(cont. from § 7) Preschool (cont. UbU4)

Daniel Riazat (V)

Madam Speaker! It is always a bit special to start a reply exchange more than two hours after requesting the floor, but I will get straight to the point. In the Sverigedemokraterna's speech from the rostrum earlier, skepticism regarding gender pedagogy in preschool, or generally, was expressed. Sverigedemokraterna placed very much focus on people with a foreign background, which is not so strange considering which party we are talking about. The member was very careful to constantly speak about how terrible it is that one is taught about equality, equity, gender and similar issues and about how this would lack evidence within research etcetera.

To begin with, I must say that none of what was said from the rostrum is correct or has anything to do with either research or proven experience.

Secondly, I want to say that this is very transparent. There is only one way for the Sverigedemokraterna to use to divert focus from the fact that they are involved in and contributing to cuts within preschools. There is only one way for the Sverigedemokraterna to divert focus from the fact that from one day to the next they turned their backs on the preschool children by becoming one of the parties that represents the venture capital companies within the preschools instead of the preschool children - and that is to talk about gender and about immigration and what it means for the Swedish preschool. It is precisely this we have witnessed today.

My question to the member is: How can the most important issue be the Sweden Democrats' view on gender, when you have just been involved in and contributed to there being enormous cuts for preschools in the municipalities during the coming years?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Anders Alftberg (SD)

Madam Speaker! We can start with the cuts. Preschool is dependent on state grants - yes. But what we need to see more clearly out in the municipalities today is that the municipalities themselves prioritize the core areas of welfare, such as childcare and school, instead of different types of vanity projects and other things that do not at all have anything to do with any municipal activity of importance. I have in several municipalities where Vänsterpartiet has governed with the Socialdemokrater seen that focus is lost on the core of welfare and that they engage in vanity projects and other types of activities that the municipality could gladly refrain from.

It is the coercive methodology we are discussing when it comes to gender pedagogy. I am somewhat concerned that the member does not see any concerns or difficulties with indoctrinating children in an almost Stalinist, Marxist way to live in a certain way. This happens simultaneously in an imposing manner. The child's free will plays no role, because here we are to tell a child how it should be. I am not surprised in itself that this comes from this specific member.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Daniel Riazat (V)

Madam Speaker! The member has missed what Swedish preschool is actually like and what it looks like out there. In his speech, Anders Alftberg mentioned that it is forbidden to wear a dress in preschool. I do not know which country and which preschool the member has been in; it is in any case not in Sweden.

I mean furthermore, again, that all of this is only about - the audience and those who are sitting and listening at home will surely notice this - that Anders Alftberg does not want to talk at all about why the Sverigedemokraterna are involved in cutting back in the municipalities and in the preschool. Again, he goes back to talking about the question of gender, which one claims is Stalinism and something that is very terrible for our society.

That a municipality invests in core projects is very good. I sit in the Riksdag partly because I opposed a number of different projects that led to cuts in schools and preschools in my home municipality, Falun. So I know exactly what this means.

The issue here is that the Sweden Democrats, firstly, are involved in cutting back both here and in the municipalities where they are involved in governing. Secondly, they are involved in ensuring that we continue with a market system where we experiment with the children's future, to ensure that a few shareholders and banks can make money from it.

The Sweden Democrats were once a party that stood against this. But today, the Sweden Democrats, after a few dinners with Svenskt Näringsliv, are on the other side and believe that profits of any size should be allowed to be taken; it doesn't matter what it means for the children. Can SD even say straight out to the Swedish people that they have not, for example, received money from these companies to do this?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Anders Alftberg (SD)

Madam Speaker! It was very difficult to distinguish anything – this was almost a monologue and a series of mantras from the Left Party, the same mantras that one always hears when we discuss the school: It is about the fact that it is the private actors and the independent schools that are the villains in the drama and who drain. This mantra we have heard all the time before, and we now hear from the member the same type of repeated mantras.

Let us just quickly address this—that you said I do not live in reality, after 16 years in school and after having worked with preschools for 16 years. I meet educators daily, and I hear parents reporting that at some preschools around the country—absolutely not at all of them, but at enough to be a concern—they notice tendencies toward this coercive methodology, where behaviors are forced upon children that they have not chosen of their own free will. They are to be in a certain way and, for example, dress in a certain way and are advised against bringing certain types of clothes to school.

