Response to interpellation 2023/24:505 on debt and equality
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
L argues that the government is making responsible fiscal trade-offs by prioritizing inflation control for the most vulnerable households 1 2. L emphasizes that the government is working against economic violence, increasing the housing allowance, strengthening the job tax credit 1 as well as taking measures to increase the economic independence of foreign-born women and strengthen support for those affected by violence 2 3. S argues that the government is not doing enough, that the economic conditions prevent women from leaving destructive relationships 4 and that the welfare system is going through a crisis as the government does not provide sufficient resources 5. S believes that the priorities are incorrect 6 7 and that the policy should prioritize women's working conditions over tax cuts for high-income earners 5.
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 Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! Ida Ekeroth Clausson has asked me partly what I and the government intend to do to reduce women's ever-increasing indebtedness, and partly what I and the government intend to do so that women do not become locked into destructive relationships for economic reasons.
I welcome the member's commitment to the issue, a commitment that I share. Economic equality is one of the equality policy sub-goals: Women and men shall have the same opportunities and conditions regarding paid work that provides economic independence for life. The Government stands behind this goal. Added to this is, of course, also the importance that all people shall have the opportunity and conditions to build up their finances in order to feel both security in everyday life and a belief in the future. We know that savings and capital are two areas where there is currently inequality.
We are now in a cyclical situation where many households have a strained economy. In that situation, it is important that the fiscal policy is well-balanced and that the government acts to bring down inflation. Inflation hits Swedish households in general, but in particular hits the especially vulnerable households with small or no margins. Among the vulnerable households are single women with children.
Regarding women's opportunities to leave destructive relationships, the government's position is very clear. Violence by men against women and other violence in close relationships shall be combated with the full force of society.
Economic violence in close relationships is a serious form of violence and oppression, where control and power are exercised by the perpetrator with the help of the economy. A person subjected to violence who is already in a state of economic vulnerability risks being hit hard. This can become particularly palpable when the economic margins decrease, for example, when housing costs and food prices increase. For the person who is subjected to it, it can have serious consequences in the form of long-term indebtedness.
The ten-year national strategy to prevent and combat men's violence against women applies until 2026, and an action program to intensify the work applied during 2021-2023. The Government is now working on developing a new action program to counter and combat men's violence against women and honor-related violence and oppression, including economic violence, which shall apply for 2024-2026.
Ida Ekeroth Clausson (S)
Madam Speaker! Food prices are increasing again. Yes, it is once again news how expensive the food has become. At the same time, the Swedish Enforcement Authority (Kronofogden) is hitting a dull record. The total debt at the authority was 119 billion kronor at the turn of the year, which is the largest amount ever. It is an increase of 18 billion, or nearly 50 million per day, since last year.
Most of those in debt are men. But the proportion of women is increasing, and their debt amounts are increasing at a faster rate than men's. For example, women's tax debts have increased by 80 percent since the end of last year. The corresponding figure for men is 29 percent.
In these times, more and more Swedes, especially women, are forced for economic reasons to remain in their relationships. Nearly three out of five women are unsure if they would be able to live a good life if they separated. Just as many would not be able to afford their current housing in the event of a divorce. Studies show that breakups often bring about negative economic consequences, particularly for women.
Lacking the economic means required to leave a relationship and thus being afraid of having nowhere to go outside of the violence-affected relationship obviously increases the risk that the person affected stays. The economic conditions affect the possibility of breaking up.
Being forced to stay in a destructive relationship for economic reasons is not living a free life. But unfortunately, that is the reality for many women today, and more are becoming so as debt increases. For someone who is over-indebted, it means additional difficulties in leaving the relationship, as it entails difficulties in obtaining new loans to buy or rent a home, as well as obtaining rental contracts and mobile subscriptions. Furthermore, the Swedish Enforcement Authority (Kronofogdemyndigheten) can decide on wage garnishment for a debtor, which also limits the freedom of action primarily for women.
The Minister takes up in his answer that it is important that the fiscal policy is well-balanced and that the government acts to bring down inflation as long as we remain in this economic situation. There is no doubt that the fiscal policy needs to be responsible and that there are limits to how much a government can compensate households for inflation. But the question is whether the government is doing enough.
