Response to interpellation 2022/23:60 on the situation for foreign-born women in the labor market

Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Madam Speaker! Sofia Amloh has asked me what measures I intend to take specifically so that more foreign-born women will enter employment and whether I intend to maintain the subsidized jobs aimed at persons with weak anchoring in the labor market and, if not, why.

Economic policy needs to focus once again on structurally correct reforms that provide higher long-term employment and productivity. The work line needs to be re-established. Sweden has a comparatively high unemployment rate, and it is likely that it will rise as a result of lower demand in the Swedish economy.

To counter higher unemployment, the government intends to propose reforms within at least three areas during the coming years. Firstly, it needs to become more profitable to work and educate oneself. Secondly, a major benefit reform should be implemented aimed at improving the chances for people to enter employment and thereby push back exclusion. Thirdly, we need to strengthen the opportunities for transition.

Increased employment is crucial for improving integration. Newcomers should establish themselves faster in the labor market, and the dependency on benefits among foreign-born individuals should decrease.

Today, far too many foreign-born people, especially women, are far from the labor market, without their own income and thus without a real opportunity for freedom – freedom to independently shape their own lives and participate in society. This has consequences not only for the individual woman but also for her potential children and family and, in the long run, for society as a whole.

Women and men shall have the same rights, obligations and opportunities, and better drivers are needed for newly arrived women to work. A special investigator has been tasked to produce proposals for measures aimed at improving the establishment of foreign-born women in the labor market (dir. 2022:42).

Arbetsförmedlingen and several other agencies have been tasked with developing a joint agency plan to increase the entry of specifically foreign-born women into the labor market, and the Gender Equality Authority shall, in dialogue with other relevant agencies and actors, carry out a qualitative study on foreign-born women outside the labor market. The study shall include aspects that may constitute significant barriers to entry into the labor market itself (A2022/00809).

Vocational education at the upper secondary level within komvux has been significantly expanded in recent years and reached its largest extent ever in 2022, in the wake of the pandemic. Not least, the investment in combined programs, which means that vocational training is combined with SFI or Swedish as a second language, has made it possible for more foreign-born individuals to receive a coherent language and vocational education that leads to employment. The Government therefore proposed in the budget bill for this year, which the Riksdag has adopted, a continued investment in regional vocational vux within komvux and that an additional 270 million kronor should be added.

Subsidized employments can - if they are correctly designed - have clear positive effects on the opportunities for establishment in the labor market, especially for the long-term unemployed and newcomers. The extra services, which were expensive and rarely led to regular jobs, no longer exist. On the other hand, nystartsjobb are more effective regarding the participants' opportunities to establish themselves in the labor market after the period of support has ended. The government parties are behind the reinforcement of the nystartsjobb that was made during 2022. Other subsidized employments remain.

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

Sofia Amloh (S)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer!

The questions I have asked the Minister are what measures the Minister intends to take so that more foreign-born women enter employment, whether the Minister intends to maintain the subsidized employments aimed at persons with weak anchoring on the labor market and, if not, why.

The background to why I have asked these questions is, among other things, that one of the six equality goals is economic equality. It is absolutely fundamental that women have a job to go to in order for us to achieve economic independence. But it is not a guarantee that we will achieve economic equality, because there are more factors that play a role. But there is a prerequisite if one has a job and one's own livelihood to stand on.

A large proportion of those who have been without work for more than 24 months are foreign-born women with a short educational background. These are people who mostly want nothing other than to have a job and who also understand how important economic independence is and what opportunities it would open up in life. But they also need the support to be able to take a job and get to work. To break the segregation and increase equality, more foreign-born women must enter the workforce and thereby be given power and freedom over their own lives. More steps may be needed until one has that real job, and in that case, I think those earlier interventions are what is important.

The extra jobs, which have primarily turned towards foreign-born women, have thus been an important tool for lifting people out of long-term unemployment and giving them a chance to enter work and self-sufficiency. Half of those who had an extra job were foreign-born women. These women received through the extra job an opportunity to actually perhaps come out of an isolation in the home and come into a social context. It is a very important first step. And I believe, and I would like to assert that there are more who also know, that this has had a great significance for ultimately reaching an employment that is not subsidized. These are clearly important steps.

