The National Audit Office's report on the Swedish Public Employment Service's support for persons with disabilities, etc.

Saila Quicklund (M)

Mr. Speaker! We are now debating the Swedish National Audit Office's review of the Public Employment Service's support for persons with disabilities.

The Moderates believe in every person's ability. All people should get to feel that they have a place where they can participate and contribute. That is the foundation of our work line. In Sweden, it should be more important where you are headed than where you come from.

The Swedish National Audit Office's review of how the labor market policy works for persons with disabilities tells us that we still have some way to go to reach that goal. The employment rate among persons with disabilities that entail reduced work capacity amounts to 46 percent. In the rest of the population, the corresponding figure is 80 percent. Unemployment in the group is 21 percent, to be compared with 8 percent for the rest. More than one in three long-term unemployed in Sweden has a disability. Therefore, we are also reforming the labor market policy.

Mr. Speaker! The Swedish National Audit Office points out some central problems, and let me be honest about the gravity of each one of them. It is about identifying those who have a disability. For every tenth person registered with the Public Employment Service, the process takes more than three years. In several cases, the disability is never identified. It is naturally impossible to provide the right support to someone whose needs one does not even know. The Public Employment Service needs case officers with the right competence, who can hold more physical meetings and have the courage to make the assessments that are required. It is also clear that the reorganization carried out during the previous government has contributed to the waiting times having increased.

Mr. Speaker! The Moderates' answer is a restored work line and a policy that activates, provides the right support, and opens doors to the ordinary labor market. In Sweden, there are around 700,000 people with some form of disability. Among those with reduced work capacity, there is a large untapped potential. It is not reasonable for society to turn a blind eye to it. The goal must be that more people should leave wage support and Samhall for a position on the ordinary labor market.

Much work is already underway. Since 2022, Arbetsförmedlingen has had a special mandate to reduce long-term unemployment. A cohesive matching support is being expanded with shortened mapping, continuous support from one or a small group of employment officers, and active employer work. The median figure for participation in the support in 2025 was 7,587 people per month. This is a sharp increase from 1,762 people per month during 2024.

Access to SIUS, a special support person for induction and follow-up support, has increased since 2023 for both women and men. It is an initiative that targets individuals with a disability directly. On the other hand, Arbetsförmedlingen is still not reaching its own goals, which is why more work is required.

In the regulatory letter, the government has given Arbetsförmedlingen a continued assignment, namely to significantly shorten the time it takes to identify and register disabilities with special priority for those who have been without work for more than two years.

There is also a new goal, namely that the number of participants in measures including wage subsidies shall increase. Arbetsförmedlingen has additionally been tasked with carrying out targeted information initiatives towards employers to increase knowledge about the supports that are available at and during an employment.

The folk high schools deserve a mention all their own. A full 44 percent of the participants in the general course in 2024 had a functional impairment. It is therefore one of the most important educational paths for this group. In the budget bill for 2026, we are investing in the special education support, and we propose a new targeted grant to the folk high schools to strengthen their capacity to meet participants with varied support needs and to counteract the phasing out of education programs.

The Government has also appointed a Samhall Inquiry, which submitted its report in March 2025. The inquiry shows that the need for sheltered work is great and will likely grow. The report is now being prepared within the Government Offices. Additionally, IFAU is conducting a project on job seekers' experiences of disability coding and measures such as wage subsidies and sheltered work. It is precisely that type of knowledge building that the Swedish National Audit Office requests and which is necessary for the policy to be steered towards actual results.

Mr. Speaker! The National Audit Office emphasizes that the government must manage Arbetsförmedlingen in a long-term and results-oriented manner. It is a conclusion we fully share. It is not enough to set goals; there must also be follow-up, consequences, and an organization that actually delivers. The National Audit Office recommends that the ordinance on special measures for persons with disabilities that result in reduced work capacity be reviewed in its entirety. The purpose is to ensure that the conditions for the measures actually contribute to the program's goals being met. The committee shares that assessment.

We also take seriously that the assessments of disabilities are made in different ways depending on where in the country one lives. Where you happen to live should not determine what support you receive. It is a matter of justice.

Sweden shall become richer and safer. It requires that more people are in work, and that requires those who need support to get there actually receive it through a public employment service that identifies needs early, provides coherent and individually adapted support, and works actively with employers. It requires a purposeful regulatory framework, and it requires a policy that does not settle for managing the existing but instead actively pushes for more people to be able to participate in the labor market according to their own abilities.

