Response to interpellation 2023/24:141 on measures against rising youth unemployment
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
L proposes an increased earned income tax credit for low- and middle-income earners, more places within the university colleges, and increased grants to Arbetsförmedlingen to strengthen the work principle 1. L argues that education is the most important measure for young people to establish themselves in the labor market 1 and that lower taxes make it profitable to work 1 2. L emphasizes that economic order and lower inflation are the foundation for investments and jobs 3. L believes that young people are expected to pull their weight 4 and that early support via social services is important 4. S believes that the government is doing too little and that the school suffers from a deficit 5 6. S argues that tax cuts do not create jobs if there is a lack of jobs or housing 7. S advocates for stimulating measures such as increased housing construction and investments in the green transition 7. S emphasizes that young people with disabilities require increased resources for Arbetsförmedlingen 8. S argues that Arbetsförmedlingen lacks the resources to fulfill its mission 6. S advocates for a more active labor market policy 9.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Madam Speaker! Jonathan Svensson has asked me what measures I intend to take to reduce youth unemployment.
Within youth policy, the government prioritizes, among other things, that young people's social inclusion and establishment in the labor market shall increase. The labor market policy aims for more - young as well as older - to enter employment. The distribution of responsibility for the implementation of the labor market policy is based on the fact that Arbetsförmedlingen has a flexibility to adapt its interventions and distribute resources based on regional and local needs.
In the budget bill for 2024, a reinforcement of Arbetsförmedlingen's administrative grant of 200 million is proposed to meet increased unemployment and strengthen the control work. Together with other proposals in the budget bill, for example a reinforced job tax credit for low and middle-income earners as well as more places within both the university college and the vocational adult education, the proposed investments within the labor market policy contribute to strengthening the work line.
Regarding the education area, the government proposes in the budget bill for 2024 that 1,362 million kronor be allocated for more places in regional vocational adult education and that 385 million kronor be allocated for more places in vocational higher education for 2024, both sums including student support.
One should remember that the single most important contribution for young people to establish themselves in the labor market in the long term is education. High-quality education also strengthens individuals' opportunities to establish themselves in the labor market and makes it possible to utilize everyone's competence. At the same time as there are many who can work, the welfare sector and the business community have difficulty finding labor with the right competence. Therefore, it is important that the labor market's needs to a greater extent guide how education within upper secondary school and municipal adult education is dimensioned.
The Government closely follows the developments in the labor market and how Arbetsförmedlingen carries out its mission to meet the needs of both job seekers and employers.
Jonathan Svensson (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer and for taking the time to come to the chamber this evening as well.
All people need to be given the opportunity to support themselves by gaining access to a job. It is a completely central survival issue for so many people in this country because it is about getting money into the salary account at the end of the month. It is also a question of self-realization and reduced ill health. By having a job, you have a greater opportunity to make decisions about your own life yourself.
That as large a proportion of the population as possible has a job is also important for the financing of our common social construction. The more people who have a job to go to, the more tax money we receive to spend on central social functions such as school, healthcare, and elderly care.
That people work obviously also plays a completely central role for the supply of skills, not least within welfare but also within the framework of the green transition that is taking place throughout the country.
The latest figures regarding unemployment are therefore very worrying, especially the figures concerning youth unemployment. From everything to judge, youth unemployment is on the rise. We have today a youth unemployment of about 20 percent, and that is a high figure. It concerns a large group of people who do not have a job to go to.
Madam Speaker! That people are unemployed is a great loss for both individual individuals and society as a whole. For young unemployed people, it can become a very great loss for the individual. It can be about newly graduated students who do not succeed in getting employment and cannot manage without support from the family - a support that not everyone can get. It can also be about a youth who recently got their first job, was laid off, thrown into unemployment and thus cannot pay the rent on their newly signed lease. We all understand that this is not sustainable. Society has a responsibility to ensure that young people get the opportunity for livelihood.
Madam Speaker! The Minister's answer to the interpellation can be divided into two main parts. First, the Minister speaks about Arbetsförmedlingen, its toolbox, and that it has an important role when it comes to making efforts for those in need of work. The second part concerns the education sector broadly. Here, the Minister mentions initiatives for yrkesvux and yrkeshögskolan. The Minister also describes that high-quality education strengthens individuals' opportunities to establish themselves in the labor market.
