Response to interpellation 2023/24:752 on children living in poverty
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
M argues that child poverty is a complex issue that requires collective efforts 1. M emphasizes that the government is fighting inflation, raising the national standard for social assistance, and introducing a job tax credit to strengthen the work principle 1 2. M emphasizes the importance of preventive work through school and the leisure card 2. M believes that the government's work is about restoring the work principle so that parents can support themselves 3. M argues that long periods of financial assistance increase the risk of social exclusion and ill health 3. M wants to counter long-term benefit dependency through activity requirements 3. M sees the new Social Services Act as a tool against child poverty 4. S calls for a policy where children in families with low incomes have their needs met and the gaps are reduced 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 Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Madam Speaker! [The member] has asked me how I and the government work to reduce the proportion of children living in poverty and to give all children in Sweden the same opportunities for an equal life.
All children have, according to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the right to the standard of living necessary for the child's development.
Child poverty is a complex issue and the solutions to reduce economic vulnerability are not found solely within one policy area. A parent who is overcrowded or has insecure employment, low education or economic instability may have more difficulty providing their child with the security that is needed. The government's policy therefore proceeds from the premise that the combined efforts within several different policy areas contribute to an improvement of children's families' opportunities for a good economic standard of living.
The economic situation in Sweden is strained, and we are in a recession. Even though inflation has begun to decrease, the high inflation has affected households' finances negatively through, among other things, increased food prices and rising housing costs. We are all affected by this, but families with children with low incomes and small margins are particularly vulnerable. I know that the situation is tough for many families with children.
The Government therefore considers it important to continue fighting inflation while simultaneously supporting households. We know that households with children generally have a lower standard of living than households without children. The Government is therefore directing specific measures precisely to these households.
Economic family policy shall contribute to a good economic standard of living for all families with children and plays a particularly large role for single parents. In order to provide extra financial support for families with children with low incomes, the government has proposed in the autumn budget for 2024 that the temporary supplementary grant provided to families with children receiving housing allowance shall be extended until December 31, 2024. The level of the supplementary grant was also increased as of July 1, 2023.
The government has also set the national standard for social assistance at a level that is 8.7 percent higher than in 2023 and maintained the unemployment benefit and the activity support at the higher level that has applied during the pandemic. In 2023, the national standard was also increased by 8.6 percent. This can be compared with the increase of the national standard between, for example, 2021 and 2022, when the increase was only 1.6 percent.
One of the most important measures to counteract child poverty is, however, to create better conditions so that all parents have a job to go to, with a salary that allows them to support themselves and their family. Long periods of financial assistance make it difficult to enter the labor market, which also increases the risks of ill health and exclusion.
Sweden must pursue a consistent work line, and therefore the government is implementing a number of measures that make it more profitable to move from benefits to work. In the budget for 2024, the government introduced, among other things, a job tax credit that will provide more in the pocket for low- and middle-income earners.
Overall, the measures I have now set out are effective in helping families with children, especially the most vulnerable households, in a difficult time.
Anna Wallentheim (S)
Madam Speaker! According to Majblomman, over 10,000 children live in Hässleholm municipality, which I myself come from. Of these children, 1,171 live in poverty. This is approximately how it looks in the whole country; one in ten children lives in poverty.
Sweden is fundamentally a wealthy country, but despite this, 220,000 children are living in poverty. Yes, Sweden has become expensive, and of course, it affects people's everyday lives. It hits families with children and single parents particularly hard. But it is worth adding that nearly 18 percent of all children in Sweden between 0 and 19 years old lived in households with a low economic standard already in 2021, which corresponded to over 400,000 children.
Madam Speaker! One of the main reasons why children live in poverty is that their parents lack jobs or work part-time against their will, just as the Minister mentioned. When families' incomes are not sufficient in everyday life, the children have to forgo much of what their friends do. Going to the cinema, playing football, or joining the school trip can become impossible for some children.
Eliminating child poverty is a matter of political will and priorities. To get there, more jobs, better safety nets, and a policy that takes all children into account are required. The differences between children from different backgrounds are unfortunately large in Sweden. Among those born in Sweden, the proportion with a low economic standard is just over 14 percent, while the proportion among the foreign-born children is over 50 percent. This is something we can never accept.
