Student financial aid

Fredrik Malm (L)

Madam Speaker! We now have to debate the Education Committee's report on student support and 40 motions from the general motion period during this parliamentary session.

Sweden is and shall remain a knowledge nation that contributes innovations of world-class and secures our future prosperity through inventions in areas such as medicine, economy, industry, welfare and much more.

Madam Speaker! A well-educated population is one of Sweden's strongest assets for our competitiveness and our ability to maintain a general welfare state. But the level of education in Swedish society shows some worrying trends. Last year's PISA survey points to a veritable literacy crisis among Swedish secondary school students, where every fourth student cannot read properly. We risk raising a generation of functional illiterates if this continues.

At the same time, there are glimmers of light in the results from other surveys. They point to improvements in results for mathematics and also in adults' abilities. TIMSS is one example. On the other hand, differences between groups persist, and parents' educational level continues to have a major impact on children's life chances. One's future should not be determined by how many shelf meters of books one has at home, but instead by one's own ability and drive.

In this respect, Madam Speaker, the student grant is completely central to guaranteeing equal opportunities for everyone to educate themselves in Sweden. It is something that we in the Liberals wholeheartedly stand behind. It is an important institution of freedom in the sense that all individuals in Sweden are given the opportunity to realize themselves. We make no distinction between rich or poor, but we shall have a system for higher education that can promote talented and ambitious individuals regardless of background, gender, location, or status.

Mr. Speaker! Today's student support system works relatively well. It should be recruiting for women and men regardless of background, both young and old, both unemployed and employed, and regardless of educational background, gender, or origin. The student support shall furthermore be long-term sustainable, and the principle is that the student loan shall be paid back in full.

The government has now announced in the budget bill for the current year that it intends to conduct a review of the student support system. The foundations of today's student support system have existed since 2001, and since then, no major review of the system has been carried out. We must ensure that the system is also compliant with today's and the future's education system and, of course, the needs of the labor market.

Mr. Speaker! Since January 2023 - now two years - there has been a new transition study support to improve the conditions for adults to finance studies that can strengthen their future position on the labor market. It is about securing the skills that a rapidly changing economy requires. The transition study support is still a new reform that is being built up and expanded, and not everything has functioned perfectly from the start. When we implement large reforms, especially reforms that we have never implemented before, so to speak, and not just patch and repair but do something completely new, it is always the case that along the way one needs to complement or reinforce things. The processing times in the transition study support have been too long, and many who apply for support are waiting for a decision. The government's ambition - and I am convinced that everyone in the chamber agrees on this - is that the processing rate shall increase.

The government has taken several measures to shorten processing times for the transition study support. In November, the Riksdag adopted the bill "A more efficient transition study support" to simplify the regulations surrounding the reform. We have also, in the budget for the current year, increased the appropriations to the Central Swedish Student Aid Board, CSN, by an additional 50 million kronor to manage the volume of cases.

It is important, Mr. Speaker, that processing times are reduced so that they do not hinder the expansion of the student grant. It shall be fully expanded moving forward and truly contribute to the transition and skills supply for Swedish business and the public sector in Sweden.

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

Niklas Sigvardsson (S)

Mr. Speaker! I thank Member Malm for the speech.

My question will remain with the announced review of the student support system in the budget bill that Member Malm raised in his speech. It is also one of the areas that we Social Democrats have submitted motions on - which are addressed in the committee report.

One of the strengths of the student support system is that it has been and is stable, and that we across party lines in the chamber have agreed on the support. This means that the student support system is secure for current students and for those who are considering starting studies in the future.

We Social Democrats think it is important that it continues to be a broad agreement even in the future and that a broad parliamentary review will take place across party lines - between the opposition and the government. Does Member of Parliament Malm believe that the government should come to the conclusion that a parliamentary review should take place? Then the upcoming investigation can take place broadly with transparency and anchoring in all the parties in the Riksdag.

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

Fredrik Malm (L)

Mr. Speaker! The reform is important for education and knowledge. The reform is also very important for the Swedish labor market, and it is part of the agreement between the labor market parties that was concluded four and a half years ago. It guarantees that there is a long-term perspective in the transition study support and that both unions and employers are prepared to take that responsibility. It is about first carving out the principles and designing the reform, and then it is about us allocating funds for this. This is a positive example of when the Swedish model works well.