I mean that it does not, and I also mean that the Minister does not fully answer my question. So I repeat: What is the government doing concretely to reduce women's ever-increasing indebtedness?
Sofia Amloh (S)
Madam Speaker! Thanks to the Minister, who continues this evening with us to discuss many important issues!
The Minister states in his response that inflation needs to be combated and that it hits Swedish households hard in general and in particular the vulnerable households with small or no margins. Among the particularly vulnerable households are single women with children.
We are reached by report after report that a third of all adults in Sweden have difficulty paying ongoing expenses such as rent and food. I was most recently reached by yet another report that food prices are increasing perhaps more than ever.
The Swedish Enforcement Authority points to a historically high level of debt among the Swedish people, and women stand out. Two out of three single parents, mainly women, cannot afford to let their children participate in an organized leisure activity - in Sweden 2024. Six out of ten women feel anxiety about their economic situation, and they do not see themselves being able to manage moving to their own housing in the event of a separation or divorce.
The Minister is indebted to me and many others to an answer. Are these the right fiscal trade-offs when we see these consequences spreading? Why are you doing nothing for the particularly vulnerable households so that single women with children do not have to take this hit in the tough economic crisis and become so heavily indebted that they do not know when they will ever be able to pay it back?
That women cannot leave a relationship or a marriage because it is not possible to be economically independent in Sweden is beyond all criticism. If the Minister does not act against this, one needs to be quite careful with words. Is it really credible to say that one fully stands behind the gender equality sub-goal of economic equality when one does not act but only follows and watches as consequence after consequence is reported?
Madam Speaker! The savings account is empty and the wallet is empty, and one cannot make ends meet. One needs to go into debt and become even more dependent on someone else. One is forced to sell what one has and borrow from relatives to make ends meet, and when that is not enough, one needs to go so far as to go into debt to the Enforcement Authority. Are these the right fiscal considerations? Is this fighting inflation as hard as needed?
We Social Democrats have presented a number of different proposals, not least regarding taxing the banks' excess profits, which this government has said no to, as well as, for that part, proposals for an extra student grant or child allowance, which I understand would be incredibly welcome. But as has been said many times here in the chamber, politics is about prioritizing. This government has not prioritized women's specific economic situation in the tough crisis.
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! Economic equality is very important to focus on in the times we are in, because it is clear that in economically more difficult times, it is those who have the smallest margins who are hit hardest.
Member of Parliament Amloh questions whether the government is making the right fiscal trade-offs. I mean that the trade-offs the government has made are responsible trade-offs. We are conducting a policy where we act strongly to combat inflation, because if we do not, the most vulnerable households will be hit hardest. Those who have the least money in their wallets naturally have the greatest interest in the money having value.
The government's fight against inflation has begun to yield results, but inflation is still high. The government will therefore continue to prioritize fighting inflation. We do this at the same time as we support households and welfare.
Many households with weak finances have received compensation for the high inflation through price-indexed grants and transfers. We have increased housing allowances for families with children, increased electricity support and unemployment insurance, and lowered the energy tax on fuels. These are measures that have been particularly significant for precisely those households with small margins. At the turn of the year, the reduction obligation was also lowered, which contributed to reducing the diesel price by over 4 kronor per liter.
The budget for 2024 contains important structural reforms while we support households and welfare, including through an enhanced job tax credit for low- and middle-income earners, reduced tax for pensioners, and a further reduced tax on fuels.
It is these measures that give households with tight resources more money left in their wallets. It is these measures that will make it easier for parents to afford to pay for the children's extracurricular activities and also to drive the children to their extracurricular activities.
Raising the child allowance is a measure that is indiscriminate and which also becomes money for households that perhaps do not need it as much as the vulnerable households. It is a measure that would fuel inflation.
When we speak about economic equality, it is also important to speak about economic violence. It is a concept that is unknown to a large number of people in our country. What does economic violence actually mean? Well, in the government's work to combat men's violence against women and other violence in close relationships and honor-related violence and oppression, we also place a special focus precisely on economic violence. There are relationships where one party, for example, takes out loans in the other party's name and thereby creates a debt and increased control over the person they live with. It makes it harder for that person to leave the relationship.