I agree with the Minister that Arbetsförmedlingen's toolbox and the entire integrated education chain are two main keys to combating unemployment and especially youth unemployment. What we likely do not agree on, however, is whether the so-called initiatives the Minister refers to, including the 200 million kronor to Arbetsförmedlingen, are sufficient in relation to the problems we see. I contend that it is obvious that the government is doing too little. The education sector across the entire country is on its knees, Arbetsförmedlingen is struggling to deliver on its mandate, and youth unemployment is on the rise along with unemployment in other categories.
Does the Minister of State consider that the measures the government proposes in the budget bill for 2024 or other measures are sufficient to tackle the problems we are now discussing?
Adrian Magnusson (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister and Jonathan Svensson who are here this somewhat late evening.
Sometimes when I have heard answers to interpellations or generally reflected on the Liberals' policy, I have wondered what a liberal workshop at the Ministry of Employment looks like. I imagine something in this style: People gather in the month of February over a pot of coffee. It is roughly the same weather as now, a bit cold and snowy, and one thinks that they should start early with the budget work. Everyone voices their best ideas while sipping on the coffee. Suddenly someone shouts "tax cut," and everyone answers: "Eureka, now we are finished. Now we go home. Thanks for today!" That is also how I imagine liberal workshops have looked for quite a few years.
The Minister takes up in his answer an increased job tax credit for low- and middle-income earners as a reform that would create a lot of jobs for young people all over the country. This Timbro policy would probably have made Milton Friedman proud. I stand perplexed by this. If there are no jobs, how then is a tax cut for low- and middle-income earners to create more jobs? It is the same people who today have quite a hard time making ends meet. Are they suddenly to start consuming broadly and set all of society's wheels in motion? How can this be one of the primary reforms to combat youth unemployment?
The Minister's response does not contain many stimulating measures. It might have been better to use the state treasury's strength for stimulating measures instead of this ideologically motivated pinching. The Minister could have called the Minister for Housing and said that housing construction must get started. That would hopefully have accelerated the economy and provided jobs and housing for young people. It might have been able to get young people to move there where the jobs are. Skellefteå has been mentioned earlier this evening, and increased housing construction there could perhaps get more young people to move there. More housing in student towns or in other places could get more people to study and further their education, which the Liberals highlight as important.
Just as with the doctrine of trickle-down, which is our time's great economic-political myth, neoliberals cling desperately to the doctrine that tax cuts somehow automatically create a lot of jobs. But they do not want to see any stimulating policy, because that apparently does not create jobs.
If it is not consumption that these tax cuts lead to, how then does the alleged drive for work create jobs if there are no jobs to apply for, if there are no jobs one is qualified for, if there is no opportunity to live, and if there is no opportunity to study?
It is time for the Minister for Employment to focus on an active labor market policy and on incentives – for example for housing construction or for the green transition, which is an excellent way to create new jobs across the country – and not on dated and condemned tax-cut solutions signed by Timbro. It is also time to change the leaders of those workshops at the ministry.
Serkan Köse (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank Johan Pehrson for the answer and Jonathan Svensson for a very good and important interpellation.
Speaking of a poor answer to an important question: One of the most important groups standing outside the labor market are young people with disabilities. The Minister does not mention a word about this group. Today, only half of people with disabilities are employed. For those with reduced work capacity, the figure is even lower, only 44 percent. This is to be compared with an employment rate of 81 percent in the rest of the population. It would have been good if the Minister, in his answer, had noticed this and said something about this group. The situation is even more challenging for persons with housing according to the Act on Support and Service for Some Disabled, LSS. Among these individuals, only 3-4 percent are employed, and a majority have the labor market status "sick". Their median income is significantly lower than for the population at large.
Madam Speaker! Arbetsförmedlingen's reports clearly show that young people with disabilities face enormous problems today in the Swedish labor market, where they face greater challenges than other young people do. They often face long periods of unemployment and fight a tough battle to find work that does not require economic subsidies.
A particularly noticeable difficulty is the unacceptably long waiting time for what is called the disability code. This wait can extend over a year, which delays support and hinders the possibility of work. I have debated this with the Minister for Employment earlier.
When the young people finally receive a code, they are met with new obstacles regarding the cuts that Johan Pehrson has implemented within the labor market policy in recent years and the special competences that no longer exist at Arbetsförmedlingen but which were very valuable for persons with disabilities, in order to give them the support they need.
Furthermore, the lack of specialized case officers within Arbetsförmedlingen leads to the fact that many cannot be placed in work or internship. Despite the fact that money exists for wage subsidies, these are not used to their full extent, which results in resources that could have helped provide support to these people returning to the state.