I have not heard any tendencies from anyone in the Riksdag or from any party that one would want to jeopardize the long-term sustainability. We are all determined to safeguard the reform.

Mr. Speaker! I do not think that we should depart from the regular procedure for how we develop legislative proposals and what is usually the practice in the investigation process. The regular procedure we have in Sweden for enacting laws, investigating, referring, and so on works well.

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

Niklas Sigvardsson (S)

Mr. Speaker! At first, I was a bit confused by Member Malm's answer. I understood it as Member Malm talking a lot about the transition study support in the first part. The review that the government has announced shall not include the transition study support; rather, it stands outside the upcoming review. I just want to clarify how it looks in my head.

(FREDRIK MALM (L): That is correct.)

We naturally stand behind the fact that it is important. But now we are looking at other parts of the student support system, actually the large bulk of students who study with the help of student grants. There I received an answer, at least in part, from the member at the end.

We Social Democrats continue to press on that it is important that we are in long-term agreement on such important issues. We have been in agreement for decades that we, to the greatest extent possible, prepare them jointly, so that we get clear agreements that are secure for everyone who studies today but also for those who are considering studying in the future.

It is a major commitment one makes when committing to an education that lasts three, four, or five years, or to a vocational college education that might be one or two years. One takes out loans and receives student aid. Therefore, it is important that the rules of the game are stable and sustainable in the long term.

Therefore, we Social Democrats also motion for that, even though the practice is that the government keeps it to itself. But the analysis we make is that the review and the investigations being conducted right now are not so broad and parliamentary. The government and the coalition partner Sverigedemokraterna are quite clear that they also reach agreements regarding broad parliamentary agreements. That is why we Social Democrats are so eager in the matter that this investigation needs to be broadly anchored.

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

Fredrik Malm (L)

Mr. Speaker! Niklas Sigvardsson is absolutely right. I mentally had it that, for the most part, all the exchanges that Niklas Sigvardsson and I have had have been about the transition study support. This therefore falls a bit into the category of a brain fart. This concerns the study support system as a whole, quite correctly. I also mentioned that in my speech.

Central to this is that Sweden shall continue to have a very generous system so that one can receive grants and take out student loans to finance one's studies. However, it has now been almost a quarter of a century since this system was introduced. It is somewhat messy, for example, considering that there are four different models for repayment in the system. We also know how large changes are now being made, for example, regarding the transition study support and much more. The need for a review is very great.

Mr. Speaker! I perceive that there is also here in the chamber a broad consensus on the basic principles of the Swedish student support system. Then there are sometimes discussions about levels, and various proposals are made regarding how long it should take or if it should be written off at a certain age and so on. But in broad strokes, we all agree on the main direction.

I shall conclude by saying once again that I believe the Riksdag and Swedish politics have good capacity to handle even this review within the ordinary practice we have for producing new legislation in Sweden.

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

Niklas Sigvardsson (S)

Mr. Speaker! This debate covers all motions received regarding student support during the 2024/25 parliamentary session. We Social Democrats, of course, stand behind all the motions we have submitted, both those with reservations and those being treated simplified. But in this debate, we only move for approval of reservation 4.

Mr. Speaker! We had a debate on student financial aid as recently as a little over a month ago here in this chamber. At that time, the budget for expenditure area 15 Student Financial Aid was addressed. Although that debate has already taken place and the budget is decided, it is of great importance for everything being discussed here today. The budget sets the conditions. Everything we discuss here must be able to be financed.

Everything regarding the economic conditions of upper secondary school students and students was discussed then. And it unfortunately became a boring decision for all the country's upper secondary school students. This Friday, they will receive their first study grant for 2025. It is a group that, just like everyone else in society, has had it tough in recent years and seen the value of their money eroded by inflation. It has caused their 1,250 kronor to not be worth as much as was intended.

