Special debate on unemployment

Ardalan Shekarabi (S)

Madam Speaker! The news a couple of months ago was that Sweden had the second highest unemployment in both the European Union and the OECD. We had passed Greece and Colombia.

Mass unemployment affects young and old people in different industries and in different parts of the country. It is not worthy of Swedish society. Everyone who can should work in Sweden. That must be the goal of politics, and it requires reasonable expectations of the citizens but also active efforts from the side of society through active labor market policy. Therefore, we have requested this debate. It is the responsibility of politics to act and combat mass unemployment.

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

Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)

Madam Speaker! Initially, I would like to extend a big thank you to the Social Democrats for the initiative for this debate on an issue that is very important for many of us. I think it is a strength that we in Swedish politics can discuss these very important issues in as broad a political consensus as possible and do so in a good tone together.

Madam Speaker! Unemployment can affect anyone. There is a particular risk in uncertain times with a recession. I have personal experience of how a recession can mean that a family is affected by unemployment. It happened to me and my family during the 90s crisis.

Today we are in a tough situation on the labor market. Sweden as a country is not poor, on the contrary. But Sweden finds itself in a situation with a prolonged recession that persists and an uncertain world that holds the Swedish economy hostage. Promises of thousands of percent in tariffs, unconfirmed information that makes stock markets go on a roller coaster, and a trade war that has major consequences for export companies affect a small open economy like Sweden's.

The government is now following the developments hour by hour in order to be able to act for our country's best interests. A prolonged recession naturally continues to affect people's opportunities to get jobs. Even though we have not seen any direct impact from the customs chaos on jobs until now, we have a state of readiness. If the situation in the world around us worsens, it will naturally affect Sweden.

Sweden is not helpless. We have problems, but we have overcome them before. Now we are using sound public finances that allow us to solve these problems. We are making large investments in infrastructure, in research, and in education. We ensure that we build nuclear power to get a more stable electricity system, and we are expanding various types of education to push back unemployment.

Madam Speaker! In a time like this, it is particularly important to do the right things at the right time. The Government therefore has a number of measures against unemployment here and now, but also in the longer term. Fundamentally, it is about companies having the conditions to be able to hire. Therefore, it is so important that we make the large investments in education that we are making right now, so that people can take the vacant jobs that exist. Today, in April 2025, there are 135,000 vacant jobs in Sweden. But far too many people lack the right competence to take the vacant jobs that exist. That is why we are making large investments in education.

The government is also making efforts to reduce the impact of the economic cycle here and now. We are keeping the wheels turning in the vulnerable construction sector through an enhanced root deduction. In that way, we ensure that we equip Sweden for the future. Thousands of people today stand outside the labor community, without their own income and without the feeling of being needed. It is tough to be unemployed. But we can together break this development. If we do the right things today, we will together manage even this recession.

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

Ardalan Shekarabi (S)

Madam Speaker! Minister for Employment Mats Persson, Liberalerna, bears the responsibility for the government's greatest failure.

Madam Speaker! It is not my words, but it was the chairman of the Liberal Youth Association, Anton Holmlund, who expressed those words a few weeks ago.

Svenskt Näringsliv then? It is an organization that represents many of the companies in our country. Their chief economist says this: ”The politicians seem to think it is a law of nature that we have such high unemployment. It seems as if they have given up, to be honest.”

What do the companies operating in the service sector say? What does the organization Almega say? Well, they say: "When Sweden's unemployment reaches sky-high levels, it is precisely a broad and active labor market policy that is required. Sweden cannot wait."

Madam Speaker! I could continue to quote various representatives for the Liberals, for business organizations, for trade unions and for industry organizations who feel an enormous frustration that we have a government that is satisfied despite the fact that we have an unemployment level that is among the highest in the EU. This affects young and old. But what is most serious, Madam Speaker, is that masses of young people will graduate from upper secondary school in a couple of weeks and begin their professional lives with unemployment that risks becoming long-term unemployment.

It does not have to be like this, Madam Speaker. We could have an active labor market policy. We could say that we cannot tolerate that only 6,000 people per year undergo labor market training when we have half a million who are unemployed. We could have different initiatives specifically for the group of young people. Some proposals we have presented as recently as today. But the government is not doing what is required, and therefore unemployment is biting into our society.

We will do what we can as the opposition to push the government and force the government to act. We are a country that can solve the social problems we have. We are a country that could have significantly lower unemployment if the policy in municipalities and the state, together with the business community and the labor market parties, did what is required for people to obtain the skills that companies need. Sweden deserves lower unemployment, and we will fight for that.

(Applause)

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

Magnus Persson (SD)

Madam Speaker! The legacy of Ardalan Shekarabi and Stefan Löfven's wall-building policy has become a complete catastrophe for Sweden and the Swedish labor market.

It is not only for Sweden, but also for all those hundreds of thousands of individuals who have been cast into an exclusion and a dependency on benefits without any possibility whatsoever of getting a chance to enter the Swedish labor market.

The goal for the Social Democrats was to have Europe's lowest unemployment during the economic boom. It became the opposite: a total fiasco. Long-term unemployment increased sharply, and integration completely failed.

Had the Social Democrats, during their eight years in power, stood up for the immigration policy they now claim to advocate, the situation on the Swedish labor market today would have looked completely different. But, Madam Speaker, instead, they negotiated away the labor market and immigration policies to reality-detached extremist parties solely in order to retain power.

Madam Speaker! Now comes the bill for the Social Democratic failure: a gigantic failure followed by sharp criticism from several sides.

Arbetsförmedlingen is clear in its analysis. The biggest problem is the large number of non-European born individuals whom they are unable to integrate and match to the Swedish labor market.

Svenskt Näringsliv highlights the large groups with low education and integration problems as the main reason why it is not possible to match people to the jobs that exist.

Mr. Speaker, the greatest criticism of the Social Democrats' policy comes from their own federations and their own leadership. LO's chief economist does not mince words regarding the main reason for the high unemployment in Sweden today. I choose to quote him:

Sweden has pursued the EU's most liberal immigration policy with extensive immigration from the third world.

Sweden today has a larger proportion of low-educated foreign-born individuals than, for example, the USA has ever had.

Sweden has a larger gap than most other Western countries between the basic skills of those born domestically and those born abroad.

Well, Madam Speaker, it is strange that the Social Democrats blame everything on the government and the Sweden Democrats, when the criticism against them themselves for the previously conducted policy is so sharp from within their own ranks. It is a complete failure and the main reason why the Swedish labor market looks the way it does today.

The government and the Sweden Democrats are now shifting the policy and significantly reducing immigration in order to at least be able to give everyone who is already far from the labor market a chance to make themselves employable. It is about higher requirements on the individual, that people should stop attending SFI for years, to abolish the benefit line, to stop labor migration to low-wage jobs, and so on. Those who do not adapt must go home and return.

With the problems and conditions that Ardalan Shekarabi and the Socialdemokraterna have contributed to creating for the Swedish labor market, it will take decades to get this on the right track.

Everyone knows what happens with a red-green government. They go back to their old harmful policies regardless of what the Socialdemokraterna say. It is about power above all else, and the burden is placed on Swedish taxpayers.