The work is not finished, but the direction is right. We are prepared to take further measures if necessary.

I vote in favor of the committee's proposal.

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

Jonathan Svensson (S)

Mr. Speaker! I thank Saila Quicklund for her speech. She highlights in a meritorious way the problems that exist in the labor market for people with disabilities, and she herself says that these are pressing issues to handle.

When one reads the report that Saila Quicklund stands behind, it states, among other things, that one sympathizes fully with the opposition parties' view that measures are needed in the area. It is a good insight, and I naturally agree with that insight.

However, Saila Quicklund, together with the other government parties and the Sweden Democrats, also states in the report that they do not make the same assessment when it comes to the need for immediate measures. I would therefore like to take the opportunity tonight and ask Saila Quicklund: If it is not immediate measures that are required to give people with disabilities a bearable life, what measures are required? Are they slow measures? Are there no measures at all? What measures can we expect?

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

Saila Quicklund (M)

Mr. Speaker! I thank Jonathan Svensson for the remark.

It may seem a bit strange nonetheless. I trace a certain impatience among the Socialdemokrater over the fact that this is not moving fast enough. Let us remember that the Riksrevision's reporting period, the period that has been reviewed, is 2013–2024, which is thus largely during the S-led government. It is clearly surprising if the knowledge has existed. And it has! I have stood on Jonathan Svensson's side and held the same views about the previous government and felt the impatience. The Socialdemokrater demand here and now that the work should go faster, while for eight years they did not perform what perhaps should have been done during that time.

We know that the criticism has been strong that Arbetsförmedlingen is not managing the labor market policy for people with disabilities effectively. One in ten people has had to wait over three years to receive a coding. That is three years of waiting without interventions. We all know what that means physically and psychologically for people. Allocated funds have also not been used, and Arbetsförmedlingen has sent back billions of kronor. That was also the case during the Socialdemokraternas time.

Now the Social Democrats are impatient. Why could the Social Democrats not adjust what is now being demanded in opposition?

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

Jonathan Svensson (S)

Mr. Speaker! There are now approximately six months left until the next parliamentary election. We are at the end of the mandate period. It is Saila Quicklund's party together with a number of other parties that have governed the country during the last few years.

Just as I mentioned earlier, Saila Quicklund writes together with the committee's majority in the report that she does not see a need for immediate measures.

One can have opinions on which measures should be implemented. That is fully understandable. It is part of the nature of politics. But when one receives such a report which in many ways is clear, one should dare to take immediate measures and not wait. Of course, all preparatory processes must take their time, but the interventions should nevertheless be immediate.

I think it is unfortunate that the Moderates, the rest of the government, and the Sweden Democrats do not have higher ambitions in this area. In fact, the government and the Sweden Democrats have repeatedly made it more difficult for the Public Employment Service to fulfill its mission in a satisfactory manner during this parliamentary term.

Not during any of the years has one been anywhere near compensating Arbetsförmedlingen to the level they themselves desired. Much of the measures and supplements that have been made for Arbetsförmedlingen have, for example, concerned increased control of job seekers. It is not necessarily something that always supports persons with disabilities. The supplements have, in practice, also been eaten up by inflation-related costs.

I want to ask the member again which measures it is that the government and the Sweden Democrats do not consider need to be implemented immediately.

(Applause)

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

Saila Quicklund (M)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you for the reply, Jonathan Svensson!

Again: It is fascinating that Jonathan Svensson and the Social Democrats are impatient. They actually had eight years to fix these things.

The government has, in three and a half years, done more than the Social Democratic government did in eight years. We have changed the board and the director-general. We have also given extra support to persons with disabilities who wish to start companies. The SIUS measures have increased significantly. Interpretation support, in-depth mapping, individual support, and continuous mentoring have been implemented. It has increased from 1,700 to 7,500. Things are happening, even if we are not satisfied. It is this government that has taken action on just those matters.

In the regulatory letter to Arbetsförmedlingen, we have also been clear that waiting times regarding coding and so on must be shortened.

The folk high schools, where 44 percent of the students in the general course are people with disabilities, receive extra support. The folk high school is very important for them to be able to receive further education.

The Samhall investigation is being prepared and will soon come with concrete measures. And IFAU maps out, evaluates, and follows up on almost all areas, such as sheltered work and wage subsidies. And we have a follow-up strategy that extends to 2031.

What did the Social Democrats do during their eight years? We have done this in three and a half years. We are not satisfied, but things are happening thanks to this government. The passivity that this group felt during your time in government must never come back.