This is a reality. I do not know what reality you live in - it is perhaps the blind man's reality.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

TREDJE VICE TALMANNEN

I want to remind all members that all speeches are made via the Speaker, which means that we do not address or speak directly to a fellow debater.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Camilla Hansén (MP)

Madam Speaker! Anders Alftberg has now accounted for the Sweden Democrats' view on the pedagogical work in preschool regarding equality and gender norms. It becomes very clear to me that there is a party that is the Riksdag's number one gender-fluff party, namely the Sweden Democrats. The Sweden Democrats are the largest gender-fluff party we have in the Riksdag.

The Sweden Democrats do not want political trends to rule the preschool, and that would be a blessing to pray for. It could mean that the Sweden Democrats come to an understanding of what the freedom of science, pedagogy, and culture entails. It means, in fact, that we avoid Sweden Democrats who have opinions on the storyteller's attire, especially if the attire is a dress, and which pronoun Lucian uses. It means that we let all children in the preschool try different clothes, different toys, and different roles when playing family. It would be to give children a hundred and a thousand opportunities to develop instead of just two.

Miljöpartiet wants all children to have the chance to develop their full potential, regardless of gender or gender identity. We want to ensure that no one is limited in their choices. It is important to give all children opportunities to do this, precisely by ensuring that preschool staff have knowledge of the scientific field of gender pedagogy.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Anders Alftberg (SD)

Madam Speaker! It was a bit difficult to see what the question was here. I understand that the member does not understand the issues that exist with the forced pedagogy that is used, where behaviors are forced upon children. Obviously, many on the left wing are generally very marinated in this ideologically weighted pedagogy. So I am not surprised that you cannot see the problems.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Camilla Hansén (MP)

Madam Speaker! My question to Anders Alftberg is how his party views this issue of freedom of research and freedom of pedagogy. Should we have political steering in detail regarding what is taught and in what way, or should it be based on a scientific foundation and be based on proven experience? That is not what the member described in his post.

That it should occur, coercion of any kind as a widespread phenomenon in Swedish preschools, and specifically when it concerns giving children many opportunities to express themselves and develop in a free way, I would like to see evidence for and not just anecdotal stories about. I believe, namely, that if it occurs at all, it is extremely marginalized incidents and not something systematic that one is immersed in.

My question is therefore: What is the view on science and proven experience in Anders Alftberg's party? Is it this that is to govern the pedagogy in the preschool, or is it politics in the chamber of the Riksdag that is to decide who gets to play with which toys at the preschools out in the country?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Anders Alftberg (SD)

Madam Speaker! The whole thing is becoming very contradictory. The political work here is about ensuring that pedagogies, or rather ideologies, which are very politicized, are not used in the classroom. We are to create an environment based on science and proven experience within pedagogy. But one cannot be blind to what is happening today.

The member dismisses what I say and calls it anecdotal knowledge. The member bases it on her belief that it is so. That is what she said to me: She does not believe that this is taking place. Then it becomes a burden of proof in the other direction as well.

As said, there have been many meetings. Many parents and many educators have met, and many share a common view specifically regarding the coercive tendencies in this.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Mats Wiking (S)

Madam Speaker! We Social Democrats view gender pedagogy differently than the Sweden Democrats. We believe that gender pedagogy is a part of the work for equality and democracy. It is a part of creating equal conditions between the genders. It is a task that must begin early for us to achieve success.

We have come a long way when it comes to equality and democracy, but there is still very much left. We constantly need to educate our young people regarding which path is important in order to be able to participate and influence their society.

This is not about dolls and weapons. Whether children want to play with dolls or with weapons is insignificant, I think. One chooses different playthings based on which comrades one has and how one is influenced and so on.

Does the member from the Sweden Democrats, Anders Alftberg, think we have come far enough in the work on equality? Does he think anything about the preschool carrying out equality work, and in what way does it, in that case, deviate from gender pedagogy?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Anders Alftberg (SD)

Madam Speaker! Equality is one of the fundamental values of Swedish society. It is something that will constantly need to be worked on. But it is not synonymous with gender pedagogy.