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Saila Quicklund (M)

Madam Speaker! We have just listened to Ardalan Shekarabi. Let us therefore look back at the Social Democrats' years in power and what has led to the situation we see today.

During a glittering boom, Stefan Löfven promised during the 2014 election campaign that Sweden would have Europe's lowest unemployment by 2020. The fact is that we landed at the bottom. We had the fourth highest unemployment in the entire EU during parts of a boom.

When the Moderate-led government took over, we had an inflation of 10 percent, rising interest rates, and even then a high unemployment. The government has broken the first two, and the focus is constantly on getting more people into work.

Jobs and growth were and are created by economic order, low interest rates, low inflation and good education. Fundamentally, it is about thinking about the work line, about raising the activity requirements for Arbetsförmedlingen and the individual, but also about expanded support for job seekers.

It is about modernizing the unemployment insurance and investing in the universities of applied sciences as well as faster and more flexible adult education. We give people tools to grow and not benefits to get stuck in.

We do this in a time of anxiety, war, trade barriers, and global uncertainty. We also have a large group of long-term unemployed where 63 percent are foreign-born, and 20,000 people among the unemployed have not attended a single year of school. An additional 40,000 do not have a completed primary education.

It is a great challenge. But we are arming Sweden, and we stand secure.

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Ciczie Weidby (V)

Madam Speaker! Sweden has a serious problem. Unemployment is sticking at an unreasonably high level. Over 486,000 people are without work today. It is not just a figure. It is people whose everyday lives are characterized by anxiety, economic stress, and a sense of exclusion.

The government and Mats Persson, on the other hand, seem quite satisfied. One leans back and hopes that the market will solve the problems by itself. But it doesn't work that way. Unemployment does not decrease from empty words or by cutting back on Arbetsförmedlingen.

We have a government that prioritizes tax cuts for the rich over investments in jobs and in welfare. You are dismantling the safety nets and blaming the individual instead of taking responsibility for the labor market policy that you pursue. It is a policy that fails those who have it hardest.

It is about young people who have never received their first job, immigrants who are met with discrimination in the labor market, elderly people who are being decommissioned instead of receiving support to find a new job. The government turns a blind eye to reality and leaves people in the lurch.

We in Vänsterpartiet do not accept this passivity. Unemployment is not an individual failure. It is a political failure. When investments are required in education, in green jobs, and in infrastructure, the government ducks. When active measures are required to match people with vacant jobs, they cut back. It is not only irresponsible. It is also deeply unjust.

Madam Speaker! Sweden needs a policy that takes unemployment seriously. It is an active labor market policy. It is a policy that sees all the people who are unemployed, that sees the people behind the statistics. It is a policy that creates hope, security, and faith in the future.

Madam Speaker! It is time to stop closing our eyes, and it is time to start acting.

(Applause)

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Jonny Cato (C)

Madam Speaker! As a member of the Centre Party and as a person who became politically active during the Alliance, I understand that the only sustainable way to reduce unemployment is a policy for growth and a policy that encourages more people to start companies and to hire. A flourishing labor market cannot be regulated into existence, but it can be regulated away.

In the current situation, and even as we stand here, members of the Centre Party are traveling around the entire country, having dialogues and distributing surveys to local business owners. The answers we receive are not pleasant. Let me take a few examples.

Employer contributions are too high. It means there are great risks in hiring. If it goes wrong, it can sink my company instead of raising it. So responded a restaurant owner in northern Sweden. Too high costs for sick leave, wrote an entrepreneur in the forest industry.

They are not alone. In recent years, crises have succeeded one another, and in such times, the companies' ability to make the finances work is absolutely crucial.

Instead, the government has increased the employer contributions to employ young people. The government has pushed up the already high youth unemployment, which is now three percentage points higher than when the government took office.

In our survey, we have received many responses stating that people do not dare to move to where the jobs are. They do not dare to move to places where healthcare is being shut down, where schools are being shut down, and where commuting options are never expanded.

At the same time as unemployment is high, parts of the country, especially the pure countryside, are crying out for labor. This is the answer we received from a farmer: I do not dare to invest because the conditions are so unstable and the rules are constantly changing. What is permitted today might not be when the season is over.

This hits the nail on the head regarding one of the government's greatest failures. In a time of international chaos, economic crisis, and great global uncertainty, the government has not made the Swedish employer feel more secure. Instead, it exacerbates the uncertainty through a regulatory framework that hunts cheaters but catches entrepreneurs by making it harder to find the key competencies that allow companies to grow and by letting the core of the welfare system decay just when it is needed most.

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Camilla Rinaldo Miller (KD)

Madam Speaker! We have initially listened a lot to what has been done and what has not been done, and who was better and who was worse before we changed governments.

Let me instead focus on the human being behind what we are debating today. High unemployment affects the entire society. For children who see their parents go to work, it means security and pride. For every person who prepares themselves for a new day at work, it means strengthened self-confidence, a sense of belonging, and a community.

Being able to provide for oneself and one's family means a lot for every individual. Self-sufficiency creates a positive self-esteem. One gets to participate and contribute to society, but above all to one's own everyday life.

In the same way, unemployment often means much more than just not having a job to go to. It is not at all uncommon for a feeling to arise that one is worthless and that one is good for nothing. Therefore, an unemployment insurance was needed, but also functioning measures so that those who need help in their search for a new job shall receive it. When someone becomes unemployed, a network is needed that catches and supports, which counteracts the feeling of despair and shows possibilities for transition.

Becoming unemployed can for some mean a positive new start, while for others it means a period of economic anxiety and depression. Regardless, most need help, support, and good conditions to get a new job. Politically, we shall do what we can, but cooperation is needed in many different ways for the measures to have positive effects.

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Leila Ali Elmi (MP)

Madam Speaker! Yesterday, Minister for Employment Mats Persson held a press conference on unemployment. There, he pointed to Trump's tariffs and claimed that the Swedish labor market is being held hostage by American tariff chaos. The Minister also mentioned this in his statement here.

But, Madam Speaker, it is not Trump's tariffs that have paralyzed the efforts for those who are furthest from the labor market. It is the Tidö government's own policy; Mats Persson and his representative Johan Pehrson who have held the Swedish labor market policy hostage over the last few years.

The tariffs are a cloud of concern for an export-dependent country like Sweden. But we have not yet seen any actual effects. What we do see clearly, however, is that Sweden is at the bottom of the EU's unemployment statistics. That is the reality, and it requires political answers here and now.

Some of the unemployment is cyclical, but much is structural. It requires reforms and real investments. We have an acute skills shortage. We have tens of thousands of people who want to work but who lack the right tools to enter the labor market. We have an unemployment rate of 8.7 percent.

At the same time, the list of proposals from the Ministry of Employment has been almost empty. An active labor market policy could have meant targeted educational initiatives, expanded adult education, increased opportunities for internships, and support for employers who hire the long-term unemployed. But the government has done the opposite: They have removed the extra services and the intensive year. They have cut back on adult education and closed down state service offices.

Madam Speaker! Responsibility is required. Political leadership is required to reduce unemployment and get more people into work. The Government cannot continue to blame others when it is its own policy that keeps people out of the labor market.