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

Nadja Awad (V)

Mr. Speaker! It is quite distasteful of the member to refer to previous years and previous governments when we have, here and now, a government that, with the help of the Sweden Democrats, has placed persons with disabilities in long-term unemployment. And it is only getting worse.

I think we should talk about what is going wrong here and now on the Swedish labor market. What is it that makes it so that people in this group do not get a job and therefore do not have an income to be able to live, not just survive?

The Speaker referred to how important the folk high schools are. But this government and the Sweden Democrats have ensured that over 90 percent of the folk high schools have been forced to scale back their activities. The government and the Sweden Democrats have distributed budget cuts in stages, and we therefore see closed courses and that the number of teaching positions has decreased.

The wage subsidy has been at the same level since 2020. The maximum amount is 20,000 kronor. In that case, companies cannot afford to hire, and they go bankrupt.

The right to an interpreter, assistive devices, transport services, and escort services has completely failed under this government's and the Sverigedemokraternas rule. People with disabilities do not even have the possibility to get to and from work, because they do not receive transport services, do not receive escort services, and do not receive an interpreter to be able to communicate with colleagues. They are thus filtered out from the interviews. They do not even get to an interview because the companies cannot offer an interpreter. It costs too much.

Then we also have the streamlining and the cutbacks of Arbetsförmedlingen.

What responsibility does the member want to take for how the labor market looks for this group?

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

Saila Quicklund (M)

Mr. Speaker! It was multifaceted and a lot, Nadja Awad. The questions of the Committee on Employment and Labour are mixed with transport services, assistive devices and so on. It becomes a mess. But let me still comment.

Of course, unemployment always increases by approximately 2 percent during a recession. What is strange is that under the previous government, we had an almost equally large unemployment rate, during an economic boom. It should be noted that approximately 200 people were granted disability pensions per day. I met those people in my previous profession. If you had a simple knee injury and were on sick leave for a year, you became a disability pensioner. It manipulated the unemployment figures. Many were hidden and forgotten by the Social Democratic government.

We have a recession that is having an impact. We have a structural recession and a cyclical recession. These people – those who are over 55 years old, those who have a disability, and those who are foreign-born – are included in the structural unemployment. It is here that the long-term unemployed are found. They are not affected as much by the cycle. They were there even during the Social Democrats' time. The others, on the cyclical side, get work faster. But precisely those with disabilities are here.

We have provided extra support to the folk high schools, and we have appointed interpreter support. Nadja Awad perhaps did not listen to my speech where I explained what the government has done on that side.

When it comes to the fact that the wage subsidy has not been increased since 2017, the Social Democratic government did not change that either. It has remained unchanged. Now we are going to conduct a review, and that is good.

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

Nadja Awad (V)

Mr. Speaker! The member blames on the one hand previous governments and on the other hand a recession. The social security of persons with disabilities is also being hampered and they are being placed in immense poverty by also eroding the unemployment insurance fund and making it harder to receive social assistance. They are making this group even poorer. How is it to take responsibility for this group? They are not getting better living conditions with the bourgeois government's policy.

It is not true that this government, with the help of the Sweden Democrats, has given more money to the folk high schools. That is why we are seeing cuts. Over 90 percent of the folk high schools have been forced to scale back their activities.

The wage subsidy has not been increased. And it is the most important measure, according to Arbetsförmedlingen, to ensure that companies can employ persons with disabilities.

When it comes to the right to an interpreter, I heard what the member had to say. The interpreter service investigation, which has been gathering dust on the Government Offices' desks for over three years, was supposed to ensure that companies can afford to hire and have an interpreter at the workplace. It was supposed to ensure that people who are deaf and who have deaf-blindness could enter the workforce. The government is now on its third Minister for Employment. Still, nothing is happening. We might even get a fourth Minister for Employment after Sunday's crisis management in the Liberals.

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

Saila Quicklund (M)

Mr. Speaker! Nadja Awad does not sit on the Committee on Employment. Therefore, I do not demand or expect her to have a grip on all the figures. But the numbers are decreasing. We receive reports every month that it is moving in the right direction. There is confidence among the companies, and that creates jobs. Growth is expected to increase. The employment rate will soon be at the top in Europe. Unemployment is falling for the sixth month in a row. We are not satisfied with the figures that exist now, but it is moving in the right direction with the government's efforts. Nevertheless, we are in a recession.