Unfortunately, the Sweden Democrats and the governing parties chose to vote no to more money for the country's upper secondary school students. If the Social Democratic budget had passed instead, we would have ensured this Friday that all upper secondary school students received 1,450 kronor a month instead of the 1,250 that will be paid out. We Social Democrats, in fact, ensure that we protect ordinary people instead of lowering taxes for the very richest by several thousand kronor a month. The policy is felt for real.

Mr. Speaker! We should be proud to have one of the world's most generous student support systems. It is a system that enables lifelong learning and curiosity-driven learning. It is one of the finest things we can do as a society. It shows that we believe in people and that people have the ability and the will to learn, to delve deeper, and to transition throughout life to become more educated as human beings or more employable in the future.

One of the most important things that ensures we have a stable and world-leading student support system is that we are broadly in agreement across party lines. We have found long-term compromises in this area. We have had broad parliamentary inquiries to test and refine different proposals and to develop the student support system.

In the budget bill, the government announced that a review shall be conducted, just as the previous exchange of remarks was about. It is a review that is needed, according to the government, because so much time has passed since the last one was carried out. We Social Democrats do not necessarily oppose a review being conducted. It is, however, appropriate to point out that the last review was actually conducted eight years later than the government and Member Malm claim. The last review was conducted by the Studiesociala kommittén in 2009 and not 2001, as the government claims.

The good thing about the Studiesocial Committee and the investigation commissioned by the Folkpartist education minister Lars Leijonborg was that it was parliamentarily composed. It was a parliamentary committee that was tasked with working on the issues and turning arguments over to produce a better student support system than the one we had at the time.

Now, an investigation is being appointed again by a liberal Minister of Education. Even this should be granted broad parliamentary oversight and anchoring, so that the student support system will also be secure and long-term sustainable in the future. That is what we owe both current and future students.

Mr. Speaker! In line with the government removing last year that the student support system should act levelingly, the government now chooses to proceed with large cuts of the higher grant level and to completely abolish the student start support from 2026.

In times of sky-high unemployment and a need for education and labor market training, it is astonishing that the government seems to completely lack ambition regarding more people being able to make themselves employable, especially individuals who are far from the labor market. In this situation, the government chooses to phase out instead of evaluating and developing the study start support. Its task is to enable individuals who have a short educational background and who are far from a high school education to educate themselves.

We Social Democrats propose instead that the target group for the study start support be changed so that more can take part in it and at the same time that the authority shall be tasked to work more systematically to get more people who are outside the labor market to educate themselves with the help of the study start support. It is to take responsibility and to work to combat unemployment.

If we are to get more people into work, large investments in education and student support are needed, not a total lack of labor market policy and abolished student start support.

In conclusion, I must of course speak a little about the transition study support, which was introduced in 2022. It is still the case that decisions have not been able to be delivered before the start of education to all those who have applied for the support. It was welcome that the government finally realized that CSN needed more money to be able to manage the processing time for all the applications that come in because more people want to study and transition their skills in the middle of life. It is however regrettable that it has taken so long for the government to realize this, and we have a lot to work on moving forward.

Unfortunately, this has damaged the reputation of the transition study support. It will take time before the reputation manages to acquire a positive tone. The State and we in this chamber have a great responsibility and a great task to do together with the labor market partners to ensure that more people gain confidence in the support and that more people become aware of the support - this in order to meet all the major societal challenges that we have ahead of us. We must do a job together to ensure that CSN also in the future receives the right conditions and that there is a large supply of educational places within many different forms of education throughout the country. We need to ensure that the transition study support becomes the support that enables the entire study support system to become even better even further up in age for those who need to transition to meet the needs of the future labor market.

The transition study support is not just any support. It is a support that is typical of the Swedish model, where the labor market parties – unions and employers – make agreements both with each other and with the state. It is an agreement that gives people who are already established on the labor market the opportunity to continue to be attractive on the labor market and to become even more attractive on the labor market in the future. It is a part of the study support system to be proud of.

(Applause)

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

Oliver Rosengren (M)

Mr. Speaker! I thank Niklas Sigvardsson very much for his contribution. Niklas Sigvardsson wants to revisit the budget debate from last autumn. One must still say it is astonishing given how embarrassing that debate turned out to be for the Social Democrats. It is precisely in that way, Mr. Speaker, that the Social Democrats have not budgeted a single krona for study grants to upper secondary school students. There is a lack of supplement to the budget item Studiehjälp, which is intended for this purpose.