Yes, that needs to be developed. We have huge challenges in our society when it comes to the view of men and women. We have very many children, often from particularly vulnerable areas, who have an upbringing in gender roles that is foreign to us in today's modern society. There, the preschool has a major role when it comes to helping these girls who live in honor oppression and have this with them at their core. Here, the preschool truly has great opportunities to liberate the individual.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Mats Wiking (S)

Madam Speaker! Does the member not think that preschool activities should be an activity where children are allowed to be children and, precisely through play, be shaped to become democratic and equal beings? Pedagogy must take into account that not all children and people are exactly the same, but need to be allowed to develop along different paths to move forward in life. In that case, one needs to see that children really are children and not just boys and girls.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Anders Alftberg (SD)

Madam Speaker! None of what I have said contradicts what you, Mats Wiking, are speaking about. I do not know where the misunderstanding lies.

We sometimes have far too much pressure to sexualize very small children. When one experiences in the preschool classroom that a child behaves according to certain gender norms, it is argued that one should intervene.

It is as Mats Wiking said: Free play shall dominate, and the child shall also have the opportunity to see its own individuality and its place in the company in relation to the surroundings. It is about freedom for the individual.

Then it is about us not imposing behavioral patterns, whether they are gender-stereotypical or not. I have said that all the time. In my speech, I said that it is about children having the opportunity to choose freely themselves without educators pressuring them with certain ideologically loaded pedagogical methods.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Mathias Bengtsson (KD)

Madam Speaker! For the Christian Democrats, preschool and childcare is primarily about giving children a secure start in life. The love, affirmation, and care that we give them as small children, both in homes and through childcare and preschool, we receive back in the form of secure and responsible youths and adults.

For us Christian Democrats, it is a self-evident matter that every parent should be able to choose the form of childcare themselves. Every child is unique, and in most cases, the parents are those who can best judge what their children thrive in. Regardless of whether they choose a municipal or independent preschool, or pedagogical care - or if they, for that matter, do not choose any of this - it is a freedom that parents should have. Therefore, it is important that in every municipality there should be a broad palette of both municipal and private alternatives with different pedagogical orientations that parents can choose between.

To this diversity contributes, not least, the pedagogical care, the family daycares. Most family daycares are characterized by small-scale operations, home-like proximity, and high continuity among the staff, which constitutes an important complement to the often far too large groups of children in the preschool.

In order for families' freedom of choice to function well, parents need to be well-informed by the municipality about which alternatives are available. This is a prerequisite for the family to have the power to make a well-informed choice about which childcare they want to provide for their children.

As a parent, one should be able to trust that childcare and preschool, regardless of what one chooses, will be stimulating and developmental for the children. Swedish schools shall maintain a high pedagogical level while simultaneously accommodating plenty of play and movement.

The focus should primarily lie on the child's social development, while at the same time the preschool's role for the Swedish language is emphasized. Children need to be allowed to listen to read-alouds and talk about the stories. This is most important for children who do not come into contact with the Swedish language at home.

Madam Speaker! A key in childcare is time for the children. Time for the children gives safer children, and safe children are what, in the long run, give a Sweden where fewer children, youth, and adults suffer. The children's groups need therefore, regardless of the form of childcare, to be small. Large children's groups can expose children to stress that can have serious consequences for the children's development. In addition to impaired attachment, the stress risks leading, among other things, to concentration difficulties and impaired learning ability.

If a children's group becomes too large, the positive effects of being in a group risk being replaced by their opposite. Relationships can become difficult for the children to oversee, which in turn can lead to a sense of anonymity and insecurity, which in the next step can lead to aggressive behavior or other manifestations such as fatigue, sadness, and listlessness.

Skolverket has today guidelines that there should be six to twelve children per toddler group for children aged one to three years, but according to the Swedish Union of Teachers' survey, few preschool teachers working in a toddler group are within the guidelines. It is therefore evident that the work to reduce the large child groups needs to continue.

Parents should be able to feel secure that there is time and that there is an embrace to curl up in for their two-year-old. Preschool staff should be able to feel secure that they are given good conditions to perform their fantastic and important work.