You have a responsibility, Johan Pehrson, to ensure that all young people, regardless of disability, are offered the same opportunities in the Swedish labor market. You also have a responsibility to ensure that Arbetsförmedlingen has the resources required to help these young people.
To improve the situation for young people with disabilities, reinforced resources to Arbetsförmedlingen are needed. It is also important that there is a cooperation between employers and Arbetsförmedlingen so that more inclusive work environments can be created.
It is about implementing concrete measures, such as educational initiatives for employers and guidelines for workplace adaptation and follow-up, as well as offering incentives for employers who actively work to include persons with disabilities.
In view of this, I would like to ask Johan Pehrson: In what way do you plan to strengthen Arbetsförmedlingen so that young people with disabilities can be offered better support? Are there any initiatives from the Minister's side to implement cooperation with the business sector and civil society to create a more inclusive labor market? Again, Johan Pehrson: What is on the table?
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Madam Speaker! It is easy to agree with the passion that exists here for young people to take responsibility for their own lives and for one to give them both a helping hand and set demands. That is the social contract that we talked about in the previous debate – the importance of receiving and giving instructions so that something should happen if one thinks that it needs to be pushed a bit in the demands part.
We will not escape the fundamentals. We must go back to the foundations in school that make young people employable. We know that unemployment is still very low among young people who have completed school. Regardless of whether they have pursued a more vocational education or a theoretical education, unemployment is very low there.
The challenge lies with the young people who drop out of school or who perhaps never get there because they are so-called stay-at-home kids. It is an enormous challenge, but the answer to combating youth unemployment is that young people must have the competence required in a many times complex labor market.
It is correct that we have quite a few workshops. We reflect a lot on what we can learn from previous governments' policies and why they did not lead to the results that were said to be aimed for. It was because some important foundations were missed, everything from education to requirements for language and that people should be prepared to take the jobs that exist. We will have to see if there is any reconsideration of this among the Socialdemokraterna.
We mean that what the Social Democrats themselves have proposed, namely lower taxes on low and medium incomes, is reasonable. One must also make it profitable to work for people with low income, which one may very well have at the beginning. Often the first job is not the best job, but one can change jobs during life and further educate oneself.
There are enormous opportunities in Sweden to decide for oneself to change jobs through hard work, diligence, and effort. Then, throughout one's entire life, one can participate in so-called lifelong learning. The conditions for this have perhaps never been better than now. This is important, because the labor market is in constant change. This applies in particular to the young people who start working today.
When it comes to the idea that it is politics that can solve everything, I believe that we can create good conditions for the business sector so that there is access to energy and so that young people can complete their education. I also encounter the demand for skills, but all young people who have completed education at the upper secondary level generally get into work.
Furthermore, we have extensive measures within the framework of Arbetsförmedlingen's guarantees to ensure that no one stays at home, because then there is a risk that one ends up in other misery. One turns their day around and develops bad habits, and in the worst case, there are other activities that pull at you, such as crime, or in the worst case, mental ill-health and substance abuse.
I would like to say that we have quite extensive support and help for young people. It is very difficult to help young people who have dropped out of school, but we will never give up. That is why hundreds of thousands of people educate themselves in, for example, komvux every year. It is an important effort.
Jonathan Svensson (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for his contribution. I note that the Minister did not quite answer the question as to whether he considers the measures that the government is taking in the budget bill or otherwise to be sufficient to address the problems that we are discussing in today's interpellation debate.
It is unfortunate that the government is unable to present a policy that tackles unemployment and especially youth unemployment. These are problems that harm society as a whole but also the individual who lacks a job to go to.
When we can clearly see a societal problem that affects many, a collective response from the entire society is required, where the public sector needs to take the lead. It is clear that the government is not doing enough.
As previously mentioned, Arbetsförmedlingen's toolbox and the entire collective education sector are two main keys in the work to combat unemployment. It is sufficient in practice to open any local newspaper in the country to see the situation within the school sector. Primary schools and administrations, preschool administrations and upper secondary school administrations are operating with large deficits, are forced to shut down activities and lay off staff. Students' study habits and study results and the staff's working environment will take the hit for this.
Reports from the adult education world also point out that one is unable to deliver on their mission, but the government is far from doing enough to stop the crisis.
It is the same story with Arbetsförmedlingen. The supplement of 200 million kronor that the government gives the agency for 2024 is far from what the agency itself has requested and says it needs to fulfill its mission. When the resources the agency receives are so far from what they say they are in need of, it will obviously have consequences. It could involve poorer local presence, poorer service for job seekers, and greater difficulties in getting people into work.
