Response to interpellation 2023/24:547 on the economic situation for sick unemployed persons
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
1 M argues that the purpose of the sickness insurance is to compensate for loss of income without lock-in effects and emphasizes incentives for a quick return to work, rehabilitation, as well as cooperation between health and medical care and Arbetsförmedlingen 1. M highlights that the government is fighting inflation to support households, investing in mental health 1 2 and that the regions shall offer personal support to those on sick leave 1 3. 4 S argues that a secure sickness insurance is an important priority and that economic anxiety can make one sicker 4. S argues that it is problematic that sick unemployed people receive less than half of the maximum income-based level compared to sick people with jobs 4 5 6. S argues that economic security is a health factor 5. 6 S believes that it is important to have a sickness insurance one can rely on that does not make people poor or sicker from economic stress 6. 7 M argues that it is important that people get well as soon as possible to be able to return to work and regain quality of life and freedom 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.
Statsrådet Anna Tenje (M)
Mr. Speaker! Åsa Eriksson has asked me what I intend to do so that sick and unemployed people can have a more bearable economic existence with less stress and anxiety.
The purpose of the sickness insurance is to provide compensation for loss of income during illness and rehabilitation. People should feel secure knowing that there is a sickness insurance that provides financial compensation if they become ill and cannot work. At the same time, it is important for the government that the regulatory framework does not contribute to lock-in effects. There must be incentives for both the individual and other involved actors for a rapid return to work. The focus should be on rehabilitation with clearly defined assessment points. It should become more profitable to go to work.
What is important for unemployed people on sick leave is to regain work capacity as early as possible and be able to continue seeking and obtaining a job. In that regard, a functioning cooperation between the health and medical care and Arbetsförmedlingen plays an important role. Arbetsförmedlingen can, if necessary, offer unemployed people the opportunity to participate in work-preparatory measures and work-oriented rehabilitation with the aim of facilitating the transition to work or education. The regions, in turn, have an obligation to offer personal support to patients on sick leave who have a need for it. This can, for example, involve assistance with contacts with Arbetsförmedlingen to discuss the patient's need for rehabilitation.
The strengthened cooperation between Försäkringskassan and Arbetsförmedlingen is important so that unemployed persons on sick leave are provided with the necessary support for returning to work. Those on sick leave and young people with activity allowance should be given access to interventions within the framework of the agencies' rehabilitation cooperation as early as possible in order to develop or regain work capacity and thus be able to return to, or obtain, work.
The efforts of the coordination associations, which I and the interpellator have discussed on several occasions previously, are also very important – especially for those people who are far from the labor market and have a need for coordinated rehabilitation efforts so that they achieve or improve the ability to perform gainful work.
I would like to take the opportunity to mention the initiatives that the government is undertaking to promote mental health, prevent mental illness and suicide, and create conditions for good care and support for persons with mental illness. For 2024, for example, approximately 1.6 billion SEK is allocated to strengthen the work within the area of mental health and suicide prevention through an agreement between the state and Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner. This work includes, among other things, funds to strengthen preventive and promotional work, including countering sick leave.
At the same time, I want to emphasize that the economic situation we find ourselves in is tough for both households and public finances. For the government, it has been and remains a priority to combat inflation and manage the effects of inflation by supporting households and welfare.
Åsa Eriksson (S)
Mr. Speaker! I want to start by saying that I am pleased that the government is prioritizing investments in better mental health. It is needed for both young and old. I therefore consider that to be positive.
Mr. Speaker! For us Social Democrats, a secure sickness insurance is one of the most important priorities in the construction of the welfare state. During our time in government, we implemented several improvements so that Sweden's wage earners can rely on that there is financial security if the ability to work should fail due to illness. This shall apply to everyone. But, Mr. Speaker, some who are ill unfortunately lack work. Those who are unemployed and ill can receive sickness benefit if they are registered with Arbetsförmedlingen, are actively seeking work, and have worked previously so that they have an income qualifying for sickness benefit.
Being on sick leave and unemployed can be a very difficult situation. Financially, it becomes a misery if you are too ill to participate in Arbetsförmedlingen's programs, and it is not at all uncommon that lost capacity for work has consequences for self-esteem. It is important to emphasize that there is support for people to get through such a challenging period, for example via the coordination associations that the Minister of State mentioned. If someone watching this debate right now is on long-term sick leave – I know there are several – they can ask their caseworker about being referred to an intervention via Finsam.