When Magdalena Andersson was Finance Minister, Sweden was subjected to seven difficult and sloppy years. It seems to have developed into a culture within the Social Democrats, where they now freely fabricate promises for which they lack coverage in their budget proposal.

Mr. Speaker! It is not enough to be able to read speech points. One must also have a handle on one's budget items. Therefore, the question to Niklas Sigvardsson is: How do you intend to finance this increase in student grants, when in the budget proposal that was voted down in the autumn, there are no funds for just student grants to upper secondary school students?

(Applause)

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

Niklas Sigvardsson (S)

Mr. Speaker! I thank Member Rosengren for that. We once again have the opportunity to speak about the fact that we Social Democrats actually have the money that would enable high school students to receive 200 kronor more per month starting this Friday.

The interesting thing here is that Oliver Rosengren wants to turn it into a discussion about budget items instead of ambition and the possibility of delivery. We have 775 million kronor more than the government and the Sverigedemokraterna have in the budget for expenditure area 15 Studiestöd.

We can be honest and say that we do what is required and say it as it is. Yes, had we received help from a full government secretariat, the budget item would have ended up in the correct appropriation item. It is quite simple – we do not have the thousands of civil servants who work on these issues at the Government Offices. We admit it. We would have wanted to put the money in the appropriation item for study grants. Now this was discovered too late. But we still have 775 million kronor more within expenditure area 15 Study Support. That would mean that high school students on Friday, January 31, would receive 1,450 kronor a month instead of 1,250 kronor.

(Applause)

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

Oliver Rosengren (M)

Mr. Speaker! It was hard for Member Sigvardsson to admit this mistake. Last autumn, we dedicated a long budget debate to the issue without this simple mistake being acknowledged.

It is not quite as simple as the member now wants to make it sound. There are significant limitations to the flexibility of appropriations in the Swedish budget system and in our framework and regulatory system. Therefore, the honest thing from the Social Democrats would have been, Mr. Speaker, to apologize for having made promises to Sweden's upper secondary school students that one does not have included in its budget. We as members of Parliament have a special responsibility to ensure that there is a high level of truth in the public conversation. In this case, there are no funds for this promise. It is an empty promise.

Instead, one can of course return before next year's budget and promise this, now that one has received help from us in the government and the government base to get one's tables in order. That can certainly do excellently for the Social Democrats ahead of an election year. But it is not appropriate to stand firm on a promise that one cannot fulfill, because the money does not exist in the appropriation item concerning that which one stands and promises.

I do not think this hinders the conversation we are to have, especially not when the target group is young upper secondary school students, who should be able to expect truth and correctness from Members of Parliament. In cases where one meets upper secondary school students, for example here in the Riksdag, it is particularly important. The Social Democrats should report in how many cases they have met upper secondary school classes and presented this promise without having the coverage for it.

(Applause)

In this speech, Patrick Reslow and Robert Stenkvist (both SD) concurred.

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

Niklas Sigvardsson (S)

Mr. Speaker! I continue to think it is quite interesting that the Moderates really want a debate on whether the Social Democrats want to give high school students more in study grants or not. It is quite clear that we Social Democrats want to give 200 kronor more to high school students in study grants. It would mean that all of Sweden's high school students would receive 1,450 kronor on Friday.

This is ideologically interesting. We Social Democrats do not prioritize massive tax cuts for high-income earners. Instead, we prioritize housing allowances, student grants, and child allowances. We prioritize families who are having a really tough time. When food prices and housing prices skyrocket, we choose to make other priorities. But we see that the government base will continue with its rather strange priorities. As recently as a few days ago, we heard that the tax for risk capitalists is to be lowered and that the tax on alcohol and tobacco is to be raised. They continue to lower the tax for the very richest in society, and the Moderates apparently want to continue doing so. This is more remarkable than that we Social Democrats want to give 200 kronor more in student grants to all the country's high school students.

(Applause)

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

Lili André (KD)

Mr. Speaker! I thank Member Sigvardsson for the speech.

