Response to interpellation 2023/24:65 on childcare during inconvenient working hours
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns childcare during inconvenient working hours. L argues that the current provisions of the Education Act are clear and encouraging 1 2. L emphasizes that there are state grants for this purpose and that municipalities make individual assessments 3 1 2. S believes that municipalities should be obligated to offer childcare and that greater requirements must be set since "strive for" is not clear enough 4 5. S argues that the municipalities' financial situation means that childcare risks being deprioritized 4 6 5. S suggests that the government should strengthen the legislation or provide more funding 6 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 Lotta Edholm (L)
Madam Speaker! Jim Svensk Larm has asked me what measures I intend to take so that more municipalities will offer childcare at inconvenient working hours. He has also asked me if I intend to begin the work of reviewing the Education Act so that the importance of childcare at inconvenient working hours is emphasized even further. Furthermore, he has asked me if I believe the government stands up for the welfare and childcare at inconvenient working hours with its budget for 2024.
It is clearly stated in Chapter 25, Section 5 of the Education Act (2010:800) that municipalities shall strive to offer care for children during the time when preschool or after-school care is not offered in the extent that is needed, taking into account the parents' gainful employment and the family's situation otherwise. The provisions in the Education Act are encouraging and not something that the municipalities can disregard. My opinion is that the relevant provisions are clear. It is also possible for municipalities to receive state grants to organize care during the time when preschool or after-school care is not offered.
I am aware that municipalities are facing a financially challenging period. To further support the municipal sector, the government has, among other things, proposed in the budget bill for 2024 that the general government grants to municipalities and regions be strengthened by 10 billion kronor, of which 7 billion are distributed to the municipalities. The strengthening of the general government grants corresponds to a quarter of the reform space in the budget.
When Jim Svensk Larm had submitted the interpellation during the time he served as a substitute for a member who subsequently reclaimed his seat in the Riksdag, the second deputy speaker allowed Eva Lindh to participate in the interpellation debate instead.
Eva Lindh (S)
Madam Speaker! I want to begin by thanking Minister Lotta Edholm for the answer. I also want to send a thank you to Jim Svensk Larm, who submitted this interpellation but who no longer serves in the Riksdag. I am completely convinced that Jim is listening now anyway because he is very engaged in this issue, which concerns childcare at inconvenient working hours.
For us Social Democrats, this is an immensely important issue. There are parents who work evenings, nights, and weekends, and they should, just like everyone else, be able to leave their children in safety before their work shift. Therefore, we believe that municipalities should be obliged to offer such childcare and that a greater requirement must be placed on this being offered.
If there is no childcare for those who work evenings, weekends, and nights, we know that many are forced to turn down work because of this. Secure and accessible childcare is a prerequisite for both women and men to be able to work full-time. When more people work, we can also afford a welfare that we can be proud of.
In our Sweden, we believe that there should be care for children regardless of when the parents work. It is our duty to ensure that all those who work hard to keep our society running can also be secure in knowing that they will receive the support they need and the care that their children need.
Above all, it is LO workers who need night care, or "nattis" as it is called in many places. These are people who work in healthcare professions, in hotels and restaurants, or in industry and work in shifts. Still, there are far too many municipalities that do not offer this themselves or cannot offer it in a neighboring municipality or elsewhere, and where there is therefore no access to childcare. Nevertheless, it states, as the Minister says, in a passage in the legislation that one shall strive for this.
What we are concerned about is that many municipalities are now facing tough priorities. Therefore, this question becomes more important now than it has been during the last few years. The municipalities face tough priorities, and there is then a risk that they will deprioritize offering childcare on evenings, nights, and weekends, even though it states in the legislation that they should strive to offer this. Now the situation is tough, and in that case, it is worrying in many ways that the government has not complied with the great needs for resources that exist out in municipalities and regions, which can also affect this question.
Something I also want to convey ahead of this debate is the competence shortage that many professions actually suffer from now. Many types of interventions are needed. Education and competence development are needed in many areas, which has also been discussed earlier today here regarding the labor market. But it also concerns other things, and one of them is that one should be able to take a job even when it is during evening hours, nighttime, and weekends. I submit the question of what the Minister intends regarding this.
Statsrådet Lotta Edholm (L)
Madam Speaker! I thank Eva Lindh for further questions.