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Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)

Madam Speaker! Thank you for an important and good debate!

I do not believe that the Swedish people in this situation expect politicians to bicker about whose fault things are and who is responsible for what. The situation Sweden finds itself in is that we are dealing with unrest in our surrounding world: the terrible war in Ukraine and the customs chaos of recent times. It is clear that this presents Sweden with entirely new questions. The answer to that is not to bicker about whose fault it is, but that the surrounding world looks the way it does.

One must also remember that even in a period of high economic growth, such as Sweden had a few years ago, there were large groups who stood far away from the labor market and did not enter. The migration policy that Sweden had for far too many years was not sustainable, with far too many low-educated immigrants who have not had the prerequisites to enter the Swedish labor market.

Madam Speaker! In this situation, it is important that we have order and clarity in our economy, that we ensure that companies can hire, and that we ensure that people can obtain the competence they need to take the vacant jobs that exist.

There has been a misconception regarding how we view education. We have had an over-reliance on theoretical, academic knowledge and undervalued craftsmanship and the competence of being able to perform a profession. That is also why the government is making historically large investments in the university college (yrkeshögskolan), where one undergoes training at a workplace and learns a profession – and then a job awaits at the other end.

Madam Speaker! It is also important in this situation to speak plainly about the fact that it is a massive problem that people in Sweden can live on benefits year after year without the society expecting a counter-performance. There is a passivity and a lack of demands, where one does not believe that people have the ability to support themselves and where one does not have a belief that setting demands is to care. That is actually how it is: To set demands on people is to care.

What the government is doing now is to ensure that people will not be able to live on benefits year after year without undergoing an education, without seeking a job and without performing a contribution to society. It is important for the taxpayers and for the legitimacy of the system, but it is above all important for those who are unemployed so that they can be a part of the workplace community. They shall be able to be a part of it and feel that they have a dignity and that they stand on their own feet.

Madam Speaker! Now we take responsibility and take the situation with the utmost seriousness with large, massive efforts and investments in education but also with a strong emphasis on the individual's own responsibility.

(Applause)

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Ardalan Shekarabi (S)

Madam Speaker! The Minister for Employment speaks about unemployment, but he does not seem to want to use the term mass unemployment. We have half a million Swedes who are unemployed. During the beginning of this year, Sweden has held the position of second country in the EU and OECD, that is, as the country with the second largest problem with unemployment. Despite that, Arbetsförmedlingen plans to return a large part of the resources it received from the government. One simply cannot do without its money. One does not have the capacity and conditions to assign people to labor market training that leads to jobs.

What is the Minister for Employment's and the government's plan to ensure that at least the resources that have been decided are used so that young people do not get stuck in long-term unemployment? What is the plan?

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Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)

Madam Speaker! Ardalan Shekarabi is absolutely right: We in Sweden have major problems with the Riksdag, in relatively large political agreement, deciding on investments that then do not reach the unemployed. It is a systemic error. The system today is too weak, which means that people do not receive the education and measures that they could otherwise receive.

It is about the fact that municipalities and the state cannot talk to each other. It is about the fact that we accept that people are registered in SFI even though they are not in SFI. It is rooted in the fact that we have a too passive policy.

Now we are shifting the policy and changing this. I would have wished that this had been done earlier, but now we are doing it. It will mean that we can get more training and more interventions for the unemployed who need support.

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Ardalan Shekarabi (S)

Madam Speaker! I received no answer to the question of what the government's plan is. According to the forecast, Arbetsförmedlingen is to pay back several billion to the government, and they do not have the capacity and conditions to assign people to labor market measures and training that lead to jobs. Whether it is a system failure or not, it is the minister and the government who bear the responsibility.

What is the government's plan for Arbetsförmedlingen in 2025, a year of mass unemployment, to ensure that at least the resources that have been decided by the Swedish Riksdag and which are to be used to promote the fight against unemployment shall be used by Arbetsförmedlingen so that young people do not get stuck in long-term unemployment?

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Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)

Madam Speaker! It is fascinating to listen to Ardalan Shekarabi. It is as if the Social Democrats had never governed Sweden. It is as if we had not had eight years of a red-green government.

I completely share the view that it is a very big problem that we do not get use out of the money that we in politics decide on. That was also the case during the period when Ardalan Shekarabi sat in government. This is not a new problem. It is rooted in the fact that we have system errors in the model. Therefore, we are redesigning it, placing higher demands on people, and ensuring that the authorities and Arbetsförmedlingen get out more interventions, more training, and more support for the unemployed.

We are now changing the policy because we have failed for far too many years. The policy as a whole and not least the Social Democrats have a very great responsibility for the fact that we are where we are right now.

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Ciczie Weidby (V)

Madam Speaker! How can Minister for Employment Persson stand in the rostrum and say that what we are doing today, the important debate on how we are to reduce unemployment and what this is due to, is bickering? It is quite remarkable.

I also wonder how the Minister for Employment can continue to neglect the need for large-scale investments in vocational training. It is a major shortage. One cannot say that one invests just a little bit. One must invest a lot. When you invest in people and in education, you also invest in society.

How is it that this government thinks it is so much more important to invest in tax cuts for the very richest to finance veranda constructions than to invest in people's education to get them into jobs?

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Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)

Madam Speaker! We are now making historically large investments in vocational training. 130,000 people have the opportunity this year to attend a vocational training program that leads to a job. Yrkeshögskolan has never had as many training places as it will have in 2025. We are making massive investments in this, because we know that it equips people to be able to take the vacant jobs that exist.

The starting point is that one learns on the job. Being at a workplace and learning concrete skills means that one learns a profession and can take a job almost immediately. This creates incredible opportunities for people, and it is an important investment for the future.

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Ciczie Weidby (V)

Madam Speaker! Last week I was in Övertorneå at Utbildning Nord. They testify to how difficult it is for them to provide places for everyone who actually would like to come there and obtain a new education, either to complement the one they already had or to completely change career paths in life.

It is not historically large investments, even if Mats Persson makes it sound that way. They are modest investments when you have mass unemployment. When you have mass unemployment, you really have to step on the gas to invest in people so that they enter society.

I share Mats Persson's opinion that people want to get into work. They want to do that. But it does not seem like this government wants to give all people the right and proper conditions to actually get into work.

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Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)

Madam Speaker! It is welcome that the Left Party is so engaged in the issue of vocational training. I truly welcome that.

We are now making historically large investments so that people can learn a trade and in that way be able to take a job. I welcome that the Left Party embraces this and hope that we, in broad political unity, can carry out the historically large expansion of vocational training that we are currently doing.

This means very great opportunities for people. It can mean that one, in the middle of life, can transition and learn something completely new. It can mean that one can build up a bit more competence. I meet very many entrepreneurs who are screaming for competent employees. As long as there is someone who can a profession, they will be hired. We now jointly provide the opportunity for people to take these courses where a profession awaits at the other end.

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Jonny Cato (C)

Madam Speaker! It is not entirely simple to discuss the Liberals' labor market policy, simply because they present so very few proposals. I thought instead to give suggestions for liberal policies that the Liberals could implement.

Lower the employer contributions for young people, for people far from the labor market, and for companies that are trying to grow!