We well remember how it was when we entered government with an inflation of 10 percent. There are incredible challenges. Of course, one does not blame a recession, but it is clear that it has an impact on unemployment. Still, we are moving in the right direction with these measures. We have increased the allowance for the first 100 days and ensured that more people can participate and enter it. We have reduced the fraud, which has also been widespread. The allowance is better, but there is a work line with a clearer requirement that one must enter work. Therefore, we must have functioning systems, with a functioning employment service, matching, guidance, support, and so on. Many good things will come; we are on our way.

Here, the dividing lines are also visible between, on one hand, Vänsterpartiet and on the other hand, Moderaterna and the government. We believe in the work line. We see opportunities in all people. Believe me: All people can, with the right support and the right aids, be participants in the community. I know that from my profession. We believe in people. Here we differ. It is the work line that stands against the benefit line.

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

Magnus Persson (SD)

Mr. Speaker! I would like to begin by expressing my support for the proposal in the committee report and by rejecting the motions. In this committee report, we in the Sverigedemokraterna have a specific statement describing our position.

Persons who are affected by a disability while they have an employment should not first have to be removed from the labor market in order to then be entitled to rehabilitation and support. Today, reference is largely made to the employer's rehabilitative measures. This is not optimal, because specialist knowledge is required to find functioning solutions. Today, Försäkringskassan acts only when the person has been signed off sick.

The Sweden Democrats have, during the mandate period, had many proposals regarding labor market policy measures and programs. A large part of the proposals have concerned measures for persons with disabilities who have reduced work capacity, a group that finds it particularly difficult to establish themselves firmly on the labor market. The goal of our labor market policy is clear, Mr. Speaker. The state's measures shall lead to the individual obtaining regular employment, and everyone shall have the right to a job and be able to work according to their own ability.

In committee motion 2025/26:3877, we Sverigedemokrater proposed that an increase of the ceiling in the wage subsidies and the possibility of introducing an indexing be investigated. Our view is that an increase of the wage subsidies would enable more industries and professions to participate in the system and that an indexing would ensure that the subsidies follow the development of labor costs.

Mr. Speaker! In this matter, we have chosen not to reserve ourselves in favor of the proposal because the committee's proposal for a review of the ordinance on special measures for persons with disabilities that result in reduced work capacity is a step in the right direction. We will, however, Mr. Speaker, continue the work of driving an effective and sustainable labor market policy, and in future political collaborations, we will raise the issue of the ceiling level and indexing of the wage subsidies. We have thus not dropped this issue. We are pursuing it very actively in the forums where we are to pursue it, and we will return to it several times in other contexts.

Mr. Speaker! For the Sweden Democrats, issues linked to disabilities have always been important, and this work will be prioritized in the future as well. This also applies to the dialogue with and support for the disability movement, which carries out an enormous amount of work. I often meet people from different parts of that movement. Many times they complain about us, but many times they are satisfied because we raise issues that had been buried for quite a few years before.

It is also about, for example, giving state-owned Samhall the right conditions. Even there, a review should be made in the future regarding the wage subsidies, so that they are also indexed and follow the wage development. In that way, one avoids a lot of expensive extra budgets and makes it easier for the company to follow the wage development on the Swedish labor market. If wages increase by 3 percent, the wage subsidies should also increase by 3 percent.

These are issues that the Sweden Democrats are actively driving in the forums where they are to be driven. As I said before, this is a task that we will prioritize very clearly in future budget negotiations.

(Applause)

In this speech, Chris Dahlqvist and Staffan Eklöf (both SD) agreed.

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

Jonathan Svensson (S)

Mr. Speaker! I actually hadn't intended to request a reply to Magnus Persson, but I became a bit thoughtful when he said that the issue of the ceiling on the wage subsidy should be pursued in another context and in another forum. In which forum should it then be pursued, if not in Sweden's highest decision-making assembly, the Swedish Riksdag, and in a government cooperation? That was an extremely brief question to Magnus Persson.

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

Magnus Persson (SD)

Mr. Speaker! Jonathan Svensson shall receive an extremely brief answer. We do not negotiate the budget in exchanges of remarks in the Swedish Riksdag; instead, we do so with the parties we cooperate with within the Tidö cooperation. It is in those negotiations that we handle budget-related issues.