We also see protracted division of property processes that make it difficult for the economically weaker party to assert their rights. During a separation, it is difficult to obtain in the division of property what one is entitled to because one cannot afford to litigate. The economically stronger party can wear out the economically weaker party.
All these are problems that the government is actively working to take measures against.
Ida Ekeroth Clausson (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer.
I want to start by saying that it is positive that it appears so clearly in the answer that the minister shares the problem picture of economic violence in close relationships. In that regard, I have no reason to question that it is a genuine commitment. On the other hand, I am a bit questioning when it comes to what the government is doing about it.
Politics is about prioritizing, and the government has so far not prioritized women and their economic situation. The Minister mentioned that an extra child allowance goes to all families with children. I just want to point out that the reduction in the price of gasoline and the gasoline tax primarily benefited high-income earners and men.
The Minister further says that the government has made the correct fiscal trade-offs, despite the consequences looking as follows. There are women who cannot leave a relationship or a marriage because they cannot be independent in today's Sweden. I do not consider these to be correct economic or fiscal trade-offs.
I can also add that those living with large debts and financial stress also risk being affected by ill health, for example, cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, and stomach ulcers. Mental ill health is also significantly higher among those in debt than among the rest of the population.
The indebtedness that we now see increasing in our country, which puts more and more people into the debt trap and which creates such great anxiety and stress, is also a symptom of something else. It is a symptom of increased poverty and increased economic inequalities.
We therefore need measures to break this development here and now. Just as my colleague Amloh has previously raised, we Social Democrats have proposed that a tax should be introduced on a portion of the banks' excess profits, not the entire excess profits but a portion of the excess profits. The money that the banks have earned from their bank customers shall be returned to those who truly need support.
The revenues from the bank tax could be distributed to households through a tax cut that would affect ordinary wage earners through an extra payment of child allowance or through an increased maintenance support and through a fuel discount that would give money to those who need to fuel their cars instead of it ending up in the oil companies' pockets.
There are, therefore, very concrete proposals that could provide people with support here and now and that would let the banks take greater responsibility for the economic situation that Sweden finds itself in. But here the government remains passive.
Fine words are no longer enough, however well-intentioned they may be. Concrete measures are actually needed to support households and to ensure that women do not become locked in destructive situations.
Sofia Amloh (S)
Madam Speaker! We hear the Minister state that the correct fiscal policy trade-offs have been made. When we see the picture we have painted of working women who work and toil but become poorer and poorer with every passing month, who go into debt and cannot afford to leave a destructive relationship, the Minister says that these are completely correct fiscal policy trade-offs. It is very clear, I think, that it is precisely these priorities that are being made.
It is probably quite few people, especially few women, who experience that good trade-offs have been made by this government when one sits in the position that one does. We need to fight inflation but also alleviate the consequences of inflation, and I can only state that the government has not succeeded in that when we see how it looks. And it does not stop there.
The Minister says that the government has, among other things, lowered fuel prices so that parents can afford to drive their children to leisure activities. The point is that very few people can afford to pay for the organized leisure activities, so there is not that much to drive the children to. That point is missed by this SD government. This is not a policy for equality or for women.
I would like to thank you for this debate. I note that the Minister is satisfied with the political trade-offs that have been made. I also note that women or equality are not being prioritized through this economic crisis. I can only regret that.
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! When listening to Member Amloh, one almost gets the impression that it has escaped her notice that we are in an economic crisis, not only in Sweden but also in our surrounding world, and that it is several factors that are affecting the economic situation in Sweden. This, of course, hits the most vulnerable the hardest.
In that situation, careful considerations are required. In my previous contribution, I have pointed out exactly the balance that the government has in its fiscal policy: We are fighting inflation while simultaneously supporting the most vulnerable households.
Madam Speaker! When one stands in this speaker's chair, it often appears as if the other side is not listening to what one says. It is claimed that no concrete measures are being put forward by this government, even though I have pointed out one concrete measure after another in both this and previous debates. It seems, however, that my opponents in both this and previous debates simply do not listen to what I say.