Reform SFI fundamentally! Ensure that Swedish language teaching for newcomers helps people get jobs!

Take responsibility for the employment agency reform that the Liberals were involved in implementing under the January Agreement!

Exempt the first ten employees from employer contributions during the first two years!

These are four concrete reforms, four more concrete reforms than the Liberals have delivered during their time as responsible for Swedish labor market policy.

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Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)

Madam Speaker! I truly welcome the Center Party's commitment to small businesses. I was myself raised in a small business family in Småland and know how important it is to feel optimism about the future, that there is order and stability, that interest rates are not too high, that inflation is not too high, and that large and small companies feel optimism, invest, and hire for the future. It is an ecosystem where the small company is dependent on the large one and vice versa.

That is also why the government is now ensuring that consumption is stimulated. We ensure that those who work receive a tax cut and get the wheels turning in that way. We are making large investments in vocational training. We ensure that, as a cyclical measure, the rotavdrag (deduction for renovation) is significantly increased to stimulate a sector that is having it quite tough right now, namely the construction industry. In that way, we ensure that the economic wheels turn faster.

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Jonny Cato (C)

Madam Speaker! One notices a clear trend in the debate with Mats Persson. All concrete political solutions lie within the areas of responsibility of all other ministers. They are in the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Rural Affairs and Infrastructure, the Ministry of Finance, and so on.

Let me ask a simple question. Is Mats Persson satisfied with everything that the Ministry of Employment is responsible for? Four propositions have been jointly delivered by Mats Persson and Johan Pehrson during the mandate period. I seriously think that this is embarrassing in the very serious situation that Sweden finds itself in.

Is Mats Persson satisfied with everything that is happening within the Ministry of Employment's area of responsibility?

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Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)

Madam Speaker! The Centre Party bears a very great responsibility for the fact that privatization has gone too far in Sweden. We see how some of the private actors within the labor market policy are not serious, and they do not deliver results. That responsibility rests incredibly heavily on the Centre Party and the privatization zeal that the Centre Party has championed.

My perception is that privatization in Sweden has gone too far. What we are doing is, point by point, area by area, ensuring that society takes a greater responsibility. The companies that behave, that do their utmost to act correctly, should not be affected because a few companies destroy the systems.

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Leila Ali Elmi (MP)

Madam Speaker! The Government says it wants to combat unemployment, but at the same time, it is closing down state service offices. How does that add up?

Many of those who are furthest from the labor market lack digital competence, have limited language skills, or have disabilities that hinder digital communication. Replacing physical presence with digital solutions strikes directly at just those groups who need the most support, not least low-educated foreign-born women.

Arbetsförmedlingen has already had major problems with its local presence since the Moderaterna and Kristdemokraterna budget 2019. Now, further points of contact are disappearing. My concrete question to the Minister is the following: How does the Minister justify that, in a situation with high unemployment, one actively worsens the accessibility to Arbetsförmedlingen?

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Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)

Madam Speaker! I thank Leila Ali Elmi for her important question.

Arbetsförmedlingen itself signals that the vast focus on digitalization is lacking. Some individuals need no physical meeting with a labor officer and manage their job search perfectly well on their own. But just as the member himself highlights, there are groups that to a very large extent need a physical meeting. I note that the agency itself points this out. We are following the issue very closely so that we can best provide those who truly need support with better support.

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Leila Ali Elmi (MP)

Madam Speaker! I did not perceive that the Minister answered my question, but I shall try to ask it again.

The government is giving Arbetsförmedlingen a reinforcement of 60 million in the spring budget. But that is not enough to solve the fundamental problem, namely the lack of local presence. The money does not open new offices, and it does not rebuild the physical accessibility for those who are furthest from the labor market.

That Arbetsförmedlingen is returning funds is not about a lack of need, but about the agency having been weakened by years of dismantling. The government has created a situation where people are not even given the opportunity to access the support.

Parallel to this, state service offices are being closed in both rural areas and particularly vulnerable areas. In Åmål, the Arbetsförmedlingen office was closed with the promise that a service office would take over. Now even this office is disappearing – in a municipality where unemployment is 9.5 percent.

How does the government justify closing the service centers in this situation?

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Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)

Madam Speaker! I thank the member for the question.

We strengthen Arbetsförmedlingen by injecting new money so that the availability and the reception of the unemployed shall become better. We do this because we believe that in a situation with a prolonged recession, it is important that the state is strong and that there is help to be had for those who need help. It is also for that reason we make targeted investments so that Arbetsförmedlingen shall have a higher availability for the unemployed, and in that way, the unemployed shall receive better support.

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Ardalan Shekarabi (S)

Madam Speaker! It is urgent! There are only a couple of weeks left of this term, and many young people will be leaving upper secondary school – and as it looks right now, they will be met with long-term unemployment in many industries.

We cannot afford to accept this. We cannot afford to discuss long processes and blame each other. We have the responsibility and the duty to put constructive proposals on the table, and Mats Persson has the responsibility to act, lead the agency, and propose to the Riksdag the decisions required so that society can do what society can do so that people do not end up in long-term unemployment.

I intend to present some proposals that the Social Democrats have raised.

Ensure that investments are increased so that young people get summer jobs! The government has proposed 250 million in the spring budget. That is absolutely not enough considering the situation we find ourselves in. We have today proposed an additional 500 million to the municipalities, so that they, in cooperation with the business sector in the municipalities' own operations and also in cooperation with the voluntary sector, can ensure that young people get into work.

It is about, among other things, summer jobs, so that one gets that first line in the CV, the establishment and the contact with the labor market. It can also be about extra jobs on evenings and weekends, so that young people establish themselves on the labor market as early as possible and get a relationship to the business sector and to jobs.

Make sure that the young people registered at Arbetsförmedlingen get driver's licenses! Eight out of ten companies say that they require a driver's license. 62 percent of the young people registered at Arbetsförmedlingen do not have a driver's license. We have proposed half a billion for this. If the minister does not like the proposal, we can see to it that they can take out loans. If they can get a driver's license, they will be one step closer to a job. It is about Sweden's future and Sweden's youth. We must not let them get stuck in long-term unemployment.

(Applause)

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

Magnus Persson (SD)

Madam Speaker! I am a bit curious about how Ardalan Shekarabi views his legacy as a minister in Stefan Löfven's government. The decisions made then have truly affected what the Swedish labor market looks like today. LO has been clear in its criticism of the previous government. Did Ardalan Shekarabi not see this coming, which seems to be the standard answer? Or what is his answer? Why did it turn out the way it did?

The risk is great that we will get a new, similar situation. All of the coalition parties within the left-wing government want to increase immigration to Sweden again, and that would become problematic given the problems that exist on the Swedish labor market.

Is there any self-awareness on the part of Ardalan Shekarabi regarding the situation that prevails today on the Swedish labor market?

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

Ardalan Shekarabi (S)

Madam Speaker! I am very self-critical. I should have done much more to get the proposals to create order and clarity in the Swedish labor market through. We submitted a proposal to the Chamber regarding requirements for conditions according to Swedish collective agreements in public procurements. Then Magnus Persson joined forces with Timbro and the Moderaterna and blocked the proposal on requirements for Swedish wages and conditions in connection with public procurements. Even today, people working in public activities are not guaranteed occupational pensions or insurance.