Mr. Speaker! The study start support, which consists solely of grants, may be given to those who are registered as job seekers and have a short education and a great need for education at basic or upper secondary level in order to be able to establish themselves on the labor market. The Swedish National Audit Office has, however, in an audit found that around half of the students with study start support had a completed upper secondary education from before. Furthermore, closer to 30 percent had a post-secondary education. This gives, Mr. Speaker, indications that the study start support has been handled in a way that is not in line with the support's purpose, which means that there has been and remains an overriding risk of incorrect payments.

Mr. Speaker! I note that the Social Democrats, despite this, want to maintain the support and give more people a share of this grant.

My question to the member is: Do the Social Democrats mean that a study start support, which is a pure grant and which also appears to have been paid out to the wrong target group, really should remain?

In this speech, Robert Stenkvist (SD) concurred.

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

Niklas Sigvardsson (S)

Mr. Speaker! It is very true that the Swedish National Audit Office has issued criticism regarding the student start support. It is a criticism that we Social Democrats have read and which we also mention in the two motions from us Social Democrats that deal with the student start support. What we see, however, is that one could work together on a review and look over the grant levels and also the regulatory framework to see how the support can reach the target group even better.

We are now in a situation where we have an unemployment rate of over 8 ½ percent. The Education Committee was as recently as yesterday invited to the Labor Market Committee's public meeting which just addressed unemployment. We see that it is the structural unemployment that is a very big problem.

It should instead be that we Social Democrats would need to review all the systems that the government is coming forward with new proposals on. This concerns how we strengthen the level of education and how we ensure that more labor market trainings and training places are established to get more people into work.

The problem is that the government is silent when it comes to active labor market policy. Instead, we want to see that the study start support – which aims and is intended to go to those who have a short educational background to enable them to get closer to other education – is reformed and changed, and that a review is conducted so that more people are given the opportunity to be assigned to regular education via the study start support so that more people get into work. That should still be the goal of the policy behind the study start support, and it should also be the goal of the government's labor market policy.

(Applause)

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

Lili André (KD)

Mr. Speaker! Unfortunately, a large proportion of those who have received the study start support already have a high school education and even a post-secondary education, which is not in line with the purpose of the support. This has resulted in incorrect payments.

I wonder, member of the committee: Should one be allowed to receive any support just because one is unemployed? We need to ensure that the right support goes to the right target group. That is taking responsibility. We Christian Democrats believe that it is necessary to phase out the study start support in order to redo and do it right.

It is crucial that we act to ensure that all the contributions we have go to the right target group. Merely conducting a review or changing the study start support where errors in payments have occurred today is not enough. Such a support must be phased out.

The lack of clarity regarding the purpose of the study start support has likely contributed to this problem. Clarity is needed when there are multiple actors involved in both applying for a support and paying out a support. It must be precise and simple for the sake of clarity.

Therefore, we believe that a phase-out is better and that we should review what support specifically this target group can receive, as the target group is important. It concerns those who are unemployed and do not have an education required for the labor market.

Mr. Speaker! I want to emphasize that the groups that the support is directed towards will not be caught in the crossfire. The Government will return to the Riksdag with a bill that clearly clarifies the alternative for these target groups, and we are also conducting a review.

Getting more people to take part in a student grant that is paid out to the wrong target group, is that really taking responsibility, Member Sigvardsson? That is not what we Christian Democrats think.

In this speech, Robert Stenkvist (SD) concurred.

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

Niklas Sigvardsson (S)

Mr. Speaker! It would have been interesting if the government, when it significantly cuts the study start support during this year and wants to completely phase out the study start support by next year, actually pursued a labor market policy that gets more people into work. There is an unemployment rate of over 8 ½ percent, and we are soon up to half a million unemployed.

It would then have been more appropriate to come here with a proposal instead of talking about how we Social Democrats want to keep a support that we simultaneously say we want to review in order to ensure that it hits the right target group and the right individuals.

It is about individuals getting the opportunity to get a job. That is why we have the study start support. It is about them being able to make themselves eligible for education - that is the group we are talking about here - so that in the next step they can undergo an education that brings them closer to a job.

