Response to interpellation 2023/24:353 on youth unemployment
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
L prioritizes the social inclusion and establishment of young people through education 1. L argues that the government strengthens the work principle through higher grants to Arbetsförmedlingen, an enhanced job tax credit, and more educational places 1. L considers that the labor market is not under-regulated 2, that the problem is often a lack of knowledge in primary school 3, and that individuals have a personal responsibility to seek education 3. L emphasizes that entrepreneurship is the answer to unemployment and that over-regulation should be avoided 4. C argues that youth unemployment is too high 5 and that high employer contributions create barriers that should be lowered to increase growth 6. C considers youth unemployment to be a labor market policy issue 7 and calls for a liberal labor market policy 7.
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)
Mr. Speaker! Emelie Nyman has asked me what measures I intend to take to reduce youth unemployment.
In 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 and older people to enter employment. The distribution of responsibility for the implementation of the labor market policy is based on the fact that Arbetsförmedlingen has the flexibility to adapt its interventions and distribute resources based on regional and local needs.
In accordance with the budget bill for 2024, Arbetsförmedlingen's administrative grant is increased by 200 million kronor for 2024 to meet increased unemployment and strengthen the control work.
Together with other proposals in the budget bill, for example an enhanced 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 in labor market policy contribute to strengthening the work line.
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 take advantage of 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. In accordance with the budget bill for 2024, 1,362 million is allocated during 2024 for more places in regional vocational adult education and 385 million is allocated for more places in vocational college education, both sums including student support.
It is important that the needs of the labor market to a greater extent guide how education within upper secondary school and municipal adult education is dimensioned. During 2023, the Government has implemented necessary legislative changes to support that the planning and dimensioning of upper secondary education within upper secondary school and komvux is to a greater extent based on the labor market's needs.
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.
Emelie Nyman (C)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer!
I took office this January. This will be my first debate. I am, of course, dedicating it to a question that I consider extra important. My question was simply posed: What measures does the Minister for Employment and Integration intend to take to reduce youth unemployment?
In the text of the interpellation, I state that long-term measures are important, but that it is also absolutely necessary to review what we as politicians can do here and now. I do not think I have received a sufficiently good answer to my question. Instead of an answer explaining what labor market policy the government intends to implement, I received an answer that largely only dealt with education.
Mr. Speaker! Johan Pehrson is the Minister for Employment and not the Minister for Education. Had I wished to speak about school policy or the role of education linked to the labor market, I would have posed that question to Lotta Edholm or Mats Persson. I directed the question to the Minister because I want to know what the government intends to do regarding labor market reforms. Of all the departments' lists, the bill list for the Ministry of Employment is the shortest. It echoes with emptiness in the labor market policy from the government's side.
Mr. Speaker! For the sake of the discussion, I will present statistics retrieved from SCB. In the latest survey, it was revealed that youth unemployment stood at 22.6 percent. That is a figure that is shamefully high. We are in third place in the entire EU when we look at which countries have the highest youth unemployment. Countries that we share the top list with are Greece, Spain, and Portugal. The EU average is 14.7 percent, and Sweden's figure is 22.6 percent. That is a figure that is far too high to only talk about general measures for the entire labor market.
There may be different reasons why the statistics look the way they do; I am aware of that. If we choose to break it down and, for example, look at young people between 20 and 24 years old who neither work nor study, we see that the figure is up to 8 percent. Nearly one in ten people of my age does not have employment despite wanting it. Furthermore, the figure has increased slightly since the government took office in 2022. It concerns a large group of people who are willing to work but do not have a job. The figure is a failing grade for Sweden.
Youth unemployment is important to talk about, and it would be irresponsible to duck and only talk about general measures - even though they are obviously important. We all know how crucial that first job is. It contributes to greater independence and an opportunity for the individual to create their own life. It enables the individual to begin their adult life.
A job is generally something that increases the quality of life by contributing to meaning-making and providing money to spend on leisure time, on things one wants to create and considers valuable. Work is a central part for young people who are to take the step out and shape their lives. Without a job, it is almost impossible to move out from home, both when it comes to buying one's own and when it comes to obtaining a rental contract.
I am, of course, pleased that the government partly shares the Center Party's view that school is a central part of the long-term measures regarding unemployment. However, the measures you are taking to create better matching and higher quality will not include today's youth here and now, Johan Pehrson. We have a labor market that is difficult to enter, especially for young people and especially after you removed the reduced employer contributions. The thresholds are high.
I am not quite satisfied with the answer I received, and therefore I direct the question to the Minister again and hope for a more detailed answer.
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Mr. Speaker! I welcome Emelie Nyman to a fantastically important assignment. To sit in Sweden's Riksdag and represent the citizens - for example, those who are visiting here in the chamber today - is an important assignment. It is a very difficult assignment that requires one to work long-term and to persevere and endure.
The mission also requires that one can cooperate with other parties, and therefore I was pleased when we, from the front bench here, heard the Social Democrats almost applaud lowered taxes on labor. It was nevertheless an important input from the Center Party that lower taxes on labor can result in more people getting jobs. I share the general attitude, I want to say.