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

Jonathan Svensson (S)

Mr. Speaker! I certainly, the Sweden Democrats, in connection with the government's communication, submitted a follow-up motion regarding, among other things, an increase of the wage subsidy ceiling. They propose an investigation, so it is not cost-driving. The Sweden Democrats now move for the rejection of that follow-up motion in that they stand behind the committee's position. I therefore still remain somewhat questioning. Why does SD move for the rejection of its own motion when its proposal is not budget-impacting? And in what contexts should these discussions be conducted?

(Applause)

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

Magnus Persson (SD)

Mr. Speaker! I am not going to give an economic lesson, but indexing a salary cap is budget-driving, if anything. I believe the member has a full understanding of that. When it comes to the response from the majority, I think they landed quite well in this communication.

(Applause)

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

Jonathan Svensson (S)

Mr. Speaker! I would like to note initially that no member from the Minister for Employment's party is registered for the debate today. I think it is regrettable that one has capitulated on that issue already.

I want to start by saying something obvious. All people who can work shall also work. All people also have the right to work and support themselves according to their own ability. However, a job is not just about an income to pay the month's rent. It is also about the everyday – to be able to go to work, meet one's colleagues and feel pride in contributing to one's own livelihood. It is also about freedom, about participation and about the feeling of contributing to our common society.

But for many people with disabilities, the journey to a job is often far too long and far too complicated. It is not due to a lack of will, but it is because the support from society is lacking and because our labor market is designed in a way that does not work for large groups of people.

A key actor for this support is precisely Arbetsförmedlingen, which is to be considered the state's expert agency in these matters. Therefore, we think it is welcome and important that Riksrevisionen has audited Arbetsförmedlingen's efforts for the group that we are now discussing. It is also this audit that forms the basis for the debate the labor market committee has today in the chamber. Unfortunately, Riksrevisionen can in its in-depth audit of the agency state that there are major deficiencies that need to be addressed.

The overall assessment made by the Swedish National Audit Office is that the implementation of the labor market policy for this group is not effective enough. They point out that it takes too long for Arbetsförmedlingen to identify disabilities in people registered with the agency. Furthermore, the ability to identify disabilities has deteriorated over time, which is particularly regrettable, as there is a clear connection between having one's disability identified and actually progressing into work or studies.

Furthermore, the Swedish National Audit Office's review shows that Arbetsförmedlingen has deficiencies when it comes to providing support and interventions within a reasonable time based on the circumstances of each individual. As many as half of all those who had their disability identified after 2020 completely lack an activity or intervention after two years of being registered.

The Swedish National Audit Office describes how people with disabilities are a group that often is in need of extra support from Arbetsförmedlingen in their job search. The possibility of this support deteriorates significantly when the number of case officers per case increases, when the job seekers themselves are expected to contribute more and more in their own cases, and when people have great difficulties in contacting the authority in a satisfactory way.

Another difficulty highlighted in the review is Arbetsförmedlingen's work with its employer contacts. These are contacts maintained with employers, among other purposes to open the door for, for example, a wage subsidy employment. The National Audit Office argues that this has not been sufficiently prioritized at the agency. They raise many stories from the agency and point out that the overall too low administrative appropriations have led to this work being deprioritized because there simply is not enough staff for the purpose.

There are also reports from several employment agencies highlighting that the so-called ceiling on the wage subsidy is a hindering factor that contributes to limiting the number of employers who dare to hire someone with a wage subsidy. Today, the ceiling is at 20,000 kronor per month. It is a figure that has not been raised since the last S-government.

Overall, the Swedish National Audit Office's review can be said to point to major deficiencies regarding the implementation of the labor market policy for this group. The deficiencies exist both in the agency's work and in the government's management of the agency towards the intended goals.

Mr. Speaker! We Social Democrats believe that another world and another labor market policy are possible – a labor market policy where people receive the tools and the support they need to be able to take and keep a job, regardless of whether they have a disability or not. It is a labor market policy where even people with disabilities are given the same opportunities to participate in working life, simply because their experiences and their knowledge also need to be utilized in the labor market.

We want to ensure that this becomes a reality through more individualized support for this group of people. To manage this, Arbetsförmedlingen needs to have the resources that are actually required to, among other things, employ various types of specialists and have a satisfactory local presence.

The goal must be that every individual receives the support they need and the measures required to move forward into work or education, without falling through the cracks. Unfortunately, the government has underfunded Arbetsförmedlingen's administrative grants during this mandate period. This has led to Arbetsförmedlingen not being able to use the money it has been allocated and having to return billions annually.