The Christian Democrat childcare policy aims for more children to be seen, affirmed, and feel safe in preschool. It lays a foundation that reduces the risk of mental ill-health later in life. Secure children are what seriously lay the foundation for a secure society and a safer Sweden.

I vote in favor of the committee's proposal.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Daniel Riazat (V)

Madam Speaker! Preschool is both a prerequisite for equal parenting and a pedagogical activity that is crucial for children's development and future. A functioning, equal, and equitable preschool is a prerequisite for a well-functioning society.

Research shows that compensatory measures from society are effective in leveling class inequalities and that they have the greatest significance for children from the most resource-poor families and if they are made early in life. The significance of attending preschool and after-school care is therefore greatest for increasing equality between people from different class backgrounds and for families with low incomes.

We in Vänsterpartiet therefore proposed in August 2022 that lowered fees for preschool should be introduced. Our proposal involved a progressive fee system where those with the lowest incomes could have their fee entirely covered by the state, while almost everyone else, except perhaps the wealthiest percent in society, received a fee reduction.

But preschool is about more than just the fees. The purposeful investment in preschool in Sweden has ensured that, from an international perspective, it holds a special position in terms of both accessibility, quality, and pedagogical development. But for the good development to continue, the size of the children's groups needs to be limited and the preschool's compensatory role strengthened. The political power must listen when preschool teachers and childcare workers testify about the unsustainable situation today.

Madam Speaker! We believe that a holistic approach is required, one that has not been taken since the 70s. That is why the Left Party and the former trade union Lärarförbundet joined forces just over two years ago and demanded that a larger preschool investigation be commissioned by the government at that time.

When it comes to high sickness absence rates and high workload, preschool is second highest in sickness absence rates, directly after healthcare and care professions. Arbetsmiljöverket showed two years ago that four out of ten preschool teachers have ailments as a result of their work. In Lärarförbundet's member survey, five out of ten preschool teachers stated that they have such a high workload that they do not have time for large parts of their assignment during regular working hours. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that a large majority of the country's municipalities have made cuts in preschool.

The differences are growing between preschools with high quality and preschools with low quality. An equal and equivalent preschool must be a national political goal, but right now the development is going in the wrong direction. The size of the children's groups may have decreased in some places, but they are far too large. And the staff's education level varies greatly. Some preschools have premises that are too small or premises that are not adapted for preschool activities. The access to a good outdoor environment also varies greatly.

This week we received information from the new trade union Sveriges Lärare. They say that preschool is once again ranked second highest when it comes to sick leave rates in the labor market, after healthcare and care professions. They also say that the number of preschool teachers at risk of being affected by long-term sick leave with a mental diagnosis has increased sharply over the last five years. In addition to this, it is revealed that there are 183.6 started sick leaves per 1,000 employed persons within preschool, compared to the average of 102.4. The trade union further says that 60 percent of their members agree fully or partially that the work is mentally stressful.

According to Skolverket's guidelines, the children's groups in preschool for one- to three-year-olds should not be larger than twelve children. For older children, the recommendation is a maximum of fifteen children per group, but there are many preschools today that fail to achieve this - 49 percent, according to a survey.

In addition to this, I want to add that the Swedish preschool is subject to a strong expansion of private welfare thieves, which makes it more difficult both for the municipalities that operate preschool activities and for the non-profit private actors. It is concerning, because we see that the preschool is heading towards the same development as the upper secondary school and subsequently the primary school, where a number of venture capital companies and limited companies have entered. The companies want to turn it into a market, not because they want the children's best, but because they want their own pockets' best.

The fact that we also have an Education Minister who comes from one of these companies does not make the whole thing any less concerning. The Liberals cannot even answer whether they have received money to pursue this policy or not. Furthermore, no other bourgeois party can.

Madam Speaker! What interest do these companies have in Swedish preschool? As I mentioned earlier, it is not about wanting to promote the children's development in our society, but it is about creating differences already at young ages. That is what we see happening in school, and that is what is now also starting to happen in the Swedish preschool.

It is incredibly provoking to see these large private actors making large profit withdrawals now when many people are having a hard time financially and we see cuts in preschool and school. These companies continue to take out multi-million amounts in profit year after year. It is time to ban the school market and take back the power. We can start by having a principle of public access so that even ministers with a background in this industry must be forced to tell the truth.