There is research that confirms the importance of subsidized employment for people with weak ties to the labor market, so why should the extra services be removed, if they are yet another color in the palette that Arbetsförmedlingen and others demand? We need more tools, not fewer, to find the right path and take the steps that are required. Why are they not included in your budget but only in our shadow budget?

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

Frida Tånghag (V)

Madam Speaker! I would like to begin by thanking the interpellor for raising an important and highly topical issue. I would also like to greet the Minister.

This is not just a question of integration, but it is a question of equality, gender equality and social class.

Foreign-born women are the group that today stands furthest away from the labor market and are thus the group in the working class that has it toughest. Foreign-born women are simultaneously the group that is matched against the part of the labor market where the most insecure employments are found. At best, the form of employment is specific fixed-term, but rarely at 100 percent.

The truth is that one is matched against a labor market dominated by staffing agencies within kitchen and restaurant sectors, completely without guaranteed employment rates or basic compensation. The group ends up in different personnel pools within health and social care professions where it is a matter of being the fastest to respond to a text message, or else one gets various temporary employments with a percentage that it is not possible to live on, so that one instead needs to have two or even more jobs.

Now it is impossible for me not to say that foreign-born women are also exploited in a labor market where labor-related crime prevails.

Madam Speaker! When I have previously heard the Minister speak about investments in the labor market, I only hear talk of the individual's own responsibility, clearer and stricter requirements, and that civil society should contribute. Nowhere here can I understand what measures the Minister actually intends to take to change or improve specifically for foreign-born women.

With this said, I would like the Minister to elaborate on it a bit so that even a chef from Gothenburg can understand.

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

Patrik Björck (S)

Madam Speaker! I became somewhat concerned when I took note of the Minister's response to the interpellation, and when I listened to the Minister's statements in the previous interpellation debate, my concern was reinforced. Unfortunately, there is probably great reason for Sweden and the Swedish labor market to feel concerned.

Madam Speaker! It is astonishing that we have a government minister who comes to this chamber and urges the members of the Riksdag to take committee initiatives. We have a government minister who does not trust his own government. It is very striking.

Almost even worse is that the minister in the previous interpellation debate said that he is not allowed to govern. We therefore have a minister responsible for the labor market who does not trust his own government, who hopes that the Riksdag will take committee initiatives to rectify it, and who furthermore does not believe that he as a minister has the possibility to govern. The government governs this country. That is how Swedish democracy works.

What makes me concerned in the answer, Madam Speaker, is that the Minister refers to the fact that the economic policy shall once again focus on structurally correct reforms. The last time a right-wing government governed this country, it meant that they slaughtered the labor market policy and the unemployment insurance. That was how it was defined for what followed, that the work line should be established. It was defined that way the last time we had a right-wing government, and then the labor market policy and the unemployment insurance were slaughtered.

What we have seen so far from the government is that a first step has been taken. They have slaughtered the labor market policy. That is bad enough. My question to the Minister, Madam Speaker, is therefore: Does one intend to continue their policy and also slaughter the unemployment insurance in the next step? It is difficult to interpret the answer in any other way, given the knowledge of how the Swedish right defines the work line.

I have a very concrete question for the Minister: Will the re-establishment of the work principle be followed up by also slaughtering the unemployment insurance?

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

Linus Sköld (S)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Johan Pehrson, for the opportunity to debate an important issue, and thank you to the interpellor for an important interpellation!

In the answer, Johan Pehrson said that the government is making a continued investment of 270 million kronor in a regional vocational adult education. The concept of investment is obviously a flexible concept in Johan Pehrson's world.

Let me clarify how things actually stand. The government has presented a budget that reduces the funding for adult education places by a corresponding 30,000 places. This results in 86 million less for the academy and 104 million less for the university college. The second largest cut, 492 million, is made to adult education, and the largest cut, 1.23 billion, is made to vocational adult education, actually specifically regional vocational adult education, which Johan Pehrson says he is investing in.

Do not call a reduction of the appropriation for an initiative a "reduction"! It becomes a strange new language. I would say that it is a lie.