The government has also shown that this year we are lowering taxes on low and medium incomes. It strengthens the work principle for elderly people, like myself, for middle-aged people – like I am, almost – and for young people. It actually applies to all people, and the labor market policy is fantastic in the sense that we who work with labor market policy – either as ministers at the Ministry of Employment or in the Committee on Employment in the Swedish Riksdag – are in a sense responsible for the 5.9 million who go to work every day.
We must, however, be completely honest and say that it is not that we can create jobs. We do indeed create a lot of jobs; the government is now creating a lot of jobs within the defense sector because we must equip the defense to protect ourselves and defend our freedom. We are also creating amounts of new jobs within the justice system because we need to strengthen police operations to counter crime. In this way, the government is therefore creating jobs and prioritizing it.
Generally, however, the jobs are created by fantastic Swedish companies within industry, the service sector, and within care and healthcare. It is people who build, and it is knowledge companies. It applies to all jobs; I usually say that there are no shit jobs, but only important jobs that must be performed. That freedom for an individual who comes with the first job, which is not always the best job, is important. That is how one builds one's own freedom and one's own prosperity. That is how one contributes to Sweden.
When it comes to the 90 billion that are turned over in the expenditure area, it is quite a lot that is governed by the regulations through which we govern our agencies. It is also about changes in existing legislation.
The government's and especially the Liberals' perception is not that the Swedish labor market is under-regulated. It is not under-regulated, rather the opposite. I have previously met members of the Centre Party in the speaker's chair who have instead said that one should go in the other direction and remove a lot of regulations and facilitate new entrepreneurship, employment, and so on - this can involve taxes and other measures - and I believe that picture is important to keep in mind.
We make these changes with ordinances. The major governance of the agencies that the Ministry of Employment is responsible for occurs primarily through the budget and ordinances, as well as through one proposition or another when we need to change systems that are not functional. One such proposition, which we are currently working on, concerns, as is known, a completely reformed unemployment insurance to strengthen the individual, increase efficiency, and work so that more people enter employment.
Emelie Nyman (C)
Mr. Speaker! I thank the Minister for his contribution. I note, however, that the Minister for Employment does not quite answer my question in a satisfactory way.
Regarding the simplifications of rules, I would, in that case, like to see proposals for such. I simply want to have something to take a position on. I chose to ask the question because I am deeply concerned about how the situation looks for young people in the labor market, and I had hoped that this interpellation would alleviate the concern. It is extremely unfortunate that the government is not capable of presenting enough labor market policy. The situation is, in fact, as follows: Unfortunately, there is not that much to take a position on. I believe certainly that we could have agreed on both one and the other, but that is not how the situation looks right now.
Sweden is in a difficult economic situation where it naturally becomes particularly hard for young people. This is not about "youth policy," as you answered, Johan Pehrson - this is labor market policy. It is about how we as politicians take our responsibility when a large group in society has difficulty establishing themselves in the labor market. For the sake of every individual and for the sake of Sweden's economy, we need change.
Such a change could have been significantly lowered employer contributions. According to a report from Konjunkturinstitutet, it is the only reform that would actually increase growth and simultaneously counteract the inflation that the Minister of Finance previously spoke about. If the cost of hiring is lowered, it will become possible for companies to both hire more people and lower the prices of goods and services.
According to a study from Handelns Forskningsinstitut, Sweden also has one of the highest employer contributions among all OECD countries. This results in high employment costs, which hits hard against groups that are far from the labor market, for example young people.
Last year, the government removed the reduction of employer contributions for young people, which has affected both employers and employees. I was personally promised a full-time contract in a grocery store after my probationary employment but was instead offered a contract with fewer hours, precisely with the justification that it became more expensive to have me as an employee – especially considering the high electricity costs.
The employer contributions are an issue we would very much like to have talked more about, because my anecdote – excuse me for that – is just one of many examples. If you put your ear to the ground and listen to what the business community says, especially within the tourism industry where many young people get their first job, it becomes clear that the increase in young people's employer contributions has had a negative consequence.
Mr. Speaker! The tourism industry is very labor-intensive compared to many other industries. The labor cost, that is, the wage cost plus the employer contributions, is by far the largest cost for companies in the tourism industry. In the Ministry of Finance's own impact assessment, it appears that the hotel and restaurant industry is the industry that has been hit hardest by the increase, as it has a full 26 percent of the total wage base in the age group 15-18. The increase alone corresponds to over 9,000 jobs in the tourism industry. More, not fewer, young people need to get a foot in the door on the labor market, Johan Pehrson.
Mr. Speaker! Youth unemployment at 22 percent is a huge societal problem, and we as a society need to come together and work together. The business community says time and again that they are ready to do their part. The business community has shown that they are willing to hire young people, even though it can sometimes involve a great risk. But then the government also needs to do its part.
The Center Party has constantly fought for reduced employer contributions. It is a concrete measure. Can Minister for Employment Johan Pehrson imagine reducing the employer contributions?