It would have been interesting if the Christian Democrats and the government pursued a policy that was an alternative to the policy that the Social Democrats have.

So far, we only hear the Christian Democrats and the government say: It is their own fault that they do not have a job. The state has no responsibility, but it is the individuals themselves who have that responsibility.

It is obvious that individuals and the state jointly have a responsibility to ensure that people have an opportunity to enter the labor market so that more can take the jobs that exist and have their own livelihood. It is a clear goal for the education policy and the labor market policy for the Social Democrats.

(Applause)

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

Anders Alftberg (SD)

Mr. Speaker! The debate that has taken place here so far makes it sound as if there is a great division. The fact is, as has also been said, that there is a fairly large consensus among us parties across party lines that we shall have the generous study system that we have today.

We do not agree on the details. No revolutions have taken place. But we have nevertheless done certain things. We made a necessary decision regarding the phasing out of the study start support. But we have also ensured that those who train to become police officers will eventually be exempt from paying off their student loans.

Mr. Speaker! For long-term, sustainable growth and development in all of Sweden, all parts of the country need to contribute and have the opportunity to contribute. Such development depends on people wanting, being able to, and being expected to live in Sweden's rural areas, as well as companies having better opportunities to operate there.

Sweden's growth and development depends on the values that exist and are produced in the countryside. It is something we often forget. Our Swedish countryside contributes with energy supply, raw materials and food supply.

In the shadow of the Russian aggression against the Ukrainian people, it has become more apparent than ever that we need a vital countryside from a purely preparedness perspective.

Mr. Speaker! Post-secondary education is becoming increasingly important in society. The need for and demand for competence are great and will likely increase in the future.

The supply of competence is one of the greatest challenges for many smaller rural municipalities in both the public and private sectors. In some places, this is already today to the highest degree a real challenge, especially when it concerns the welfare services that the municipality and county council are responsible for. We need to address this.

According to current law, there are no possibilities today to have student loans waived for persons who take employment in any specific part of the country or educate themselves within a certain profession. This is what we Sweden Democrats want to change.

A previous government addressed the issue of write-downs of student loans in the proposition A coherent policy for Sweden's rural areas - for a Sweden that holds together. In October 2019, it is some years ago, the then government tasked Tillväxtverket with analyzing and proposing measures to facilitate the supply of skills in Sweden's rural areas. The purpose of the assignment was to facilitate for companies and public employers to recruit the right personnel and skills and thereby contribute to a more viable countryside.

In Tillväxtverket's report on the assignment in March 2020, the agency actually proposed a number of measures to address the problems with the skills supply in Sweden's rural areas - including the cancellation of student loans for those who live and work in particularly vulnerable municipalities, as a way to stimulate increased migration to rural areas. Some proposals regarding cancellations never came from the previous government. We regret this.

One of the welfare state's primary pillars, Mr. Speaker, is about providing its citizens with accessible and good care throughout the country. The supply of competence is a huge problem within healthcare. This is something we are all aware of, and we need to do something about it.

In rural or sparsely populated areas, it is often more difficult to recruit, among other things, doctors and nurses, which undermines both the quality of care and patient safety. Attracting doctors and other healthcare personnel to rural areas is actually a challenge in the entire industrial world. In rural areas in the USA, there is a system where doctors, for example, can commit to working for a number of years, after which they receive a bonus in the form of reduced student debts.

We Sweden Democrats think it is an important and interesting measure. It needs to be investigated and reviewed for Swedish conditions. One can also imagine applying corresponding systems to other groups, such as nurses, so that they will want to seek out less attractive locations and the countryside.

Mr. Speaker! As mentioned earlier, there is a great consensus on the principles of our generous Swedish student support system. However, there has long been a focus on special solutions - this concerns, among other things, the study start support, which has been discussed here previously - for socioeconomic groups. Perhaps we should simply instead focus on more special solutions when it comes to our countryside and its population.

(Applause)

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

Niklas Sigvardsson (S)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Member Alftberg, for the speech!