Johan Pehrson concluded the previous interpellation debate by saying that 500,000 job seekers are a resource. They absolutely are, but opportunities to educate themselves are required. The Minister for Employment is certainly familiar with the fact that the clearest common denominator for the group available to the labor market is that they lack a completed upper secondary education. That the largest cuts are being made to precisely those forms of education that lead to a completed upper secondary education for those who have not succeeded with this in upper secondary school is therefore appalling. In that way, one does not make 500,000 job seekers into a resource; instead, one hinders them if one reduces the appropriations for precisely these educations.

Then I heard that the government intends to abolish extra services. As Sofia Amloh clearly pointed out, it is a measure that precisely disadvantages foreign-born women. With the same precision, the government takes another measure, namely to halve the Svenska from day one initiative. Those who come to Sweden as newcomers have the opportunity to hit the ground running if they can start learning Svenska from day one. The study associations and the folk high schools have worked very successfully with this. In the budget for 2023, the grant is halved, and in the plan that lies in the same budget for 2024, the grant is 0.

With surgical precision, this government is taking measures to make it harder for newly arrived and foreign-born women to establish themselves in the labor market. It is about abolished extra services, a 1.23 billion minus for adult education, and that they are removing Swedish from day one. Don't come and call it an initiative!

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

Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Madam Speaker! I thank you for the contributions in this debate. We have just strengthened the unemployment insurance so that it remains at the temporarily increased benefit level. It is an important adjustment. It is one of the insurances that is not indexed like many other things do, for example, student loans from CSN, maternity benefits, and other things in our welfare system. That this is indexed is fundamentally very good – to have it as automatic compensatory measures in a cost crisis that Sweden has been placed in by the outside world and perhaps by previous political decisions. But not least, this cost crisis is an imported problem depending on the hideous war in Ukraine.

Yesterday, someone started talking about distributing hearing aids here in the chamber, and it wasn't me. But there are no long queues in healthcare to get help with that.

I say that I cannot go in and speak about which labor market trainings should exist, where they should be located, and exactly what they should look like. But they shall be of high quality and there shall be more of them. What can be done from the industry, the union, and Arbetsförmedlingen must be done to ensure that they are as full as possible. That I can say.

I also pointed out the seriousness that exists in the Riksdag and that the Riksdag can take initiative through various announcements and so on when one does not think something is good enough. This happens to varying degrees depending on the parliamentary situation. It was perhaps a self-evident clarification. But it was no plea for the interpellator Patrik Björck to get started and do this. But it is an opportunity that everyone who is elected has.

Even here I return to what I have said about the fact that many of these adjustments are about making adjustments after the pandemic. But I understand that the Social Democrats think that every reduction in the time after the pandemic is not desirable, and they point out that it is a matter of cuts. But if one looks at a longer timescale, one sees where we now find ourselves.

Education is very important. But the details regarding adult education and upper secondary school, the member may take up with the relevant minister. But the investments being made in schools are absolutely crucial so that no more young people leave primary school with incomplete grades. If they leave a gymnasium, actually any one, with passing grades, the chances are enormously good that they will get their first job. These investments, I think, are fully relevant.

I like the opening given initially in the interpellation itself regarding the fact that economic equality is very important. For the vulnerable group that the interpellation concerns, foreign-born women who can be very far from the labor market, it is a very difficult situation because there is so much else that controls these women's lives. I hope that we can return to that, because I like the stance from the interpellant's party that adult people should work for their compensation, whether it is within the framework of the municipality's care and support responsibility or whether it is through other measures.

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

Sofia Amloh (S)

Madam Speaker! I absolutely believe that there are good ambitions from the Minister in this area, perhaps the best ambition from the entire government in a comparison. I have seen that within the Minister's party, the Liberals, there are nevertheless well-elaborated political proposals for this, for integration and for people in work. But these ambitions also need to be visible in budget items and in actual policy. The government's list of propositions for the spring with reforms that we are to tackle here in the Riksdag echoes quite emptily. I believe that there is a [proposal] regarding this.

The Minister describes in his answer the three major reform areas that must be addressed. But when will it happen? Something still needs to happen now. It needs to be visible in actual and practical policy in concrete proposals and in actual reforms. But it does not become credible when one sees that it is actually a matter of cuts.