I should have done more. The government should have done more. We should have held the majority to account and defended the Swedish labor market model. Then Magnus Persson would have needed to travel to his constituency even more to explain to people why Magnus Persson and the Sverigedemokraterna are running Timbro's errands, damaging the Swedish model, and making life worse for Sweden's wage earners.

What is happening in the Swedish taxi market today is the effect of Magnus Persson's decision. He is responsible for that.

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

Magnus Persson (SD)

Madam Speaker! He does not mention one word of what I asked about.

Ardalan Shekarabi! You are in the Riksdag's speaker's chair now. You must wait with creating clips for TikTok. That is what you are doing now, and that is why you are not addressing the issue. You can do that when we are finished with this debate.

I asked clearly and distinctly whether Ardalan Shekarabi feels any responsibility since his time as minister for why we have this situation in the Swedish labor market today. Even LO, his own union, points to the enormously large immigration as the biggest reason for the situation. Did Ardalan Shekarabi not see it coming? He talks about conditions for public procurement. What does that have to do with the question?

Please answer the question if you can! You can do the TikTok clips later. Now people actually want answers to the question. You bear a great responsibility for the situation we have on the Swedish labor market, Ardalan Shekarabi. You cannot dodge that.

Not only I, but also everyone else participating in and watching the debate wants to know how your government base will handle that question. All your coalition parties want to significantly increase immigration again. Please answer the question!

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

TREDJE VICE TALMANNEN

I remind you that the address in the chamber is not to you, but to all speakers via the Speaker. And if one speaks about a fellow debater, one uses their first and last name.

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

Ardalan Shekarabi (S)

Madam Speaker! If the proposal on requirements for Swedish conditions in public procurement had passed and had not been stopped by Magnus Persson and the Sverigedemokraterna, foreign construction companies would not have had a competitive advantage in relation to Swedish construction companies when the state, municipality, and region procure. It would have meant that we might have had some young Swedish construction workers in ten years. If the development continues like this and with Magnus Persson's policy, there is in fact no chance for Swedish construction workers to establish themselves in the Swedish construction market. It is the result of the votes that the Sverigedemokraterna have cast in this chamber. It affects unemployment.

Now that over 10,000 Swedish construction workers are unemployed, Magnus Persson and the Sverigedemokraterna need to take a moment to reflect. Was it right to give a competitive advantage to posted workers? Was it right to give a competitive advantage to posted companies? Should one not have voted for the proposal on requirements for Swedish conditions in connection with public procurement?

(Applause)

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

Saila Quicklund (M)

Madam Speaker! Ardalan Shekarabi remains critical of the government.

In a debate on P1 yesterday, I listened to Lawen Redar and her proposal from a working group on the new Social Democratic labor market policy. New and new – work on several of the proposals is already underway or will be started by the government. It is an incredibly thin program, based on the criticism that the Social Democrats put forward against the government.

It is surprising, however, that they now want to take back the extra services. We quickly removed them when we took office, because they were extremely costly and totally ineffective. 3 percent of the expensive measure went to regular jobs.

It is the new proposals from the Social Democrats on this issue. Why do you want to go back to an ineffective reform?

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

Ardalan Shekarabi (S)

Madam Speaker! Since the election, the number of people living on benefits and welfare has increased dramatically. If some of those people had been given an extra job, received a salary in accordance with a collective agreement, and made contributions to welfare, elderly care, and preschool, would it have been an advantage or a disadvantage for our society and for them?

We believe in activity. We believe in employment. We believe that business, the state and the municipality must cooperate to give people a chance. We believe that people should have reasonable expectations of themselves. You shall strive. You shall make yourself employable, but then society must contribute.

Extra services are a way to ensure that people move from passivity to the opportunity to contribute to the welfare system. Is it good policy? Yes! Is it the whole answer? No, of course not. A lot of other measures will be needed, not least labor market training. But it is much better for people to contribute to the welfare system than for people to be passive.

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Saila Quicklund (M)

Madam Speaker! I want to add, once again, that they were subsidized by 100 percent and that only 3 percent proceeded to jobs.

On the same track, that is, if the Social Democrats are going to pick up old reforms again, I would like to hear if the reform regarding early retirement will also be taken up. 130 people were early-retired directly into exclusion, into poverty and into difficult economic conditions – in order to dress up the unemployment statistics.

It was terrible. In my role as a physiotherapist, I have met several of the people who were early-retired. They cried and expressed: Free me from an early retirement. These people were 20–30 years old.

The Social Democrats exiled people in order to groom the unemployment statistics. Will the Social Democrats also pick up that reform?

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

Ardalan Shekarabi (S)

Madam Speaker! I truly hope that we succeed in changing the rules for sickness compensation, which is now called early retirement. Sweden has the strictest rules among all comparable countries when it comes to the right to economic security if one has a disability that limits the ability to work or is affected by an illness that limits the ability to work. This means that many people who cannot work are trapped in poverty. It is the legacy of Fredrik Reinfeldt's policy.

The government's coalition partner, Sverigedemokraterna, went to the election on the basis that these rules would be changed. We announced that we would change the rules, and we worked on the bill. Then there was a change of power. And since then, nothing has happened.

It means that many people who have a disability or illness that limits their ability to work live permanently in poverty and do not have the right to sickness benefits. Do the rules need to be changed? Yes, it is our duty towards those people. I fight for that with pride. The Swedish working class deserves security.

I have nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to the Social Democratic policy for this.

(Applause)

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

Jonny Cato (C)

Madam Speaker! The Social Democrats have requested this debate because the government's labor market policy has failed. But at their congress in just one month, the Social Democrats plan to show that their labor market policy works at least as poorly. The party leadership proposes a compromise wording when the members demand a 35-hour work week. The economist John Hassler estimates that it would cost society hundreds of billions per year.

Magdalena Andersson has also proposed that the care deduction should be abolished. Svenskt Näringsliv estimates that it will cost our Swedish entrepreneurs at least 20 billion kronor annually.

My question is quite simply: Why do the Social Democrats want to increase costs for Swedish companies when we, on the contrary, need to lower them?

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

Ardalan Shekarabi (S)

Madam Speaker! If one is an academic and has an academic job and becomes ill, one can often work from home, provided one does not have a contact job. In that case, one is not affected financially by having a cold. If one, on the other hand, is a worker and needs to get to work, one is affected very severely financially by becoming ill.

The injustice is also that the workers who are hit hard because of the sick pay deduction are also those who have the lowest wages. Those who perform the important societal contributions, which we applauded during the pandemic, are doubly punished when they are ill.

Is it then reasonable to abolish the care deduction? Yes! Should we follow all other Nordic countries that have abolished the care deduction? Yes!

What is it about? It is about justice. Of course, it is important to have academics in a society. But we must remember that there are very many workers who carry society on their shoulders. They stood there when the pandemic hit us and will stand there when a crisis hits us. Those people deserve justice. Today's quarantine deduction is unjust.

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

Jonny Cato (C)

Madam Speaker! This is quite symptomatic of the Social Democrats' labor market policy. They come forward with proposals that increase the costs for Sweden's job creators. They shift the problems onto Swedish companies – as if they are the problem, not the solution.

