly people in this country should be able to feel safe.
At the same time, we see that the robberies and also the insecurity among the elderly are increasing exponentially. Not infrequently, it is persons with foreign citizenship who are convicted for these crimes. Therefore, we are now ensuring that more foreign citizens who commit this type of crime shall be deported.
Speaking of migration, we are also working for qualification for the welfare system so that newcomers and non-citizens do not get access to the entire welfare system directly when they arrive in Sweden. It is fair that refugees can no longer receive full guaranteed pension directly when they arrive in Sweden without having worked a single day. The work principle shall be strong in the Swedish pension system. Swedish pension shall be paid out to those who have worked in this country and built this country.
To return to the subject of the debate, I am proud of the government's work for the Swedish pensioners. I am also happy that people in this country are getting older and older and are also living healthier and healthier as pensioners. Sweden shall be the world's best country to live in, and it shall be the world's best country to be a pensioner in. Through good and wise politics that strengthen the work line, we Moderates ensure that there is money for pensions and for pensioners.
I am also pleased that our Moderate Minister for Pensions and Social Insurance has now united all the parties in the Riksdag in the Pensions Group. It enables stable pension agreements over time with broad democratic anchoring. That is important.
In conclusion, I want to mention the so-called 57s, that is, the people whom the Social Democratic government betrayed with a penalty tax. This year, we have paid out around 3 billion kronor in compensation to this group. We did that because it was the right thing to do, so now we have corrected yet another one of the previous government's mistakes.
With that, I move for approval of the proposal in the report.
The deliberation was hereby concluded.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.