I understand that one can stretch this timeline when it comes to what happens in reality and in the world around us, and when it comes to how budget items have looked and so on. But right now, we have moved from the year 2022 to 2023, where we see that it becomes less at a time when it needs to be more.

There are a number of things I am worried about. I intend to highlight one thing here. Several of the government parties have previously advocated for and demonstrated that they want to reintroduce a child support allowance. This would lead to more foreign-born women receiving an allowance to stay at home and take care of children instead of being active on the Swedish labor market.

When the Social Democratic-led government abolished the child-care allowance, it meant a significant difference for women entering the labor market.

I want to address this concern to the Minister. Do I need to be worried? How does the Minister view that the government he is currently part of might perhaps introduce a childcare allowance or similar subsidy? It would be truly devastating. How does the Minister view that?

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

Frida Tånghag (V)

Madam Speaker! I shall be brief.

After having listened to both sides in the debate, I must conclude that I do not in any way feel more confident that there will be any change at all. And if there were to be any change, it would be for the worse.

I must say again how important this issue is. It is not just a question of integration. The question is about equality, gender equality and social class.

I have heard what the Minister has said. But I must summarize by saying that what is being said does not gain more traction simply because one repeats the same thing several times.

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

Patrik Björck (S)

Madam Speaker! I shall choose to interpret Minister Johan Pehrson positively.

(Minister for Employment and Integration JOHAN PEHRSON (L): Thank you!)

I interpret it in such a way that the Minister and the current government will defend the unemployment insurance. It was a positive announcement.

I was also a bit impressed that the government intends to take the initiative to index the unemployment insurance. It was also a positive announcement.

I promise that I will follow this government. It was also fantastic that one has now reformulated their entire idea about the so-called work line. I am extra grateful for that. I really hope that the Minister stands by their word and that the Minister is not just loose-lipped in the rostrum in general.

When one reads the parliamentary protocol and sees what the Minister has stated, one should then also be able to rely on it, Madam Speaker. That is my hope. I choose to interpret the Minister's statement positively.

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

Linus Sköld (S)

Madam Speaker! I find it difficult to take the same approach as Patrik Björck and interpret it as positive. What I hear is that the Minister is dodging and referring what I said in my contribution to another minister.

We have here before us the Minister for Employment and Integration. The Minister for Integration is trying to refer the question of foreign-born women's access to education in Swedish and social studies to another minister. That is not to take responsibility for one's portfolio.

One of the most important factors for successful integration and successful establishment for foreign-born women must be that they can learn Swedish. A reduction in komvux, where sfi is included, of 1.23 billion from 2022 to 2023, where sfi is included, must concern the Minister for Integration. A halving of Swedish from day one must concern the Minister for Integration. These cannot be matters referred to someone else. I do not think that is taking responsibility.

I want to say to the Minister: Stand here and take responsibility for your portfolio! Answer this question in that case: How will reduced appropriations to komvux and halved appropriations to Swedish from day one contribute to the establishment of newly arrived women in the labor market?

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

Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Madam Speaker! Now I shall begin at the other end so that we do not miss important contributions.

When the Swedish people had gone to the election and voted as they did, a new government was formed. I then had the privilege of coming to the Ministry of Employment. It was very empty in the boxes. What flew up were a few breadcrumbs and a couple of flies. There was nothing. It was empty of reforms.

It has also turned out that during the mandate period that has passed, it has also been a bit empty on reforms. Much is about us governing through the budget, said the former Minister for Employment - with many merits - from the Socialdemokraterna. It is not by definition very much if one compares with other committees here in the Riksdag.

We have a major issue that I will actually speak with all parties about in the Riksdag. It concerns a reformed unemployment insurance. There is a broad consensus that the investigation proposal put forward by the previous government has great merits.

There are some referral bodies that are a bit hesitant about parts. We will return to those. It is a gigantic matter to increase safety for people and to increase the proportion of people who are part of the unemployment insurance, which we have now increased. It is because it is not indexed like others. Such an increase is now taking place.

Then to the question of child support or different forms of cash payments to people. I believe, just like many others, that it is much better to invest in the Swedish preschool. This applies to groups who for some reason choose not to have their children there, perhaps because they have the background that this interpellation is about.