Mr. Speaker! There is, however, a very essential matter that distinguishes this government from us Social Democrats. It concerns what the Minister calls lock-in effects in the health insurance. We Social Democrats know that no one becomes healthy by also becoming poor. It is quite the opposite that the worry about finances, the worry about whether one will be able to pay one's bills, and the worry about whether one will be able to stay in the house when one is sick and unemployed can make one even sicker and make it even more difficult to return to work.
Mr. Speaker! We have asked RUT, that is the Riksdag's investigation service, to produce statistics on how the compensation levels for sick unemployed persons have changed since we have been in government. I can say that the maximum income-based level in the sickness benefit is calculated upwards annually. That is very good. At the beginning of 2022, an increase of the ceiling was also made, but the level for job seekers who are sick has not changed. As an example, I will take two years.
The maximum level in 2021 for the sick was a little over 23,000 kronor for those who had work and 15,500 for those seeking work. At that time, there was a difference of approximately 33 percent. This year, in the same monetary value, the maximum level is almost 29,000 kronor, but it is only 12,800 for those who are seeking work and are sick. It is thus less than half. But the sick job seekers have been affected by the same inflation, the same high food prices, and the same cost increases.
Therefore, I want to ask the Minister: Does the government have any plans to improve the compensation for those who are sick and also job-seeking?
Statsrådet Anna Tenje (M)
Mr. Speaker! The healthy person has many desires, the sick person only one, namely to become healthy. Both the individual and the employer, healthcare and other authorities all strive to ensure that the person who is on sick leave becomes healthy as quickly as possible and regains work capacity in order to then be able to return to work or seek work. Work has a very great significance and means for many not only meaningful occupation and community but also, of course, economic freedom.
For the unemployed who are on sick leave, where the employer is missing, a little extra is often required. A little more was needed, given that one does not have an active employer who can support and encourage on the way back to work. This often requires a well-functioning cooperation between Arbetsförmedlingen, Försäkringskassan and healthcare, as I described in my first post.
We know that people with limited economic resources are particularly vulnerable when prices rise. It has therefore been very important for this government to combat inflation and manage the effects of inflation by supporting households and supporting welfare. Bringing down inflation is particularly important for those people who have limited economic resources, for example because they are unemployed and also ill.
To protect families with children with weak finances against the sharp price increases, the temporary additional grant to families with children receiving housing allowance has been extended. According to Försäkringskassan, it is on average about 105,000 child households that receive housing allowance every month during 2024. Families with children where one parent or both parents are unemployed can also take part in this improvement. Even though this is a temporary measure, it has served its purpose well during the pandemic as well as during the initial developments with high inflation and a very tough economic situation.
The government is also making important investments in healthcare, which is important for people with somatic or mental illness. Furthermore, the government will now invest an additional 6 billion in the healthcare adjustment budget, which is to be added to the large resources that the government has already allocated to support the Swedish welfare. We are well aware that money alone does not solve healthcare's problems. Therefore, a number of measures are also proposed to improve the regions' finances. The government has also intensified the work on prioritized reforms in order to be able to improve the regions' opportunities and increase the healthcare capacity itself, not least by shortening the healthcare queues.
Åsa Eriksson (S)
Mr. Speaker! It was a long answer from the Minister, but I heard nothing about raising the compensation for those who are sick and unemployed so that they can have a bearable life. The only thing I heard was that it is important to fight inflation. We Social Democrats truly agree that it is.
What distinguishes us from the government is that we believe it is not those who have the lowest incomes and cannot cover their expenses for the month who should take the greatest responsibility for combating inflation; it should, of course, be done by us high-income earners, who have the means. It is not reasonable that those who cannot make ends meet because the compensation is so low should be the shock absorbers in the fight against inflation. They thus receive less than half compared to those who are on sick leave and have jobs and who probably also think the economy is deteriorating significantly as they are on sick pay.
Mr. Speaker! There are many in the population who experience stress and anxiety, truly not just the unemployed. But it is most common among those who do not work, according to a study from Folkhälsomyndigheten. A survey from last year that they conducted shows that approximately 15 percent of us who are employed report that we feel quite or very stressed, while the figure is more than twice as high among the unemployed and those on sick leave. For those groups who stand outside the labor market, it can be about things that are difficult to influence, for example, a more uncertain economy and the knowledge that the money does not last the whole month and that one might not be able to stay in one's home.