I want to dwell a little on the fine descriptions of the Swedish countryside that were made in the speech. I am thinking about the fact that the government still holds the Sverigedemokraterna's mandate. I cannot see that any of these parts are present in the government's proposal. It is then interesting to hear if it is the case that Sverigedemokraterna are happy to stand here in the chamber and talk about these investments, but that these demands do not occur in the government negotiations behind closed doors.

At the same time as the member stands and talks about how they want it to be in the countryside, there is a shortage of nurses and doctors, just as the member pointed out. But there is also a great deal of reflection in the country's educational institutions regarding questions such as: Will there be training places if it is now made possible to have write-offs for student loans for these groups? Will it be possible to get educated all around our country?

And when you close every fourth service office in the country - when the Sverigedemokraterna are in power with the government - the question is: What do the beautiful words about the countryside actually mean?

(Applause)

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

Anders Alftberg (SD)

Mr. Speaker! It was the Green Party together with the Social Democrats who ensured that a dead hand was placed over the countryside - with fuel prices that drove families to desperation. It was a significantly larger problem, which we have addressed with this government. It becomes significantly much more bearable and easier to be a small business owner, a farmer, or a family with children in the countryside just from the reform we made by pressing down, among other things, the diesel prices to sensible, normal, and bearable levels. It is actually a policy for the countryside for real.

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

Niklas Sigvardsson (S)

Mr. Speaker! I note that there was no answer to the questions I had and that the largest part of the fuel price reduction that the member is talking about concerns changed world market prices. This is, therefore, also a way of beating one's breast when it comes to that.

One cannot escape the fact that the service in the countryside or in towns that are not Stockholm is becoming worse under this government. We see how authorities are being relocated back to Stockholm's inner city instead of remaining outside the Stockholm region. We see how service offices, which I visited in my first speech, are being closed down all over Sweden. This means that public service is retreating in the Sweden Democrats' land. It is not being expanded.

Then one stands and talks about potential write-offs of student loans for certain professional groups. I did not get any answer in the member's speech about how well the Sweden Democrats are actually driving those demands in the government negotiations. I wonder about that – if it is so important to stand and talk about this for very long here in the speaker's chair.

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

Anders Alftberg (SD)

Mr. Speaker! If we stick to fuels, it is somewhat striking that it would be about world market prices and so on. One only has to look at how it looks today. Sweden actually has the second lowest fuel prices in Europe. It is probably Estonia or Latvia that are slightly lower.

With an active policy instead of constantly blaming the outside world, we have implemented changes in this area that benefit the countryside. This is in the long term. We need to have a countryside where there is entrepreneurship and where people can live and reside. It is truly something that is not just about the relocation of agencies. It can be a bit of artificial respiration – unfortunately, many times it is about that.

Now we are addressing the structural problems in the countryside in different ways. An important artery, so to speak, for making the heart beat is precisely that it should be somewhat manageable to get to and from work in the countryside. I believe that the voters and the rural population appreciate this measure significantly more than getting a new agency as a neighbor.

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

Nadja Awad (V)

Mr. Speaker! The Left Party has a goal for the labor market of full employment. Given that we have a government that would like to talk about how important it is for people to get into work, it is strange that Sweden now has an unemployment rate that is the highest in ten years and that Sweden has the third highest unemployment within the EU.

An absence of clear labor market policy measures, a dismantled and privatized public employment service, and a policy of the negative work line - making life difficult for those who do not work - has been shown to have a negative effect on unemployment. Now it is important that a comprehensive investment is made in education and labor market policy.

A growing proportion of the unemployed belong to the group that lacks a primary or secondary education. An important education and labor market measure that the government can then make is to use the student grant system to make it possible for these individuals to educate themselves so that they get increased chances of getting a job on the labor market.

Today, there is the opportunity for those who are unemployed to receive study start support.

The study start support aims to increase recruitment to studies among persons with short education and a great need for education to enroll in a upper secondary education and in this way strengthen their opportunities to establish themselves on the labor market.

Vänsterpartiet wants more people to be able to access the study start support (studiestartsstöd) but also that the support should be improved. Today, the same rules apply as for those who have student grants (studiemedel), meaning that it is not possible to be partially on sick leave and study part-time with study start support. This can cause major problems for people with long-term or chronic illnesses or disabilities to complete their studies. It also excludes many from accessing the study start support to begin their studies. Therefore, Vänsterpartiet wants that students with study start support be given the possibility of partial sick leave.