An example that clearly points out that Arbetsförmedlingen is not fulfilling its mission has been raised by Serkan Köse. It concerns young people with disabilities, who were discussed here in the chamber just a couple of weeks ago, and Arbetsförmedlingen's work with young people who have a disability and their situation on the labor market. Approximately half of all young people with disabilities have no job to go to, so that results in a clear failing grade for the government.
A few weeks ago, a report from the Swedish National Audit Office was debated, which pointed out deficiencies in Arbetsförmedlingen's instructions to Samhall. The list could be longer, but it can still be stated that the government is doing too little to be able to handle the social problems we face.
Madam Speaker! The development we see ahead of us with increased unemployment, particularly increased youth unemployment, will with all probability have major consequences both for society and for individual individuals. Young people who take their first step into the working life will be hit by the greatest consequences, and it is not a sustainable situation.
It is understandable that I am not entirely satisfied with the answer the Minister gives to the question of whether he considers the measures being taken to be sufficient. Therefore, I want to ask the Minister again: Does he consider the measures the government is taking to be sufficient to handle unemployment and youth unemployment? What additional measures does the government intend to come back with to tackle the growing social problem?
Adrian Magnusson (S)
Madam Speaker! The Minister is correct that even the Social Democrats proposed a tax cut for low- and middle-income earners. But there is a difference between trying to save people's private finances from a government that has failed to combat inflation and describing this here as a major reform to get more young people into work. I believe that neither Teresa Carvalho nor Mikael Damberg would have stood at this rostrum and said that this is a major reform to get more young people into work, because it is actually about saving people's wallets from the government's failed inflation policy. Compare this, for example, with Denmark, which has much lower inflation!
The Minister highlighted the school, for example, in his response. We can look at a time when there was 2 percent unemployment in this country: the 1980s. Did we have a free school system with large limited companies roaming around in Swedish schools then? No, we did not. We did not have a school system where profit is many times what is rewarded the highest and is the most important. We did not have that in the 80s when the Prime Minister was Olof Palme and the Finance Minister was Kjell-Olof Feldt. We did not have that.
We had an active labor market policy with political involvement. It was something that the Minister said he did not believe in. We had that in the 1980s. There is much else that we had then, when we had 2 percent unemployment, but it becomes a bit strange to say that school is the most important thing to get more young people into work and at the same time ignore one of the biggest problems. There is a problem that distinguishes Sweden from almost the rest of the world, namely the free school system where large limited companies are allowed to run wild and where profit is allowed to come first. It is very strange to simply ignore that problem. If the workshop participants at the Ministry of Employment look at previous policies, I suggest that they look more closely at precisely that question.
Serkan Köse (S)
Madam Speaker! I mentioned in my speech the situation for young people with disabilities. Only half of them are employed. Johan Pehrson's answer concerned requirements for language and education and about taking the jobs that exist. Then he spoke about those who have dropped out of school. Is that the Minister's answer to all those young people with disabilities who expect the government to act more forcefully to create conditions for just them?
The statistics from Skolverket show an even more concerning trend: Only one in ten young people who leave the upper secondary school have a job the autumn after. Even more worrying is that every third young person neither works, studies, nor has any daily activity. Is the answer that they should devote themselves to languages and education and that they should take the jobs that are available, or does the Minister problematize from the standpoint that they have dropped out of school?
In a time when Sweden has an aging population, a labor shortage, and a constant economic transition, it is important that we value and utilize all available skills that exist in society. This also includes skills of people with disabilities. These young people deserve a society and a system that actively supports them, not just with words but also with concrete measures.
Johan Pehrson - will the regulatory letter for Arbetsförmedlingen 2024 address the tangible problems that young people with disabilities face, such as long waiting times for disability codes, lack of specialist competence, and sluggish processing of wage subsidies? What does Johan Pehrson specifically intend to do to ensure that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else to fully contribute to the labor market?
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Madam Speaker! We have these interpellation debates so that one can manage to answer everyone. It is clear that when three fantastic representatives for the opposition are here, one does not quite have time when completely new questions arise.
It is correct that the government will continue to prioritize in the assignment to Arbetsförmedlingen. One must truly ensure that better, closer, and faster service is arranged for persons who need to have a so-called coding to gain access to wage subsidies or other supports that can be given when someone has a functional variation. It is very important, because all people should be given a chance to contribute. I also want to say that many do so today. We know what it means. When one meets persons who receive this support, it is very strong encounters that show what dignity, freedom, and empowerment it gives to realize both small and large dreams, which is the opportunity provided for these persons. It is completely correct that the supports that exist should be used.