Madam Speaker! There are more measures than those I have previously mentioned that this government is taking. An important factor when it comes to economic policy and policy for those who are most economically vulnerable is, of course, housing policy. It is a very important issue.
In the regulatory letter for 2024, the government therefore gives a new assignment to the Gender Equality Authority to analyze precisely the housing market from a gender equality perspective. This is an assignment concerning economic equality and ownership in the housing market. It specifically covers the economic conditions for young women and men to establish themselves in the housing market from a gender equality perspective, both the market for owned housing and the market for rented housing.
Other issues that should be highlighted are how access to rental apartments affects women and men, including the possibility of moving to be able to get a job and so that those exposed to violence can leave a violent relationship.
This is a mission that is to be final-reported by May 31, 2025, at the latest, and which I will, of course, be very curious to receive the results of.
Madam Speaker! In this context, I also want to mention a specific group that I believe we must focus on particularly, namely the group of foreign-born women. Among those who are furthest from the labor market, we see an overrepresentation of foreign-born women.
We need to take targeted measures to bring that group closer to the labor market and thereby increase that group's economic independence. Here, the government has taken a number of concrete measures. Among other things, an agreement was signed last spring between the government and SKR regarding a joint initiative to reach out to foreign-born women who visit the open preschool, for there one sees an opportunity to make contact.
This is an agreement that covers barely 20 million kronor and which is ongoing during the years 2023-2025. Last year, government decisions were also made regarding a continuation assignment of previous assignments which consisted of producing a joint agency plan to increase the entry of foreign-born women into the labor market. This is now a plan that is to be implemented and concretized, and several agencies are affected.
Madam Speaker! There is no lack of concrete measures from this government, and we will continue to take concrete measures to increase economic equality.
Ida Ekeroth Clausson (S)
Madam Speaker! Swedish healthcare, schools, and elderly care are going through the worst crisis since the 90s. Staff are being laid off across the entire country. Health centers and clinics are closing because the government does not take responsibility and fails to provide the resources required for the welfare system. The money we heard yesterday should be provided will go a bit of the way, but not for everything.
It is primarily women who are affected by the government's policy. It is women who work in the welfare sector and who pay for the cuts in the form of increased stress, as we have heard in previous interpellation debates, as well as poorer working conditions and wages.
Just when it comes to wages, we can state today that the development towards equal wages stands still. What is required is a policy that prioritizes women's working conditions and wages over tax cuts for high-income earners. It is crucial for women's health and finances, but also for preschool, school, healthcare, and elderly care.
Sweden needs a different economic policy, one that does not aim to inflation-protect the incomes of high-income earners. We must, despite an inflation economy, see the opportunities we have. The fight against inflation should not primarily be borne by those with slightly lower or more normal incomes, but this is something we must do together.
Madam Speaker! I and my colleagues are actively listening to all the contributions here, but the truth is that the economic situation in Sweden is not improving. Debts are increasing and food prices are increasing, despite what the government does. More measures are therefore needed.
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! In my concluding remarks, I intended to focus a little on the measures the government is taking regarding the economic situation for those affected by violence.
This is also an area where the government is taking a large number of concrete measures. One example is the Socialstyrelsen's mandate to strengthen the national support to the municipalities in their work to provide support to those affected by violence to arrange permanent housing. We have also tasked Socialstyrelsen with proposing measures so that those affected by violence receive more coordinated support during contacts with authorities.
Recently, we have also taken a measure that I know is incredibly important, namely that we are focusing on those who live with protected personal data. We have a situation in Sweden where it happens all too often that protected personal data is disclosed by authorities. This often has devastating consequences, including economic ones, for those affected. There are of course safety aspects, but there are also economic aspects when one is, for example, forced to seek new housing and move to a new location because one's data has been disclosed.
These are examples of concrete measures that this government is taking to strengthen the protection for those who are economically vulnerable, and where we see precisely those who are victims of violence as a group on which we want to direct a special focus.
Madam Speaker! I would like to conclude by thanking you for this debate. The question of economic equality deserves a little extra focus this week as we face International Women's Day.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.