We Social Democrats have time and again, in shadow budget after shadow budget, allocated more money to Arbetsförmedlingen's administrative grants and the active labor market policy. We have done this, among other things, in order to strengthen the work with the group we are discussing here today, through for example more staff and shorter waiting times for various support measures. Unfortunately, the Tidö parties have not made the same prioritization of the state treasury's resources as we have.

On this point, I would therefore like to move for the approval of our reservation number 1. But I would also like to highlight the second point in the report.

Mr. Speaker! In the Swedish National Audit Office's review, a sharp recommendation was directed to the government to review the ordinance that has been brought up here earlier during the debate. I am speaking of the ordinance concerning special measures for persons with disabilities that entail reduced work capacity. The ordinance regulates a long series of different things – different forms of support measures from Arbetsförmedlingen, who can participate in the support and what the support should look like – and it also regulates the so-called ceiling in the wage subsidy.

When we Social Democrats received the government's communication regarding the Swedish National Audit Office's report, we noted quite quickly that we did not quite feel that the government was responding to the recommendation. Thus, we submitted a motion that a review should be conducted in accordance with the National Audit Office's recommendations. This simply became the basis for our reservations in this committee report.

Mr. Speaker! Now, something relatively exciting is about to happen. The majority of the committee, namely the government and the Sweden Democrats, are going to issue a relatively sharp announcement to their own governing parties. It is not super common. It happens, but it is not every day that the governing parties themselves take the initiative to do so.

The announcement that the committee majority is to make is, in practice, almost synonymous with the follow-up motion that we Social Democrats raised in the area, while the Sweden Democrats and the government propose that our follow-up motion should be partially approved. In addition to this, SD proposes a rejection of its own follow-up motion.

Mr. Speaker! I do not intend to speculate on exactly what is happening behind the scenes in the Tidö group. That is for them to decide. But I can still state that it is very pleasing to receive acclaim for good Social Democratic policy, a policy which, moreover, is hopefully going to lead to more people with disabilities obtaining tolerable employment.

Even though we have received quite a bit of support in the committee's position, we are obviously not one hundred percent satisfied. There are parts where we believe one could have been a little, a little sharper. It concerns whether, within the framework of the review, one should take into account the ceiling in the wage subsidy. Therefore, I would also like to move for approval of the opposition's joint reservation number 5.

(Applause)

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

Nadja Awad (V)

Mr. Speaker! Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will lose his job after the election on September 13. He knows that. But I doubt that he is worried about not getting a new job. Svenskt Näringsliv will surely welcome him into the warmth. Ulf Kristersson also seems to be the world's best friend who deals with friend recruitment, and a favor usually yields a return favor. Thus, he and his rich friends are sitting quite calmly in the boat when it storms in the country, now that we find ourselves in the worst unemployment in a long time, where half a million people are unemployed. This is what this government and the Sverigedemokraterna are responsible for.

A group that is overrepresented among the unemployed are people with disabilities. They feel that Ulf Kristersson and the Tidö government have abandoned them completely. It sounds like a very poor work line from the government's side.

Maria Kullmar from Halmstad has been long-term unemployed, and Arbetsförmedlingen has failed several times to provide measures adapted to her autism diagnosis. But finally, she received her first employment at the age of 39, as an operations manager at a café, thanks to the state wage subsidy. Now, however, workplaces like Maria's risk going bankrupt and disappearing because the government and Sverigedemokraterna are not increasing the wage subsidy. It has not been increased for five years. Maria thus risks falling into long-term unemployment again, and small businesses risk going bankrupt.

The mother of small children Eva Fridh, 46 years old, is unemployed, almost blind and practices at an office to receive activity support. Despite long work experience, it is difficult for her to get a job. She believes it is due to discrimination, as she receives more questions about her disability than about her competence. She says: I walk around with a lump in my stomach because my finances are on the edge.

A third of all people between 16 and 65 with a disability have experienced discrimination in working life. They are screened out in the recruitment process due to functionophobic perceptions of their disability, or the manager does not give them work tasks that correspond to their competence or the salary they deserve. Foreign-born people with a disability run an additional risk of discrimination.

"You should have written that you are blind. Then you would never have needed to come here." With those words, 30-year-old Sandra Ristic was met when she applied for a job as an administrator. Despite Sandra explaining that there are assistive devices and that she has experience of similar jobs, she was forced to leave the interview almost before it had started.

The Swedish Association of the Visually Impaired works partly to ensure that the visually impaired receive the right to assistive devices, such as speech programs in computers, and partly to try to change the attitude of the employer. But it is a long uphill climb, it is noted.