There is much that needs to be done in Sweden to improve the working environment for the country's teachers and nursing assistants but also for the country's academics. The Social Democrats often talk down the country's academics – as if everything is gold and green forests when the mental strain for many of the country's academics is, on the contrary, going completely wrong.

Sweden needs more people who work. It is neither Ardalan Shekarabi, Jonny Cato, nor any other politician in here who creates jobs. It is the country's small business owners who do that. The Social Democrats want to make it harder and more expensive for them to create more jobs.

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

Ardalan Shekarabi (S)

Madam Speaker! I strongly agree with Jonny Cato that entrepreneurship is extremely important for our society, so that prosperity can grow and so that we can combat unemployment. That is why we are very critical of parts of the policy pursued by this government. Then, it does not have to mean that workers are affected when they become ill.

We need to show respect for people. That is why we need to have a secure social security system, and that is why we need to abolish the quarantine deduction. That is why we would need to work much more on issues regarding the work environment. You must be able to combine entrepreneurship with social responsibility and economic prosperity and growth with a fair distribution, so that workers also get to share in the profits.

Business has not collapsed in the other Nordic countries because they do not have a quarantine deduction. Business has not collapsed in the rest of Europe because they have safer social security and better unemployment insurance than Sweden has today. We need security for workers, and we should agree on that in this entire Riksdag.

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

Magnus Persson (SD)

Madam Speaker! Unemployment looks very different depending on where in Sweden one is located. But the common thread is that it is clearly largest in social democratically governed municipalities, especially in southern Sweden, which is heavily influenced by the decisions that have been taken historically.

The Social Democrats often cite the city of Malmö as a political model. But how can one, Madam Speaker, be a model when unemployment stands at nearly 13 percent? It is the second highest in Sweden – a scandal given the situation and the proximity to the continent, as well as the development potential the city has.

This can, Madam Speaker, be compared with Copenhagen on the other side of the bridge, which has an unemployment rate of 2.7 percent. In Denmark as a whole, the unemployment rate is 2.5 percent and in Norway 3.8 percent. The difference is, Madam Speaker, that our Nordic neighboring countries have had and have a controlled immigration, which means that even integration works, in contrast to in Sweden.

It is clear that the problems we struggle with in the Swedish labor market are problems that have been imported by the red-greens. That question we must raise and dare to discuss.

But, Madam Speaker, it is not just about that. In Hylte in Halland, the local paper mill announced that it would lay off 60 employees due to increased electricity costs. The costs would have been 200 million lower if the company had been located north of Gävle. The responsibility for this also lies, Madam Speaker, with the red-greens, as they have constantly dismantled Swedish base energy, which means that companies cannot conduct operations in the areas where unemployment is greatest. But even here, the Sweden Democrats and the government are turning the boat around, even if it takes time.

But, Madam Speaker, I must just ask the question: Are Ardalan Shekarabi and the red-green parties satisfied with the policy they pursued, which completely tore apart a previously well-functioning Swedish labor market?

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

Ardalan Shekarabi (S)

Madam Speaker! My question to Magnus Persson concerns the unemployment insurance fund (a-kassan). The workers who risk becoming unemployed in Hylte and the over 10,000 workers in the construction industry who have become unemployed received good news: The ceiling in the unemployment insurance fund will be raised in accordance with the proposal from the investigation that worked on the issue. It was very good.

But the decision is also that the unemployment insurance (a-kassan) shall be reduced already after 100 days. It is a decision that the Sverigedemokraterna have pushed forward in this chamber. It shall enter into force at the end of this year. Is this the message to construction workers and paper workers who are affected by unemployment – that the Sverigedemokraterna will see to it that they get a reduced a-kassan from day 100, in a situation where the economy makes it very difficult to find a new job? Or is Magnus Persson prepared to give a statement here that the Sverigedemokraterna intend to take responsibility and work to ensure that the deterioration is at least postponed?

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

Magnus Persson (SD)

Madam Speaker! I am proud that the Sweden Democrats have contributed to raising the unemployment insurance. It is something the Social Democrats have not succeeded in doing in eight years in government. Yes, we increase the tapering, because statistically, most people get a new job within 100 days.

It is pleasing to hear how the small business owners and the construction industry in, for example, my home municipality welcome the increased rot deduction. Finally, they said, we do not have an order intake every week. Finally, we are fully booked well after the holidays. We avoid having to lay people off.

I am very satisfied with that reform as well, despite the fact that it is pointed out as something terrible and a bad reform. But it creates jobs, and employment is growing within the construction industry, especially among small businesses.

I am satisfied that we landed where we did regarding the a-kassa. The a-kassa is, in fact, a transition insurance and should be handled as such. It is not a benefit. In today's Social Democracy, the a-kassa is seen as a form of benefit. I refuse to do that. It is a transition insurance, and Swedish wage earners who want to work find a job.

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

Ardalan Shekarabi (S)

Madam Speaker! I must inform Magnus Persson that the level of unemployment insurance in Sweden now belongs to the worst among comparable countries. Magnus Persson's and the Sverigedemokraterna's decision is to lower the replacement level of the unemployment insurance to 70 percent already after 100 days, in a recession that hit very many industries and which has made very many construction workers, among others, unemployed.

With that logic, they went forward and said: We are postponing the increase of the ceiling. Great! But are the Sweden Democrats prepared to now give notice to construction workers and others sitting here in the stands that the reduction of the unemployment insurance already after 100 days of unemployment will in any case be postponed? There are very many who are unemployed and very many who are nervous about how they will manage the costs this autumn, with this cost level. Will the reduction of the unemployment insurance to a 70 percent replacement level already after 100 days be postponed, Magnus Persson?

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

Magnus Persson (SD)

Madam Speaker! Ardalan Shekarabi knows very well that I cannot answer that at this stage. But I welcome the debate.

The unemployment insurance fund is making quite a lot of profit; there is quite a lot of money in the fund. The next step is perhaps that we should nationalize the unemployment insurance fund so that it becomes equivalent for all Swedish wage earners. I think that would be a quite good measure. One could perhaps start looking into it and investigate a nationalization of the Swedish unemployment insurance fund so that it becomes an equivalent insurance for all Swedish wage earners. That might have been something for the Social Democrats to look into, if we are to talk about solidarity and equality. Then is it perhaps better that we have a nationalized unemployment insurance fund that is equivalent for everyone?

Now I call it a rhetorical question, because Ardalan Shekarabi cannot answer this. But I would see that as a fairly good solution, and I welcome Ardalan Shekarabi to discuss that question in the future.

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Jonny Cato (C)

Madam Speaker! As usual, the Sweden Democrats want to turn all debates into debates on immigration policy. Yesterday, Jimmie Åkesson participated in SVT's 30 minuter, and to the question of how we should proceed to push back unemployment, he answered that we should introduce a return migration grant so that more people return.

The fact is that Sweden has major problems with exclusion. Far too few people with a foreign background get up in the morning, work, contribute, and pay tax. More foreign-born people must work.