Madam Speaker! Another question that I intended to conclude with concerns childcare during inconvenient working hours.

Never has it been as clear as during the pandemic years how dependent we are on the society-sustaining professional groups - those who care for the sick in healthcare, those who provide care to the elderly, those who teach the children, those who drive the buses, and those who work within the food industry and trade so that we can buy the food we need even when we are exposed to perhaps the worst pandemic we have ever experienced. Common to all these professional groups is, in addition to the fact that they have not been able to work from home during the pandemic years, that they also work at times when we others do not work. This leads to the fact that there is also a need for childcare for these people. Their children also need to have the opportunity to be somewhere where they are offered both care and pedagogy during the times when we others are lying and sleeping.

What is the situation with childcare during inconvenient working hours across the municipalities? It looks very different. Many times when municipalities offer childcare during inconvenient working hours, it happens on their own terms without regard for the parents' situation. In many municipalities, parents are also expected to actively reach out and request such childcare for the municipality to even consider starting it up. And very many municipalities do not offer childcare during inconvenient working hours at all today.

We mean that this must be changed. Therefore, I move for approval of reservation 8.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Anna Lasses (C)

Madam Speaker! When we talk about the right to education and how important education is, it often happens that it is the school that is referred to. That is where the focus lies, and that is where all problems are to be solved. At the same time, we know that the foundation for a person's security and the opportunity to develop their full potential is laid much earlier.

So when are we really going to establish that it is in preschool, or rather in preschool age, that the foundation is laid for your opportunities to grow as a human being and reach your potential? When are we going to start seeing preschool as education for our children and not just as a place that enables us adults to go to work? I think the answer is now. If we realize that, we will hopefully also understand that we must ensure that there are enough resources so that every child receives the education and the security that they need and have a right to.

What resources are needed? I am convinced, not least after today's debate, that we all here agree that, apart from premises and all the thousands of well-intentioned rules that exist regarding how slides and climbing frames should be designed, in the end there is actually only one thing that is important for the preschool to function, and that is trained educators and, above all, enough trained educators throughout the country.

For many years we have discussed the size of the children's groups. And of course, it is important and good to have small children's groups. But all of us who have been active as municipal politicians or worked in administrations know that the reality of the limited budget is there. And often we find solutions that were perhaps something other than just the thought behind exactly this that we should have smaller children's groups. Suddenly the pedagogical pair was invented, and the answer to smaller children's groups became that one suddenly had more children per educator. Therefore, it is important that we once and for all set our foot down and say that it is the staff density, that is, how many children there should be at maximum per educator, that is what is important. How the children are then grouped may actually be something that we politicians should stay away from and let those who know what the children need, that is, the educators, decide.

At the same time, we know that the shortage of educators, both preschool teachers and childcare workers, is glaring. Therefore, it is important to also establish here that if we are to have a high quality of education for our children, trained educators are needed. The answer to that is, among other things, competence development and good opportunities for further development.

It is pleasing to hear from the government parties here about the investments they want to make in preschool. But do you know that the word preschool is mentioned only once in the Tidö Agreement? And furthermore, it is not the word preschool but language preschool that is written there. The government speaks a lot about exclusion, about the divided society, and about the need to reduce crime and increase safety. I truly agree. Therefore, it is completely astonishing that preschool does not have more space in the Tidö Agreement. One knows, after all, that it is there that the foundation is laid. And one knows especially that for children living in areas of exclusion or who live in vulnerability, preschool is even more crucial. It thus becomes even more important that these children go to preschool. Now it is instead the opposite, that is to say that precisely children of foreign-born parents in vulnerable areas are those who utilize preschool to the least extent of all groups.

The outreach activities that the municipalities are now tasked with carrying out are therefore very important. But we could also ensure that parents who do not work have a right to preschool even for the very youngest children, which would, among other things, mean that these children receive a better language development which is crucial for subsequently managing school.