Madam Speaker! According to our constitution, Arbetsförmedlingen is the authority that is to execute decisions and solve these problems, but they are having a hard time. They have experienced some tough years and quite large transitions. The Social Democrats say that it was not them but someone else who was responsible. But it was not 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 or 60, but however many offices that were closed! In that situation, it is of course a major transition one makes to become more efficient and get closer to the citizens. This applies in particular to persons with functional variations to whom one should provide help and support to enter the labor market.
We can save the debate on independent schools for another time, can't we? I belong to those who think it is time to do something about this. The Liberals have gathered support in the Riksdag to implement the changes that it was not possible to gather support for previously. It is clear that we must ensure that profit does not stand at the top of the agenda for anyone, and I think it is important that things like religion do not come first either. That is why we have the School Inspectorate actively checking all schools – even those with municipal principals. I leave that subject now.
Regarding the post about seminars, I can say that I have attended one, Madam Speaker, which dealt with Kjell-Olof Feldt, who was mentioned here earlier. I turn to you in the gallery and everyone else present. It was about All those days, where Kjell-Olof Feldt described what happened when the Swedish economy, so to speak, went into a tailspin. Over-budgeting and money for everything created an enormous overheating and an economic difficulty that took many years to get out of. A later representative who was also Finance Minister and later Prime Minister, Göran Persson, was careful that one must have the economy in order. One cannot let inflation and indebtedness go, but one must have the economic fundamentals in order.
Regarding youth unemployment and the situation for people with functional variations, the long-term unemployed, or anyone who loses their job in Lesjöfors, it is about people who are dependent on us getting the economy in order and bringing down inflation and interest rates so that investments get started. It is then that the jobs will return, and that will be crucial. That is the foundation, together with all the educational initiatives in the multi-billion class that will take place, not least within the framework of Arbetsförmedlingen.
Jonathan Svensson (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister again for the remarks, even though I am not entirely satisfied with the content.
Today we have discussed a very important issue for very many people, namely the large group of young people who today are without work and employment. It is a group that is growing, and it will entail major problems for both the individuals affected and society as a whole. Based on the Minister's contribution, I nevertheless make the assessment that it is once again clear that the government lacks a plan to handle the major societal problems that we are discussing.
The Minister mentioned language requirements and lowered taxes and says that he will carefully follow the developments in the labor market. That is not enough, Madam Speaker. Sweden has a government that does not deal with the social problems. The young people who are unemployed need active support from society through, among other things, Arbetsförmedlingen, but the authorities are unable to deliver that.
Sweden's unemployed young people need a more active labor market policy where more can get out of unemployment and exclusion and instead become a part of society's community and in this way contribute to our common social construction.
It is primarily the government's task to be able to present the proposals that can tackle these challenges, and the government is in practice not presenting any proposals in the area of the labor market. The Minister says some good things that could certainly solve some of the problems, but it never becomes any workshop of it.
One can ask oneself why. It could be that the minister is in a car where it is Jimmie Åkesson who is driving and Ulf Kristersson who is sitting in the passenger seat. In that case, it is not easy to make oneself heard.
Madam Speaker! Sweden deserves a driver who does not threaten our fundamental values and who does not pose a risk to Sweden and to the safety of Swedes. Thank you for an important debate!
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Jonathan Svensson, for raising this very pressing issue! There is nothing as important for a young person as going to school. If one has difficulty going to school, one should receive help with that, because if one manages school, the future is bright for young people.
But it also comes with a price. In the Sweden of the social contract, we expect young people to put their shoulders to the wheel, put away the mobile, and let go of the screens. One behaves, one educates oneself, one studies. All of that is very important, and it is also difficult, because if this does not happen, one must ensure to provide support early through the social services.
I mentioned youth policy at the beginning of my answer. It is broad. There is nothing as important as being able to compensate. If it is difficult in school and if the parents do not manage it, then, alongside social services, at the very least sports clubs and other activities such as scouts and culture are something that is important. There, young people can acquire a sense of community so that they do not drown in that abyss of meaninglessness and emptiness that is pursued by all these false prophets on social media who want them to sit and look at screens.
The path to freedom and empowerment, also for young people, lies in utilizing the great opportunities that exist in Sweden. It begins in school and is also largely decided in school, and that is why it is important that there is both a second chance and a completely different chance with both adult education and folk high schools - everything that can give young people a chance to catch up if they have failed in school.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.