Response to interpellation 2022/23:123 on the right to childcare during inconvenient working hours
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns the right to childcare during inconvenient working hours. L argues that there is a clear regulation in the Education Act 1 and that an annual state grant of 80 million kronor should stimulate municipalities to offer care where it is needed 1 2. L believes that the municipalities should provide information on possibilities according to the Education Act 2 and that the current legislation is good 3. L is not prepared to promise further regulation. S considers that the current regulation is insufficient as the number of places has decreased and the interpretation varies 4. S wants to see a review of the legislation 4 and argues that childcare during inconvenient working hours is crucial for equality 5 6. S believes that more initiatives are needed 7 and that it is problematic that the care is often classified as voluntary 8. S argues that the government's priorities are incorrect as tax cuts for high-income earners take precedence over resources for welfare 8.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Lotta Edholm (L)
Mr. Speaker! I have been asked if I intend to take measures because the availability of childcare at inconvenient working hours differs so much between municipalities, and if I intend to take any initiatives to give more people the right to childcare at inconvenient working hours.
Many occupational groups have working hours entirely or partially scheduled to evenings, nights or weekends. For parents in these occupational groups, there may be a need for childcare during the time when preschool or after-school care is not offered.
It is clear in the Education Act that the municipality shall strive to offer care for children during the time when preschool or after-school care is not offered in the extent that is needed, including with regard to the parents' gainful employment. Almost seven out of ten municipalities today have children enrolled in such care. It is also possible for municipalities to apply for state grants to organize care during the time when preschool or after-school care is not offered. Despite this, there may still be parents who have a need for such care but who do not receive it.
From the preparatory works to the Education Act, it clearly appears that the municipality should conduct an individual assessment based on the local conditions for each application for a place. In that assessment, the parents' actual possibilities to arrange care for their children themselves should also be included. The Education Act's requirement that every municipality shall strive to offer care at inconvenient times is not something that the municipalities can disregard.
Jim Svensk Larm (S)
Mr. Speaker! I would like to begin by thanking the Minister for the answer and the opportunity to debate this issue. It is an issue that is close to my heart and which I have, of course, submitted a motion on here in the Riksdag.
I have worked shift work in the paper industry for over ten years and did my last night shift as recently as in October before I began serving here in the Riksdag. I bring this experience of working shifts with me into my mandate. I know how valuable it is for both parents and companies that childcare is available at inconvenient working hours.
I have therefore submitted this interpellation where I ask the Minister if she intends to take any measures due to the fact that there is such a large difference between municipalities, and if the Minister intends to take any measures so that more people shall be entitled to childcare during inconvenient working hours.
In the response from the Minister, none of these questions are answered, but I hope that the Minister takes the opportunity to elaborate on their answers during the debate. I had hoped that the Minister would see a need to take initiative in this important issue so that more people get the opportunity for childcare during inconvenient working hours when it is needed. From the Minister's response, however, I get the feeling that the Minister thinks the regulation we have is sufficient.
In recent years, we have seen how the number of municipalities providing childcare during inconvenient working hours has decreased by 25 municipalities during the period 2018-2021, and that around 2,000 places have disappeared during the same period. The reasons are likely several. This needs to be analyzed, because I do not believe there has been such a large change in the labor market that the need has disappeared completely in 25 municipalities. We therefore need to return to higher levels.
Even though the Minister points out that it is clear in the Education Act that municipalities shall strive to offer care during inconvenient working hours when preschool or after-school care is not offered, this is interpreted differently by municipalities.
What does it mean to strive for this, and how much should municipalities have to organize their activities for parents' needs?
The Minister also highlights in his response the parents' own responsibility to arrange care for their children. I understand that parental responsibility exists, but I get a worrying feeling that the Minister wants to place even greater demands on parents who need the care.
Mr. Speaker! In 2016, the School Inspectorate issued a report on parents' possibilities for care when the preschool is closed. The report is a few years old, but there are still valuable analyses and conclusions in it. One thing pointed out in the report concerns what the Minister mentions in his response, namely that municipalities should strive to offer care when preschool and after-school activities have closed. But in the School Inspectorate's report, it is established that several municipalities do not strive to offer this.