The Sweden Democrats, as the largest party in the government base, have a huge responsibility to get these people into work. My question is therefore, quite simply: What are the Sweden Democrats' concrete proposals to increase integration so that more people with a foreign background get up in the morning, work, contribute, and pay tax?

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Magnus Persson (SD)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Jonny Cato, for the question! It is quite simple. We must start at the right end and begin to set demands on the individuals.

We cannot have it as in the society that Jonny Cato has been involved in shaping, where one can attend SFI for many years. In my home municipality, there are examples where people have attended SFI for 14 years. Yesterday, we could hear on the radio about a woman who had attended SFI in Tensta for 20 years. So we cannot have that in society.

It is about placing demands on the individual. The individual also has a responsibility to want to make themselves employable. In that case, it is not possible, as Jonny Cato in his party advocates, to have an enormously large immigration, because then it becomes like this.

We receive a certain number of thousands of people here, and then we are to integrate them into society. They shall become a part of society – fine. So we open the border and receive another hundred thousand. What do we do with those people, then? Yes, we don't have time for them. It ends with us giving them benefits and funneling them out into a suburb and letting them sit there.

Jonny Catos' policy has been purely harmful for immigration in Sweden. His policy has not given the immigrants a chance to become a part of Swedish society. That is what it is about. That is why there is such a big difference between Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.

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Jonny Cato (C)

Madam Speaker! It is no longer enough to say that it is the Center Party's fault, because now it is the Sweden Democrats' responsibility as the largest party in the government support. We heard a single concrete proposal: to set requirements. That is simply not enough!

I am the first to agree that no one should spend so many years in Sfi. But I do not believe that the solution is simply about setting requirements. Sfi also needs to function better. There, the Sweden Democrats now have every chance in the world to present concrete political proposals so that more people can learn the Swedish language faster. They have the opportunity to present proposals that they promised before the election campaign, regarding lowering costs and reducing red tape for the country's entrepreneurs. There, we completely lack a political idea from the Sweden Democrats.

Everything cannot be the immigrants' fault. However, it is now Magnus Persson's and Jimmie Åkesson's responsibility that more people should have a job to go to.

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Magnus Persson (SD)

Madam Speaker! Unlike Jonny Cato and his party, we take responsibility in this issue. For example, one does bring up labor immigration to low-wage jobs so that people with low education shall get a chance to get a job in Sweden. It is a reform that Jonny Cato and Centerpartiet oppose. Jonny Cato and Centerpartiet want free labor immigration to Sweden, regardless of what kind of jobs it concerns. They want to import labor as cleaners, pizza makers, and so on.

Jonny Catos' politics makes it significantly harder for people to integrate and get a job in Sweden, because one wants to keep filling up all the time. One only follows the companies' interests. This is the problem here.

We want to give people who are marginalized the chance to become part of society. Jonny Cato does not see that. He only wants cheap labor in the companies.

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

Saila Quicklund (M)

Madam Speaker! First, I would like to make a clarification regarding the exchange with Ardalan Shekarabi: It was, therefore, 133 people per day who were early-retired.

We live in a time of anxiety and deep recession. It is well known. People are holding onto their money more tightly. We do less of the things that drive growth: We renovate less, travel less, consume less and start fewer companies.

Madam Speaker! Sweden's unemployment has been structurally high for a long time, and the challenges are therefore also continued and many. 63 percent of the unemployed are foreign-born. A total of 176,000 in the foreign-born group lack primary school competence. There is a mismatch between the available workforce and the employers' needs. Companies have difficulty recruiting for the jobs. Every third place in our vocational training has stood empty since 2018, which is remarkable. Sweden has the lowest proportion of simple jobs in Europe – approximately 4 percent.

In the revised budget for 2025, the government shows that the work principle is now in focus. Arbetsförmedlingen's resources are strengthened by 60 million kronor. We have a new director-general and a board.

The government is modernizing the unemployment insurance and strengthening the wage guarantee. We are investing 1 billion kronor in the unemployment benefit. At the same time, the support for the rotavdrag is temporarily expanded, which also strengthens the construction industry.

The government is investing in vocational adult education including student support, and now there are 72,000 places that lead to jobs.

Madam Speaker! The Government is creating order in the economy. We are making an investment in competence, education, clear requirements, and an honored work line. This, taken together, builds Sweden strong.

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Ciczie Weidby (V)

Madam Speaker! So far in the debate, we have heard various accusations regarding whose fault it is that we have high unemployment, and we have also heard various variants of solutions.

Vänsterpartiet has concrete solutions to combat unemployment. Firstly, we want to see large public investments in welfare, in housing, and in the climate transition, because that creates real jobs throughout the country. When we equip schools or build housing, construction workers, electricians, and engineers get work. When we strengthen healthcare and elderly care, we hire more nursing assistants, nurses, and healthcare assistants.

Secondly, we shall invest in education. Everyone who is unemployed shall have the right to education. They shall have the right to education or retraining regardless of age or background. This makes people employable and prepares society for the future labor market.

For the third, we need an active labor market policy. Arbetsförmedlingen shall, of course, not be dismantled. It shall be built up with locally anchored presence and real interventions – not just digital solutions and private actors who lack responsibility.

Madam Speaker! Vänsterpartiet knows that unemployment does not solve itself. It requires political will and investments. One cannot brake uphill.

We have the will. Vänsterpartiet also has the proposals. It is time to replace this government.

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Jonny Cato (C)

Madam Speaker! Another common theme in the survey responses we receive is a lack of competence. "There are no trained mechanics available" writes an entrepreneur from Vilhelmina. "It is difficult to find people with the right knowledge and drive" we hear from Markaryd. It is extra precarious.

Since 2022, the responsibility for both education policy and labor market policy has rested with the Liberals and even with Mats Persson. During the mandate period, the Ministry of Employment has submitted a total of four propositions, while the Ministries of Justice and Finance have submitted over a hundred each.

Madam Speaker! Is it then four major reforms that will address the skills supply and make it easier for people to find jobs? No! One is about the exchange of information between Arbetsförmedlingen and municipalities. One is about education and the payment of wage guarantees. Two are about the unemployment insurance.

The government has first failed with its education policy and then, in the area of the labor market, pursued a policy of imagination.

Sweden needs a liberal labor market policy where it becomes easier to hire, where it pays to move from benefits to work, where companies can grow and where we train people for jobs, not for exclusion. The government should do as the Center Party and present a liberal labor market policy.

Madam Speaker! There is soon only one and a half years left of this parliamentary term. It is now time for the Liberals, for Johan Pehrson and for Mats Persson to prove themselves.

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Camilla Rinaldo Miller (KD)

Madam Speaker! High unemployment requires societal efforts – efforts from several sides, not just politically. The Minister for Employment and members from M and SD have already spoken about the measures the government is now taking to break the negative trend of increased unemployment that we are seeing. Let me therefore instead tell you about an initiative that we in the local business association in my hometown took in 2015, when youth unemployment was high in Sweden.

Perhaps a similar initiative would not work as well in larger municipalities, such as Stockholm. But for me, it is about a good example and about encouraging others to find local variants, to be creative and to take a social responsibility.