I also think it is important that there is childcare during inconvenient working hours for those parents who need it. That is why we have the legislation that we have, and that is why this has been combined with state grants to the municipalities. For 2023, this state grant amounts to approximately 80 million kronor, which the municipalities can apply for for these specific purposes.
It looks different in the municipalities how it is used. I have great experience from the City of Stockholm, where it is usually around 100 children every year who have this right. Often it concerns parents who both work inconvenient working hours or single parents who cannot arrange childcare in any other way. It works a bit differently than regular childcare, i.e., regular preschool or pedagogical care.
I think it is important that the municipalities make the individual assessment based on the local conditions that exist and from the individual's perspective. But it is also important to say that there are state grants for this that the municipalities can apply for.
Eva Lindh (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer.
I am very pleased that there are state grants to the municipalities to meet the need for childcare at inconvenient working hours. I think it was good that the S-led government introduced it, and I think it is good that it remains.
The problem now is that Swedish welfare is facing a cost crisis. Even though there are state grants that have previously been able to help strengthen the possibility of having childcare during inconvenient working hours, it becomes more difficult when the municipalities have difficulty making their operations work. In that case, there is a risk that they will deprioritize this.
I know that there are municipalities that over the past year have discontinued the night-time childcare they have had previously. This means difficulties for those who are seeking or have work. Just as the Minister mentions, it applies primarily to parents who both have work at inconvenient times or who are single parents. They already have a tough starting position. It then becomes difficult to say yes to these jobs if one does not have relatives, friends, or family who can step in. The situation looks very different for different people.
As has been said, it is good that we are now allocating 80 million. It is a co-contribution. But the government is now allocating 72 million for rut for childcare, where a very small part goes to single parents. That sum could very well have been used instead to support those who are truly in need of childcare, that is, those we are talking about now: single parents or parents who both work shifts or in some other way have a need for childcare at inconvenient working hours.
Society is in need of these people, and if they cannot work during evenings, nights, and weekends, Sweden would come to a standstill. It is actually that drastic, so even though it says "strive," we should be able to set higher demands but also provide resources so that the municipalities can manage to offer this childcare.
Therefore, I ask again: Is Minister Lotta Edholm prepared to either provide more funding or strengthen the legislation so that we can have childcare during inconvenient working hours?
Statsrådet Lotta Edholm (L)
Madam Speaker! My view is that there is already a clear regulation. The wording in the Education Act is very encouraging and is not something that the municipalities can disregard. The municipalities must also provide information about the activities they actually have.
I am well aware that the circumstances exist are very individual. Not everything is a night shift, and the largest part of childcare during inconvenient working hours occurs by a childcare worker coming to the home. This is also often the most flexible way to solve it.
I think it is important to remember that there is a regulation, that this is something that the municipalities cannot simply ignore, and that since 2013 - ten years back in time - there has been a fairly extensive state grant to help the municipalities with this.
Eva Lindh (S)
Madam Speaker! It is always an assessment of words. I think that "strive for" is not clear enough, and neither are the municipalities because many of them actually do not offer any type of childcare during inconvenient working hours. They also do not assess that "strive for" is a sufficiently clear request.
Absolutely, we have also assessed that one achieves a greater goal fulfillment for more municipalities when sending state grants, but in this time when the municipalities are under much more pressure and must make tough savings, there is a risk that this type of childcare, which exists for those parents who need it, will be cut. It is also for that reason we ask the question, as the need is greater now and the situation is different than it has been in recent years.
I am grateful that we can have this debate and that Jim Svensk Larm has asked the question, which nevertheless remains: Does the Minister see the need to strengthen either the resources or the legislation so that more municipalities offer childcare during inconvenient working hours, since the situation is different now than it was a few years ago?
Statsrådet Lotta Edholm (L)
Madam Speaker! I think it is important to say that it is not about a general right, but about a right for parents who have to work inconvenient hours, whether they are single parents or if both work inconvenient hours. It is not a general right for all parents to, in addition to the legislation that exists regarding childcare, have access to this, but many municipalities offer it after an individual assessment.
I think the legislation is quite clear, and since it is combined with state grants, there are all the possibilities today to ensure that these parents – they are not very many; one should keep that in mind – can receive an individual assessment and get childcare during inconvenient working hours.
I think the legislation is quite clear, and there are funds linked to this for the children's best interests and for the parents' opportunity to work on evenings, weekends, and so on.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.