For three years, Eva Björklund has sought work as an accounting consultant, but time and again she has been told no. The explanation she has received from employers is that she is deaf: How will you be able to speak on the phone? How will you be able to speak with colleagues? Employers have only seen that there would be problems, not solutions.

One solution could be that Arbetsförmedlingen is given responsibility for interpretation support in working life and can provide grants for costs of interpretation for deaf, hard of hearing, and persons with deaf-blindness who need interpretation support in their work. That proposal is in an investigation that unfortunately has been lying and gathering dust at the Government Offices for over three years while more and more deaf people have lost hope and been sidelined into unemployment.

I am also thinking about their right to transport services and escorting so that they can get to and from work – that is being cut back totally across the country.

Mr. Speaker! The Swedish National Audit Office notes that Arbetsförmedlingen does not identify persons with disabilities that result in reduced work capacity sufficiently quickly – and in some cases, they do not do it at all. There are large differences between groups. Some have to wait very long to have their disability identified, sometimes more than three years. This applies particularly to persons who are older than 25 years and persons born outside Sweden, but also to persons with a disability that involves reduced or limited mobility. They manage to become long-term unemployed before the disability is identified.

The National Audit Office also notes that Arbetsförmedlingen fails to provide support and interventions in a reasonable timeframe and based on the individual's circumstances. It notes that many job seekers lack intervention or activity two years after registration, which negatively affects their job opportunities.

Arbetsförmedlingens efficiency measures in its operations through a case-based way of working, remote self-service and digital meetings as the first choice, and the dismantling of local offices, staff, and competence have not turned out well in the work with the target group. Job seekers therefore experience being bounced around, and it creates double work for the mediators.

There are also too long waiting times regarding medical investigations and documentation from the health and medical care services. Fundamentally, however, a majority of the deficiencies stem from the fact that the agency's methods and processes largely are based on an expectation that job seekers are able to manage their cases on their own. This creates problems, as many in the target group have difficulty living up to this expectation. This can, for example, involve challenges related to absorbing information, submitting correct documentation, or otherwise maintaining contact with Arbetsförmedlingen.

As has been mentioned in the debate, Arbetsförmedlingen does not consume the budgeted appropriations for wage subsidies and Samhall. It does not increase the number of employees with wage subsidies and the number of people with other subsidized employments. Furthermore, the wage subsidies decrease over time while Arbetsförmedlingen says that staff reductions have contributed to fewer wage subsidy decisions, because it is personnel-intensive to process those cases.

In conclusion: The National Audit Office assesses that the government has not governed sufficiently well to ensure that more people with disabilities enter employment, and they have issued a number of different recommendations to the government and the Public Employment Service.

It is therefore the government's poor management of Arbetsförmedlingen that causes these people to not receive the interventions and support they need to be able to obtain a job and an income and have the means to live, not just survive. Despite this, the government and Sverigedemokraterna continue to attack the unemployed by lowering their allowances and making it more difficult for them to receive social assistance. Furthermore, they attack immigrants who are unemployed by portraying them as lazy, as unwilling to learn Swedish, and as only wanting to live on benefits. It is an absolutely repulsive view of humanity that we in Vänsterpartiet strongly distance ourselves from.

I move for approval of reservation 3 of Vänsterpartiet.

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

Martina Johansson (C)

Mr. Speaker! Not having a job to go to every day is, for many people, more than an economic challenge. It is a loss of cohesion, a feeling of not belonging, a feeling of not being able to contribute and – in the worst case – a feeling of being a burden. At the same time, we know that the economic consequences are great. A long distance to the labor market affects not only everyday life here and now but also the future pension. It affects the entire life journey.

Mr. Speaker! I am convinced that all people can contribute to the labor market if they are allowed to do so based on their own circumstances and to 100 percent of their ability. But that requires us to have a system that sees the individual. Some people need special employment. Others need work aids, guidance, or more time to perform work tasks. In many cases, close and functioning cooperation is required between the person seeking a job, the person who is there to provide support, and the future employer. There are deficiencies in this today.

Persons with disabilities that result in reduced work capacity have for a long time had more difficulty establishing themselves on the labor market than many other groups, and unfortunately, the development has not proceeded fast enough in the right direction.

Mr. Speaker! The National Audit Office clearly points out that the policy is not sufficiently effective when it comes to getting more people in this group into work. They highlight, among other things, that it takes too long before the right support is put in place and that the individual often needs to have contact with many different actors and, furthermore, needs to drive their case forward themselves. This is not reasonable.