It is very good that the children come there. It is a way for the children to learn Swedish, and they take it home with them. Then perhaps the knowledge of Swedish will increase in all ways. It is completely central that the Swedish preschool is prioritized over what was asked about. That type of proposal that was just mentioned, I absolutely do not think is good.

We move on. In the post from the Vänsterpartiet member participating in the debate, I heard that she was a bit concerned about both answers. I still mean that it is important to bring up the new line from the Socialdemokraterna. We have had it for a long time, and we welcome it. Healthy adults who receive compensation should provide some form of counter-performance.

The idea is not that the first job should be the last job. I agree that many people have a limited labor market, and one can experience that it is low-paid. But it is much better to have a first job than no job.

The first job is absolutely crucial for getting into new jobs. The experience is that many have gone with different guarantees. They have had the "rusta och matcha" services. One has tried to help people with them or with Arbetsförmedlingen's own programs. But people do not get into regular work. It is truly regrettable.

I want to give a correct description of what was said. I am glad that the government before the previous government made the reform concerning that the labor market was the given [path] for a person who came to our country. It has contributed to the measures that were made by the previous government where the time was shortened. It has gone in the right direction. But it must become even better. People shall get into jobs.

We are also making more initiatives so that more people will reach Swedish language skills. This applies, for example, to people from Ukraine. We will have a different debate about that. It is about what measures we take for Ukrainians so that they also reach language training. It may not always be the case that SFI is the only way there.

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

Sofia Amloh (S)

Madam Speaker! Thank you for the debates we have had this afternoon. It feels very refreshing and good for this spring term. I shall conclude the debate with my closing statement.

I am taking a bit of a bite at what was said about it being empty in the boxes at the Ministry of Employment. You were supposed to fill those boxes when you arrived there and were ready to govern the country. It still feels like it is not being filled there. That was what I meant by what I said in my previous post about that we do not have so much to take a stand on here in the Riksdag.

This interpellation is about economic equality and the importance of work. It is about identity and independence and being someone who can contribute. It is about one's view of oneself and being able to be a part of society. It is difficult to always describe in words.

I believe that one must see and experience, both in oneself and in other people, receiving that paycheck every month. I remember myself when it wasn't just a summer job. It wasn't just now that I received a paycheck, and nothing next month, but it came every month. It is unbeatable and important for making people grow.

I still maintain that cuts are cuts. It is not possible to get around that. I also believe that the government understands that. We will point that out and be clear about it from the opposition. It is not okay to do it now.

The Social Democrats are a workers' party. That is our DNA when it comes to these issues. We will not give up a millimeter, especially not in a recession. We will do everything that is required. I hope that the Minister also intends to do so.

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

Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Sofia Amloh, for the leeway that you and colleagues in the Riksdag have given me. This is how it should look. Strong, secure Members of Parliament shall push forward.

I still have to remind that we had a pandemic. You cannot have the same efforts and measures after a pandemic as during a pandemic. Back then, everything was about making sure things just kept rolling. Everything was digital, and we were not allowed to see each other. A multitude of people suffered in the world and many died, and some are still sick.

Now we have a different focus; now we must ensure that everything that happens is workplace-oriented and efficient and that it focuses on language, language and language. These are things that do not just happen in the general education system or with support, but it is also a responsibility that one must be able to take oneself in different forms. We see how people have been integrated in Sweden for almost a century - or at least after the Second World War. These are people who, with different interventions, have taken responsibility themselves to learn. But the basis is that they have come into jobs. That is very important. They have had to learn at work. Therefore, we are making investments that I want to highlight and which are about combining work and language. It is about dignity.

But we also do other things. We invest in women's organizations and ensure that women in vulnerable areas find it easier to organize themselves. This week, I visited a girls' forum in Bäckby in Västerås and met young girls who are doing everything they can to help other young girls gain more agency and want to organize themselves.

We are making investments in one of Sweden's most important movements - the sports movement - to ensure that people have something meaningful to do. In addition to children going to school, they should have a meaningful leisure time. Adults should go to a job or an education, and then they should have something meaningful to do. That is why the sports movement is important.

We are doing many things to build power that will help women in these vulnerable areas.

Answers to interpellations

The interpellations debate was hereby concluded.

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