So what did we do? We in the association concluded that we would not be able to solve the problem of youth unemployment in all of Sweden, but that we could do something for our community, where our companies are located. Together with Arbetsförmedlingen, unemployed youth and companies in the area were invited to a breakfast meeting and a form of speed dating. Do you know what the outcome was? 17 out of 18 unemployed youths got jobs.

It is time that we breathe life into local initiatives and help each other to ensure that the unemployment figures begin to go down. We politicians will, of course, do our part, but we also need to see that more people can make contributions. Together we can make a difference – a difference for real.

(Applause)

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Leila Ali Elmi (MP)

Madam Speaker! Sweden today has an unemployment rate of 8.7 percent. It is a high level, and it is particularly serious in a country with strong public institutions and resources to act. Behind that figure are people who want to work but who are not given the chance.

The worst affected are foreign-born women with low education. I meet these women out in society. They want a job. They seek opportunities. But when they try to get in contact with Arbetsförmedlingen, they are met with closed doors or support that leads nowhere.

Against that reality stands the government's narrative. There, it is said that unemployment is due to people not wanting to work, that there is a lack of willingness and that people prefer to live on benefits and that the problem is a lack of requirements. But that picture is incorrect and dangerous.

Madam Speaker! Activity support and development compensation are only granted upon actual participation in labor market policy programs. The establishment allowance requires active participation in, for example, internship, SFI or other labor market measures. And in almost all municipalities in Sweden, social assistance is conditional on clear activity requirements.

So, it is not about a system but requirements. It is about a society that lacks functioning paths into the labor market. That is where the government's responsibility comes in. Instead of building up these paths, they have dismantled them. It is not the unemployed who lack will. It is the government that lacks solutions.

We cannot change that people are not born in Sweden or that they have not lived here for a long time. But we can change that they are low-educated, and we can equip them for work.

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Saila Quicklund (M)

Madam Speaker! Leila is well aware that I come from Jämtland. In Jämtland, we live on the tourism industry, among other things. It is a very important factor when it comes to jobs. In that sector, as I say, a lot of simple jobs are also created for young people and newcomers.

Miljöpartiet wants, with almost surgical precision, to damage what is important in my home county and in many other rural counties. You want to introduce a progressive taxation, shock-increase the price of fuel by 10 kronor, and drastically cut back on road maintenance.

There are six so-called sparsely populated counties in Sweden, and approximately 1.5 million people live there.

My question to Miljöpartiet and Leila is: What does Miljöpartiet have to say to all these people and companies? How can a policy with worse roads, higher taxes and sharply increased petrol prices be able to create more jobs for those of us who live in the countryside?

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Leila Ali Elmi (MP)

Madam Speaker! Thank you for the question, Saila Quicklund!

The Green Party is not in government. It is not the Green Party that is responsible for the high unemployment we have today in Sweden, and that is what the debate is about.

I fully stand behind our climate policy. The purpose is not to make things difficult for people. The purpose is to reduce emissions. I believe the member is mixing up the cards here.

We in Miljöpartiet have proposed a lower tax for the countryside, so that people out in the countryside can hire. It is therefore not true that we are making things more difficult for businesses in the countryside.

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Saila Quicklund (M)

Madam Speaker! This answer surprises me. One cannot understand the connection. If we raise gasoline prices, it creates increased costs for hauliers and farmers. Somewhere that fee must also be collected. And as we know, 10 kronor more expensive gasoline and diesel prices hit jobs. There is, of course, a large connection. It surprises me that this reply was made.

You want, as you have said, to raise the price of gasoline and diesel by 10 kronor and make the roads worse and households poorer. That is actually the truth. One thing is completely clear, and that is that it would hit incredibly hard against just the counties I spoke about and 1.5 million inhabitants. That is the Miljöpartiets answer to how we solve this with jobs in sparsely populated counties.

We have been through this, and it still worries me. With this government, we have lowered the gasoline prices and the diesel price by 10 kronor.

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Leila Ali Elmi (MP)

Madam Speaker! Again: Miljöpartiet wants to reduce emissions. We want to electrify our roads. We want to upgrade our railways. This debate is not about the climate transition. We are not making things difficult for people in rural areas. We are introducing a tax relief for people in rural areas. But what this debate is about is the high unemployment, for which Moderaterna are ultimately responsible. What are you doing about it, Saila?

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Camilla Rinaldo Miller (KD)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Member, for a good speech!

I share your concern for all immigrant women who do not have the opportunity to enter the workforce – where language is one of the keys. That is what I want to say first.

Then I would like to hear how the member and Miljöpartiet view the eagerness that the Socialdemokrater have had for several years regarding the full-time journey, that everyone should have the right to work full-time. It has been important.

For me, it is more important that people get the opportunity to work 100 percent of their ability. 100 percent of someone's ability might not mean full-time. One can be born with a disability that makes it impossible to work full-time. Wouldn't it be better if we worked so that people have the right to work 100 percent of their ability? What do the members think?

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Leila Ali Elmi (MP)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Camilla Rinaldo Miller, for the question!

Madam Speaker! The question of the Social Democrats' eagerness when it comes to the right to full-time work, I think should actually be posed to the Social Democrats. I am a member of the Green Party, I want to clarify.

I think the right to full-time work is important, but it does not mean that there will not be other types of forms of employment. Those things are not in opposition to each other. But those who want to work full-time should definitely have the opportunity to do so. That is my view on the matter.

Since we are talking about unemployment and the member mentioned the difficulties of low-educated foreign-born women to enter the labor market, my question is: What do you consider important to get low-educated women into the labor market? Your government removed the extra services without replacing them with anything else. How do we solve the establishment of foreign-born women on the labor market?

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Camilla Rinaldo Miller (KD)

Madam Speaker! I just want to first say that my question regarding the Social Democrats' eagerness concerning the full-time journey was asked because I think that you are expected to form a government together eventually. In that case, it is quite important to know if you share the same views.

Regarding the member's question about immigrant women's opportunity to enter the labor market, the substitute jobs were, in my opinion, not a successful reform. It was therefore good that we removed them. On the other hand, we are investing more in the language, which I consider to be the absolute most important key to being able to become a part of Swedish society and the labor market.

Language is for me the greatest and most important effort when it comes to helping immigrant women to get into work.

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Leila Ali Elmi (MP)

Madam Speaker! I thank Camilla for the answer.

I admit that the extra services were not at all the most optimal measure. But it was removed without being replaced with anything, because it is not true that one is investing more in the Swedish language.

This government has systematically dismantled the labor market policy.

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Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)

Madam Speaker! It is a strength for Sweden that we can have this type of debate in a time that is uneasy for our country. It is important that we collectively take responsibility and take the developments in the world, and also on the Swedish labor market, with the utmost seriousness.

From the government's side, we are making massive investments in education, especially in vocational training. After listening to the debate, I can state that there is a clear dividing line in Swedish politics between the work line, which the government stands for, and the subsidy line, which the opposition stands for. This also applies to the view on whether we should have a strict immigration policy and whether we should have a requirement-based integration policy. To set requirements is to care.

In times of unrest in the world, Sweden has historically shown that we can cooperate. We can stand strong, and we can manage and endure tough times. We do this by cooperating and solving the problems that the Swedish people expect us to deal with.

Thank you for this debate!

(Applause)

The special debate was hereby concluded.

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