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Mr. Speaker! I thank you for a very good contribution, which highlights the importance of young people getting their first job. It may not always be their best job. I myself started working at the age of 14, and now I stand here. So it can be done. I also went to school, I want to emphasize.
The big problem today, however, is that young people are not passing primary school and are not getting into upper secondary school. We must talk about it when we talk about labor market policy. At employment offices from Skellefteå to Malmö, I meet people who tell me that unemployment among young people who have taken a high school diploma, who have a student cap in the wardrobe, is extremely limited. It is rather the case that one then has many different jobs to choose from.
If one belongs to the group of young people, not infrequently vulnerable boys, who for various reasons have been lured by false prophets and have not understood the importance of reading books and doing math homework, perhaps have drifted away into an addiction to video games or other games and have deficient knowledge in reading, counting, and writing when they graduate from ninth grade, it is very difficult. 140,000 young people have ended up in the group who neither work nor undergo any education. That is a huge number of people!
It would be less serious if they were still walking in the forest, picking berries and mushrooms, or sitting in the library and reading. But the worst thing is that many of these young people are, or risk becoming, victims of serious organized crime, so that they do not only harm themselves but also society. They do not start working. They do not participate in the mission we have to work together and develop ourselves according to ambition level and ability during our journey here on earth.
Youth unemployment is a major problem, but it begins in almost every respect in school.
We have a difficult situation, which I have unfortunately inherited in my position as responsible minister. But in cases where it has not gone well in school, we still have guarantees within Arbetsförmedlingen to help young people. There, a constant activity is conducted using the measures that exist, and these also benefit young people. Often, it is about pulling oneself together and, a bit later in life, if it was messy before or if there was something else that was tempting, going to komvux or a folk high school to reach the basic competence that is so important and for which one still has a responsibility.
People have a personal responsibility for their freedom. I perceive that the Center Party shares that thought. It is nothing that we in this chamber can decide on. One must take a personal responsibility, in this case to undergo a new education.
That is why I speak so much about the school. We cannot solve youth unemployment if we do not address the problems in the Swedish school. Then there are guarantee systems for young people, which Arbetsförmedlingen is responsible for. Not infrequently, many Swedish municipalities also make major efforts to get young people into a working life that they perhaps have never started in.
Emelie Nyman (C)
Mr. Speaker! I thank the Minister again for his contribution.
I thought I was very clear in my first speech that I believe school policy is very important. In particular, it is important in the long term. I am from Malmö and sit in the municipal council there, and I share the description of the problem. I see this, have been out and talked about it, and am fully aware that education and the lifelong journey are important. We can stop there, and then move on to the more labor market policy related aspects.
Today we have discussed an issue that is important for very many people, namely the large group of young people who today are completely without employment and work. In Malmö, youth unemployment is extra palpable. When I campaigned before the 2022 election, I spoke about the importance of a liberal labor market policy that makes a difference, especially for young people who, for various reasons, have an extra high threshold into the labor market.
Now that I have the opportunity to serve in the Riksdag, it is also precisely that question I will raise. Labor market policy that, in some respects, takes young people into account is, in fact, labor market policy. I think we should agree on that, Johan Pehrson, and not categorize it as youth policy. I caught onto that in the response, and I know you have said this as well in previous interpellation debates. If we had instead stood here and talked about the problem of older citizens tending to be discriminated against in the labor market because of their age, I do not think the Minister would have designated it as senior policy.
I believe that lowered employer contributions are an extremely important measure. It is something concrete that we can do here and now, as a complement to the long-term investments in, for example, schools, so that we meet the skills shortage and the matching problems.
The liberal labor market policy is not present. I can only regret that.
I thank you for the debate and look forward to following what you do.
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you for the debate, Emelie Nyman, and welcome once again to serving in the Swedish Riksdag! It is refreshing that there are islands in the opposition that nevertheless think that this with lowered taxes on labor, lowered taxes on savings, making it profitable to invest and put your effort into a company that relies heavily on knowledge, that one can take part in options and so on, creates a dynamic. It attracts people with investment responsibility to make investments in just Sweden. If the investments are not made in Sweden, they are made somewhere else. Then the growth power is lost, and there will be fewer who can provide this first job, regardless of whether you have graduated from high school or an education as a mechanical engineer at any university.
We are responsible, through the labor market policy – also Emelie Nyman in the committee – for all these more than 5.9 million in the workforce who go to work or try to get into work every day in Sweden. They are the ones who build Sweden, who are nation-builders at different levels and who make Sweden function. They are the ones who are to take us into the future, save our climate and ensure that we meet all the social challenges that exist.
I agree – I want to emphasize it – that all people should have equal chances and equal opportunities, regardless of whether one is young or a senior. I have also many times heard in the chamber that one is "rich in years." It feels nice that one becomes richer with the years, so to speak. Youth, moreover, is a passing challenge. It will resolve itself.
We welcome Centerpartiet if they wish to participate in the work. I also want to point out the importance of not over-regulating and believing that one can solve all problems through political steering. In many cases, it is entrepreneurship that is the answer to, not least, unemployment. We support entrepreneurship in a multitude of ways to solve the companies' skills shortage, and it begins 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.