The National Audit Office also argues that the management needs to become more long-term and result-oriented. We need better knowledge, more analyses, and clearer follow-up to see which interventions actually work. Not least, cooperation between Arbetsförmedlingen, the municipalities, and Försäkringskassan must be strengthened.

Furthermore, the need for equivalent assessments, more individualized support, and more physical meetings is pointed out. And a structured work towards employers was needed.

Mr. Speaker! In its response, the Government points out that resources have been added to Arbetsförmedlingen, that work continues on issues regarding Samhall, and that assignments have been given regarding information and training.

These are important parts, but it is not enough. Therefore, I and the Center Party welcome that the committee has noted that the government does not fully respond to the Swedish National Audit Office's recommendations, especially regarding the need to review the regulatory framework to ensure that the measures that exist are truly purposeful.

It is positive that the committee agrees that this review is needed to create more long-term perspective and predictable conditions for the employers. But, Mr. Speaker, as said, it is not enough. There is no majority today to review the levels of the wage subsidy. That is the reason why the Centerpartiet stands behind reservation 5 and moves for its approval. Centerpartiet argues, namely, that this is part of the whole.

Mr. Speaker! We also need to become better at understanding what success actually is. Today, we primarily measure unemployment in figures. But reality is more complex than that. How do we measure that a person has taken a step closer to the labor market? How do we make visible movements, development, and increased work capacity? These are difficult questions, but they are necessary questions. Without that knowledge, we risk missing what is actually the core of politics: creating real change in people's lives.

Mr. Speaker! More people must get to experience what many of us take for granted: the community at a workplace, colleagues to share everyday life with, and a sense of contributing.

This is not solely a labor market issue. It is a question of dignity, participation, and faith in the future. In that regard, we actually still have a great deal of work to do.

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

Camilla Rinaldo Miller (KD)

Mr. Speaker! I would like to vote in favor of the committee's proposal for a decision.

Mr. Speaker! For the Christian Democrats, work is more than a salary. It is a path into community, to feel wanted and to have one's own livelihood. It gives every human being confirmation and dignity. A society where people have a job to go to becomes a society where more people feel that they contribute and are needed.

At the same time, we know that the Swedish labor market faces significant challenges. Unemployment remains high in certain groups, not least among women with an immigrant background, people with disabilities, and young people. Far too many people are stuck in long-term exclusion. It is neither dignified for the individual nor sustainable for society.

Mr. Speaker! The government's focus is clearly on strengthening the work line, improving matching, and making it more profitable to move from benefits to work. Something that I have said here in the speaker's chair several times before and will continue to say is that we should focus much more on giving people the opportunity to work 100 percent of their ability.

Mr. Speaker! Kristdemokratisk policy rests on two pillars: responsibility and solidarity. We say yes to a society where we help those who need support, but we also say yes to setting requirements. It is not worthy that people are left in benefit dependency year after year. It is not solidarity to lower expectations of people. It is about seeing every person's potential and creating the conditions for it to be realized.

That is why it is also important that the measures become more targeted. Education, vocational measures, and close cooperation with employers are crucial for people to be able to take the step into the labor market. Here, civil society and the business community, together with the state, have an important role to play, and it is something we Christian Democrats have long highlighted.

One such example is when Arbetsförmedlingen collaborates with employers to create pathways into work. More concretely, I want to highlight the project that Arbetsförmedlingen is running together with Ica. The project has been named Påfart Ica, and there, people who have been outside the labor market for a long time receive training, supervision, and internship in the store with the goal that it should lead to real jobs. Since the start in March 2025, 99 out of 177 people have received work, which is approximately half. The goal is to create 1,000 new internship positions which in turn shall lead to employment. The initiative focuses on the long-term unemployed and aims to provide a path into the grocery trade.

This shows how cooperation between Arbetsförmedlingen and private actors can yield results that strengthen people's dignity through work – a perspective that is completely in line with Christian Democratic policy.

Mr. Speaker! Through Påfart Ica we show that it is possible to combine support with requirements – people get a chance at jobs, not just benefits. It is precisely such a policy that provides both security and dignity.

Mr. Speaker! Let me conclude exactly as I began my speech: For the Christian Democrats, work is more than a wage. It is a path into community, to feel wanted, and to have one's own livelihood. It gives every human being confirmation and dignity.

(Applause)

The deliberation was hereby concluded.

(A decision was to be taken on 19 March.)

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