One third of the interviewed municipalities had, in fact, decided not to offer the activity, even though they had concluded in their own investigations prior to the decision that there was a certain need. It is therefore worth asking whether the wording in the Education Act is truly sufficient.
The report also points out deficiencies in the follow-up of quality and competence development, which is important for offering the children who are there a good quality.
This is an important activity, and I wonder if the Minister does not see a need to review the legislation, so that more municipalities can provide childcare during evenings, nights, and weekends.
Anna Wallentheim (S)
Mr. Speaker! At home in Hässleholm, I have a sister who throughout her entire adult life has worked in elderly care and, above all, in dementia care. It is a tough profession. It is a profession that involves heavy lifting. It is a profession where she has, on several occasions, come home with bruises and scratches. Dementia is a terrible disease to work with - but it is not terrible to work with the people, I want to add. It is also a profession with very low wages considering the responsibility those who work there take for our older generation. It is also a profession that requires my sister and her colleagues to work inconvenient working hours.
For many years, family, relatives, and friends have asked my sister if she won't pursue further education in something else or change careers. But, Mr. Speaker, my sister wears her title as a nursing assistant with pride, and at this moment, she has no plans to do anything else.
My sister doesn't work any regular hours either. She works nights, and she works two out of five weekends. At the same time, she is a mother to two amazing boys who are five and soon four years old. What does her partner do then? Last year he became a qualified train driver and drives trains during days, evenings, and nights. He also works every other weekend.
Their lives would not have been possible if Hässleholm Municipality had not opened its first municipal preschool and after-school center during inconvenient working hours last year. But before it was in place, they managed to put their lives together thanks to me, my parents, friends, and the children's grandmother stepping up and looking after the children and sleeping at their place on the nights when both parents worked. Far from everyone, however, has this luck.
Mr. Speaker! Sweden's Equality Barometer 2022 shows that the members of the LO unions do not have the same opportunities and rights as others to combine work and family. This must, of course, be changed.
For us Social Democrats, it is clear that family policy must be both equal and equitable. And one of the requirements is that there is childcare during inconvenient working hours regardless of profession.
Statistics show that the majority of women within LO work at times when childcare is not open. What consequences does this have? Well, it means that women who work at times when the preschool is not open cannot work full-time, which leads to families having worse finances and women's pensions becoming lower. I also sit on the Committee on Justice, and I know that one of the consequences is that women do not have the opportunity to leave violent men because they cannot afford it.
Today, municipalities do not need to offer childcare outside of office hours. And as we heard in the Minister's answer to the interpellor, the government seems quite satisfied that the Education Act says that municipalities shall strive to offer childcare during inconvenient working hours.
That almost seven out of ten municipalities offer this is, of course, not something one should think is positive because, in practice, it means that people in almost one-third of the country do not have the right to this and cannot combine work and family life.
Furthermore, this does not show the actual need. Should we be satisfied that a large municipality has only one night bus? How long are the queues in that municipality?
One of the most important pieces of feedback I have received since the opening of a night shelter in Hässleholm is that the need was actually greater than expected.
Therefore, I must ask a question to the Minister: Is it reasonable that those who take responsibility for the functioning of society, namely Sweden's workers, do not receive the childcare support they need?
Statsrådet Lotta Edholm (L)
Mr. Speaker! This is a means-tested activity, and there are clear provisions in the Education Act that municipalities shall strive to offer childcare during inconvenient working hours in cases where such is needed. There is also a state grant for this purpose of 80 million kronor per year that municipalities can apply for, so that they can offer this where it is needed. I mean, therefore, that there is a clear regulation in the area. And government after government has thought that this has been reasonable in relation to what can be offered.
I have myself been a school board member in Stockholm, and in Stockholm, about a hundred children per year have childcare during inconvenient working hours. Most of them do not have childcare at a night nursery, but most have a childcare worker who comes to the children's home and sleeps with them. One must remember, however, that it is not just about parents who work at night. It can also be that they work a bit into the evening or that they perhaps work part of a weekend and so on. In that case, it is a majority of the municipalities that strive to offer this to the parents who have such a need.
My hope is also that this state grant - it is quite a lot of money, 80 million kronor annually - will actually stimulate municipalities to take on this responsibility. But today I am not prepared to promise any further regulation in the area.