Sometimes one can believe that those who authored the Tidö Agreement have not set foot in a preschool. For if they had, at least a third of the agreement should have dealt with the preschool, which, together with school, free time, and community life, are the absolutely most important preventive measures. Then they would have known that the educators in the preschool have a firm grip on every young person's situation. The educators in the preschool, especially those who have worked for a while and seen the children grow up, can say exactly which children are at risk of suffering harm and who will not be able to keep up later in school and who risk starting self-harming behaviors or, in the worst cases, ending up in crime and social exclusion. And the educators know what support the children need. But there is a lack of time, and there is a lack of resources.

In addition to the fact that we need to increase the density of educators and invest in competence training, the preschool, just like the school, needs opportunities to a much greater extent to provide support to children with needs. The needs vary. It concerns everything that I have already highlighted, namely vulnerability and exclusion, but it also concerns children with NPF diagnoses. If children with NPF diagnoses receive support already in preschool, the transition to school and the possibility of completing their education becomes significantly greater. But then the preschool needs greater access to special educators and better cooperation with, for example, healthcare and social services.

It is time now that we take preschool seriously and put the child's opportunities at the center. Let us therefore stop talking and do something instead!

I also wish to move for approval of reservation 9.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Camilla Hansén (MP)

Madam Speaker! Today, all parties in the debate have in different ways spoken about how important preschool is in our social construction. It is easy to agree on, but we also notice that there are certain points where we have fundamentally different views on how the preschool should function. Some of it is, of course, about ideological starting points, but it is also about what one has the possibility to deliver based on the conditions we have given – or the conditions we as an opposition party have tried to give – the municipalities to operate the preschool.

Miljöpartiet is the party that wants to give the most money to education, if one looks at the parties' education budgets. We do it by listening to Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner when they say that 20 billion SEK in state grants are needed to maintain the level. I say that nevertheless with a bit of the blush of shame on my cheeks, because I believe many parties in here want to raise the level of the municipalities' activities. It is at least a minimum level to meet that need. In addition to that, we put 5 billion more in the education budget than the government does on the education sector. There is no party that matches that. It is actually a bit surprising that the government does not match it.

The Social Democrats and the Green Party took over as governing parties in 2014 and brought with them a budget deficit of 72 billion. Our government – or rather the Social Democratic one, during the last months – left behind a surplus of 164 billion. There are therefore resources available to make investments, but the current government chooses not to do so.

Preschool plays an important role in compensating for differences in children's upbringing conditions. Participation in preschool is significant for children's future school results. In Sweden, almost all children attend preschool, but among those who do not, there is a difference in where they live. A larger proportion come from families residing in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas. At the same time, fewer licensed preschool teachers and trained childcare workers work there. It is a general pattern but, of course, no law of nature.

Preschool

Last week I visited preschools in my constituency, and there they work with a focus on the work environment, teaching, and knowledge building, and have turned the development so that they now have low staff turnover and higher knowledge results. The teachers in the school notice that the children have better knowledge when they arrive there, and the staff obviously work better when they do not get sick from being at work. Part of what makes this work so successful in Vivalla's preschools is Samverkan för bästa skola, which is a support that Skolverket has been working with since 2015. Now they continue to work structurally with knowledge development and work environment.

One of the Environment Party's initiatives on education is that we want to establish an equality grant for preschools. It is a newly established appropriation in the budget. We want it to be available to all preschools. It is equality billions that need to be used to hire more educators, raise wages, offer staff better professional development, or increase access to special educators - based on the needs of the local preschools.

Miljöpartiet wants that all children who do not attend preschool are actively offered a preschool place and that the municipalities follow up every year on which ones they are. In the area I visited, I heard comments that they were too few, but I was a bit questioning about that because it was due to the fact that so many three-year-olds already attended preschool. It did not need that many more children to have reached practically everyone.

Miljöpartiet also wants the preschool to be available when it is needed. It is an important equality policy issue. The availability of childcare during inconvenient working hours varies between municipalities. They are not obliged to offer care during inconvenient working hours. This creates problems for parents who work evenings, nights, or early mornings. We want childcare to be available during those times as well. It is required for a gender-equal labor market.

I move for approval of reservation 8 that the government should take appropriate measures to ensure that there is childcare on evenings, nights, and weekends for those who need it.

(Applause)

The deliberation was hereby concluded.

Preschool

(A decision was to be taken on 8 March.)

Infrastructure issues

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