Mr. Speaker! Those who are long-term sick leave and unemployed live under enormous pressure. It means a loss of coherence, meaningfulness and income, and perhaps even difficulties in covering basic needs. Unemployment can also create feelings of inadequacy or, in the worst case, isolation. These are really not factors of health that lead to increased work ability. To regain work ability and self-esteem, support, rehabilitation and security are often needed, as the Minister was touching upon – not least financial security, so that one knows that the finances will not crash totally. That stress only makes people sicker.
Mr. Speaker! I want to ask the Minister again whether she and the government intend to take any measures so that sick and unemployed people can have a more bearable economic existence with less stress and anxiety.
Statsrådet Anna Tenje (M)
Mr. Speaker! All of Sweden has felt the tough economic situation. This has affected private finances in particular. For some, it has been possible to increase their job searching or move from part-time to full-time. Others have cut back on unnecessary expenses and perhaps ensured that they shop a bit less. For those who are ill, the possibilities are significantly more limited.
Feeling poorly due to both one's illness and one's economic situation is, of course, very tough. Approximately half of those who are currently on sick leave suffer from somatic illness. In those cases, it is significantly easier to return to work, for example when something broken has healed. But over half of all those on sick leave today suffer from mental ill-health. Mental ill-health is a major societal problem. The Government is now taking several measures aimed at reducing precisely that mental ill-health.
When it comes to the year 2024, we add, as I was mentioning, 1.6 billion to strengthen the work within the area of mental health and suicide prevention through an agreement that I believe can become very good with Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner. It is important that all persons who are on sick leave are entitled to support and receive the right support to return to work.
For employees, the employer plays an important role in rehabilitation. The unemployed lack such support. Therefore, healthcare has a very important task here. I think it is pleasing that the regions during the past year have developed guidelines for healthcare's work with rehabilitation and sick leave. Central to this is, among other things, that patients receive an early assessment of the rehabilitation need. The National Board of Health and Welfare published a knowledge support for healthcare's work with sick leave in the autumn of 2023.
I believe it is important that one takes an extended responsibility here. The regions already have an obligation to offer personal support to sick-leave patients who are in need of it. Often such support is offered; they are called rehabilitation coordinators. It can, for example, involve help in contacts with Arbetsförmedlingen to discuss the patient's or the individual's need for rehabilitation. The member was previously himself involved in that one can ask for help when it comes to this in order to be referred to certain interventions and measures. I believe that it can strengthen and increase the possibility to first and foremost regain work capacity but then also return to work significantly faster.
The personal support from health and medical care can also consist of conversation support and other interventions to motivate the sick-leaved patient to be involved in the care required for them to obtain or regain work capacity. Such support is judged to be particularly important for patients or individuals with mental ill-health.
Åsa Eriksson (S)
Mr. Speaker! I want to point out once again that it is very good that the government is investing in work for better mental health. It is really needed. I fully support that. But I still hear nothing about whether the Minister thinks it is a problem that people who are ill and unemployed have less than half as much in sickness benefit as those who are on sick leave and have a job.
I know that the network 116 om dagen has tried to get in contact with the Minister. It might be time to invite them. There are people there who are both ill and unemployed who can testify to what it is like not to have enough money to last the whole month and what it is like to be dependent on one's partner, one's husband, one's children or one's parents to be able to pay for food and rent for the whole month.
It is a situation that does not make the individuals it affects healthier. I know that the Minister and I share the ambition that as many as possible should become healthy and regain their capacity to work and be able to work and support themselves as soon as possible. That is the goal. But for that to happen, we must have a sickness insurance to rely on, which does not make people poor and which does not make people sicker from worry and economic stress.
I urge the Minister to invite the network and hear about their situation.
Statsrådet Anna Tenje (M)
Mr. Speaker! I thank you for the debate, the interpellation, and the discussion that we are now having in the chamber!
I definitely share many of the basic principles that our health insurance should rest on. It is important that people get well as soon as possible so that they can return to life, work, and colleagues, to earn their own money, stand on their own feet, and regain quality of life and, above all, the freedom that work nonetheless entails.
First and foremost, it is important that people receive the right support and the right help so that they regain their ability to work. Here, there are many different authorities, the individual themselves, and also others who have a great responsibility in this. The responsibility that is mine, I am definitely willing to take.
I thank you for the information regarding the network that has contacted me. I make many study visits, not least in the countryside. I look forward to having a meeting and discussing these important issues.
More definitely needs to be done moving forward. I can only state that the government has already done a lot when it comes to working against mental ill-health and suicide. I believe there is much more to be done even within that area. Otherwise, I look forward to the upcoming debates. Many thanks for the debate!
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.