Jim Svensk Larm (S)
Mr. Speaker! I hear that the Minister here highlights that she is not prepared to take any measures. But I hope, in any case, that the debate gives her reason to reflect a bit more on this.
The Minister also highlights the state grant that we have introduced. It is an important state grant so that more municipalities will offer this.
For many, childcare during inconvenient working hours, so-called "nattis", is not something they think about. They might not even know that it exists. But as Member of Parliament Anna Wallentheim just said, this childcare is very important for the families who need to use it. It is in many and many ways decisive for many to be able to work. Only five out of ten workers can work full-time with childcare's normal opening hours. Childcare's opening hours simply do not suffice for people to be able to work full-time in labor occupations.
It is a question that falls under the Minister for Education's portfolio but which has a very clear connection to the labor market and equality.
During the pandemic, we have seen great differences in how and where work can be carried out. For a while, it sounded as if all of Sweden started working from home. That was, of course, not the case. I and my colleagues went to work as usual. That was also the case in many places where occupations are carried out through physical work at a specific location. This is shown by ABF's exhibition "We who work with our bodies" from an ax-pick. In addition to these proud workers having a physical job, the work is also carried out during inconvenient working hours. This applies, among others, to correctional officers, facility cleaners, and assistant nurses.
During my time as a trade union and politically active person, I have spoken with many who use night shift allowances. And in all the stories, there is a common thread, namely that without the night shift allowance, they would have had to change jobs. This worries me because we have a shortage of staff in a number of industries. In many of these industries, people work at inconvenient hours. It is therefore a problem that night shift allowances are not offered to a sufficiently large extent.
Furthermore, I hear that there is a certain shame in using nattis. Parents experience that others consider those who as parents cannot take responsibility for their children because they need childcare on evenings, nights, and weekends. We need to break this so that there is always a pride in having a job and contributing to society, regardless of whether it means one needs preschool and fritis during the day or needs childcare in the evening.
Mr. Speaker! I want to return to the Skolinspektionen's report from 2016. In the report, several things are mentioned that cause difficulties for parents who want to use nattis. One of these is that certain municipalities set requirements on the parents' working hours: They must be regular and continuous. In addition to the fact that this can be difficult within certain industries, it becomes almost impossible for the parent who moves between substitute positions or is employed on an hourly basis.
To have to live in uncertainty as an unemployed single parent and not know when you will work next is difficult enough. But to simultaneously have to worry that it might be during the evening or the weekend that you have to work, and how you will then manage the care of the children, is even more difficult.
Furthermore, we can see in the report how the information about the activity differs greatly between municipalities - ranging from the information only being available in one language to there not even being any information that the activity exists.
Mr. Speaker! One thing that strikes me is how the use of night shifts is primarily an issue for blue-collar occupations in Sweden. It is within these occupations that work is carried out to a greater extent around the clock. Staffing is a constant issue, and difficulties in adjusting schedules based on childcare become extra palpable in an already pressured situation.
The industrial worker, the truck driver, and the shop staff are all immensely important in the construction of a stronger society. The question of night care is in many ways a question of class, and therefore it lies close to my heart. We need to have this broader. I hope therefore that the Minister understands the importance of accessible childcare so that childcare on evenings, weekends, and nights is available for those who need it.
Anna Wallentheim (S)
Mr. Speaker! I would like to begin by thanking the Minister for being here today and participating in this important debate. But I am doubtful that the answer is equally much to be thanked for. More initiatives are needed; both the interpellor and LO point this out.
It is worrying that every time we have a bourgeois government in place - a government that is now also supported and many times even governed by the Sverigedemokraterna - it is the workers and the LO collective that must step back.
This week, when wages and fees were paid out in January, I, as a member of Parliament, received large tax cuts, and my fee is 70,000 kronor a month. But what does my sister get with her nursing assistant wage? Well, she doesn't get any extra thousand kronor in her wallet.
The other day, the government announced that they are scrapping the important quarantine investigation. This is an incredibly important issue for very many workers in our country, and we view this with great sadness. People who work in these professions cannot work from home when they feel sick, and many times they also do not have the means to stay home. For people in healthcare, teachers, retail employees, cleaning staff, industrial workers, and many others, this makes a difference.