The possibilities for students with study start support to receive housing allowance differ from the corresponding possibility for students with study means. Vänsterpartiet wants the right to housing allowance with study start support to be regulated so that it becomes equivalent to the corresponding right for students with study means.

The current requirement of six months of unemployment during a one-year period to receive study start support risks creating lock-in effects in unemployment and limiting the possibilities for rapid educational interventions. We therefore believe that the unemployment condition should be eased.

Improving the study start support to enable more unemployed people to educate themselves and establish themselves in the labor market is a better alternative than the government's alternative, which is to phase out the support entirely. The government has decided to phase out the study start support from 2026, which risks having serious consequences for thousands of individuals with a short educational background who need to get onto the work line. What happened to the work line, government?

The decision is based on the fact that, according to the government, there are clear indications that the support is not reaching the intended target group. In the Swedish National Audit Office's audit report, it appears that the support has not reached its target group to a sufficient extent and that there is a risk of incorrect payments. But lo and behold – the reason lies in how the support has been handled by the government, state agencies, and the municipalities that administer it. That is what the Swedish National Audit Office's audit report says.

The problem, therefore, does not lie in the support itself but in how the actors I just mentioned have handled and administered the support. The National Audit Office writes, among other things, that Arbetsförmedlingen fails in its allocation, that is, that allocations are directed to persons who cannot receive the support. The National Audit Office further states that Arbetsförmedlingens cooperation with the municipalities is deficient and that there is a lack of effective information exchange between them, the municipalities, and other educational actors such as the folk high schools when it comes to individuals who have a need for the study start support.

The government is criticized for a lack of governance and for the fact that the regulations for an individual's maintenance during regular studies are complicated. Therefore, the Swedish National Audit Office gives recommendations to Arbetsförmedlingen and the government to tighten the management of the support, not to abolish it.

It is serious that the public administration fails so greatly in reaching the right people. The government should instead reform and improve the study start support. If the support is abolished, what alternatives are there for the unemployed group? The transition support being discussed is not aimed at those who need complementary or basic education to enter the labor market. Are they to be left to their fate, Mr. Speaker?

The government needs to take responsibility and improve the study start support instead of phasing it out. This is a small part of the student financial aid system, but for the individuals it affects, it is a crucial opportunity for a better life. The government should therefore allow an evaluation of the study start support to be carried out to ensure that the regulations are purposeful so that those who participate in it can achieve basic education and/or upper secondary school competence.

I would like to move for approval of the Left Party's reservation 8.

In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I would like to mention one last important political reform to ensure the future staffing in the countryside - that is, real politics that targets the countryside.

The demographic development in rural areas will lead to the staffing of public welfare services in the countryside being put under pressure, and it will only get worse with the SD-led government. It is primarily not about a lack of specific skills, but about the labor supply being too small. This affects primarily service industries, welfare professions, as well as construction and civil engineering. Small and medium-sized enterprises in rural municipalities are hindered more by a lack of suitable labor than small and medium-sized enterprises in other types of municipalities.

There will be a shortage in several of the welfare professions. Above all, the shortage of care staff is expected to be large. This is primarily about an increased demand within elderly care, and that development is driven by the fact that the proportion of elderly people is increasing.

We also see how the work with the climate transition will require new efforts for the skills supply in rural areas. In some rural municipalities, green industries account for 10 percent of the total employment, and the skill requirements within the sector are high. Svensk Vindkraft estimates, for example, that there is a shortage of 100-150 wind power technicians per year.

One way to increase interest in settling in rural areas is to do as in Norway and introduce the write-off of student loans for persons who have a university degree or who begin work in shortage occupations in areas where there are recruitment problems. Therefore, the Left Party considers that the government should instruct the relevant authorities to design a model where parts of the student loan are written off for persons who obtain a university degree and/or begin work in shortage occupations in sparsely populated rural municipalities.

I do not, however, move for the approval of any further reservation but only intend to submit that information to the minutes.

(cont. § 14)

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