There is much that needs to be done in Sweden to reduce the gaps both in society and in the Swedish labor market. The care deduction is one part, and childcare during inconvenient working hours is another. Here, the Minister and the government should take more initiatives to give more people the right to be able to combine work and family.
We Social Democrats believe that people, just like my sister, should be able to feel professional pride, carry Sweden, demand full-time work and have a family!
Statsrådet Lotta Edholm (L)
Madam Speaker! I think perhaps the tone is a bit too high given that we have had a Social Democratic government for eight years, which obviously has had the same view on the issue as the previous bourgeois alliance governments had during their eight years.
Furthermore, it is the case that the state grant was introduced during the Alliance government's time. I believe that we have shared approximately the same view for quite a few years in Sweden regarding how this should be regulated, namely that the municipalities should have an opportunity to offer the activity, that there are state grants and that one must apply for them.
But it is also important that the municipalities actually inform about the fact that this activity exists. They must do so according to the Education Act. More parents can then understand that the possibility exists. We can all help each other with this. But there is, therefore, a clear regulation, and there is a state grant that is quite substantial.
Then I also believe it is good if municipalities consider whether they have the possibility to have some flexibility in the system. It is not just about night-time, but it is also about, for example, being able to have someone who comes and sleeps at the child's home. In that way, one can make the system a bit more flexible and easier to arrange both for parents and for the municipality.
I saw that when I was responsible for this in Stockholm; it was a win to have it in that way. Nattis was not what parents primarily demanded, but rather the right to childcare during inconvenient working hours – even if it took place in the home. I believe that flexibility could facilitate the issue.
Jim Svensk Larm (S)
Madam Speaker! It is still interesting that the Minister is starting to reason a bit about how we can expand this. I am glad that she points out that the Education Act says that there should be information, because apparently it does not according to the Skolinspektionen's report. There can therefore be reason to look further into this, because childcare during inconvenient working hours and "nattis" - it is called slightly different things in different parts of the country - is extremely important.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Minister for the opportunity to debate this topic and for her answers in the debate so far.
Municipalities all over Sweden are facing major challenges. I am sure that this is not something the Minister has missed. I have myself been active in municipal politics and sat on the education committee to prioritize and see how the budget should balance.
When we talk about education policy, much of it is governed by law, but there is also that which is not governed by law. What we are talking about today is usually classified as something of a voluntary nature within the municipality's and the school's activities. I know from previous experience that proposals to cut back on this activity often come up early when we have to make the budget balance. The argumentation revolves precisely around the fact that it is not a legally mandated activity.
Madam Speaker! This is problematic. The resources in the municipalities are not sufficient to conduct the activities that would be needed for all children and young people to receive the school they deserve. I am extra worried about the coming years, both because more people need childcare during inconvenient working hours to get jobs and because of the government's priorities. Tax cuts for high-income earners take precedence over more resources for welfare. It is simply the wrong prioritization. It has been debated in many debates earlier, but it is difficult not to mention it even in this debate.
How many places will disappear in childcare during inconvenient working hours in the coming years? How many municipalities are forced into savings as a result of the government's priorities?
I hope that the Minister listens to those of us who have submitted motions on the issue, for we are many. I meet working groups that use childcare during inconvenient working hours and get a broader picture of how important the activity is. I therefore pose the question: Why does the Minister not want to legislate this activity?
Statsrådet Lotta Edholm (L)
Madam Speaker! I think the question is important. The municipalities shall strive to provide childcare at inconvenient working hours to the extent that parents need it. We have a state grant of 80 million kronor every year that the municipalities can use for this purpose. It is also crystal clear according to the Education Act that the municipality shall inform about the possibilities that actually exist. I think the legislation that government after government has been unanimous on is quite good.
When it comes to the state grants to schools in general, these are the largest that have been given to the municipalities' activities in the school area since the beginning of the 90s, during the 90s crisis. It is a substantial addition to the municipalities' budgets. But in principle, just as Jim Svensk Larm says, it is the municipalities that are responsible for activities such as preschool and school based on the tax revenues one has.
It is nevertheless the case that we are making a major investment in schools in the budget, and it is considerably larger than the investments that have been made in previous years.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.