We know that the situation has not improved since Statistics Sweden conducted the measurement in 2021. There are many parents who are struggling. A large proportion of Sweden's parents are worried that the economic situation is affecting the children's needs and well-being.
Madam Speaker! More and more families are turning over every single krona to make the household economy work. Food is expensive, ten years of real wage increases have been erased, and rents and interest rates on mortgages are increasing. At the same time, debts to the Enforcement Authority are increasing, and the number of families with children who are evicted has also increased. Very many single parents need to borrow to afford food.
The signals from Hässleholm and Skåne are also clear. Schools testify that children are eating more and more school meals. Parents are stressed about parties and about how they will afford a holiday. Leisure staff testify that fewer and fewer children bring outdoor clothes with them or that the outdoor clothes they have are far too small or broken. We also know that more and more children spend longer days at fritis, because at fritis one gets breakfast, lunch, and snacks. This is not worthy of a country like Sweden.
There are several parts of the minister's answer that are good, for example, the announcement that the temporary additional grant provided to families with children receiving housing allowance is being extended. We Social Democrats, however, want to go even further. There were also other parts that were good. But even though the minister's and the government's answer sounds good, they do not seem to want to look at the whole. What is the government doing about the increasing economic inequalities in Sweden? Is the government prepared to work for a fair tax policy to achieve economic equality?
Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Madam Speaker! Thank you very much, Member, for an important question on a very pressing issue! I truly welcome the Member's wholehearted commitment to this issue and think that the Member has surely also many times wondered at the increase that makes Sweden stand out negatively when it comes to child poverty in relation to the other Nordic countries and that this figure also rose during the previous government's term. I think therefore that this issue requires long-term thinking and that we all bear a great responsibility - it is important to do so.
I am pleased that the member highlights the efforts the government is making. The government is now focusing on directing such economic efforts, which can have the greatest impact, to these vulnerable families with children here and now. At the same time, we are working on long-term efforts to be able to influence, not least, the living conditions of these children and young people.
Preventive work is important, because when one grows up in different kinds of vulnerability and in areas of exclusion, it is easy for a child to perceive that they are not as important as other children; one finds oneself in an exclusion that can easily be cemented. It is this government's absolute goal to ensure that all children have the conditions to grow up in safety and security and with equal opportunities.
If I am correctly informed, the member is a teacher, just like myself. This means that we have worked in environments where we can truly make a difference for children. I am very proud that the Swedish school has a compensatory mission, which I have also had the privilege of working intensively with for a number of years of my professional life.
The prevention parts are important. That is why the government also invests in supporting early. It is about BVC, family centers and a well-functioning preschool, which can provide the important start into a school that also works with a compensatory mandate. It is about being able to ensure that more young people have a job to go to after having completed school.
But one must also have a leisure activity and a meaningful leisure time. We know, in fact, that this is also an important preventive factor. In that regard, the leisure card is an incredibly important part to ensure that one, regardless of economic background, can have a meaningful leisure time.
To summarize: We have now made a significant increase regarding social assistance - 8.7 percent higher than in 2023. The unemployment benefit and the activity support have been maintained at the high level that applied during the pandemic. And I want to emphasize once again that the national standard has been raised by 8.6 percent, compared to the difference between 2021 and 2022, which was only 1.6 percent. It is therefore about interventions here and now that target the most vulnerable, but it is also about restructuring the work to ensure that all children and young people have the right conditions.
Anna Wallentheim (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer! I must however admit that I perhaps wished for a bit more. I understand the idea behind the leisure card, but the fact is that it is still not in place even though it costs an incredible amount of money.
Our Nordic neighbors have succeeded in implementing an increase of the child allowance, or an extra child allowance. Sweden is still not there.
We can discuss the background of the economic situation and its being or non-being, but the fact is that the bourgeois government has chosen to prioritize tax cuts over a strengthening of the welfare system. We see how children are suffering from this.
This is something that is funded by our common welfare and by ordinary people. When Sweden faces economic challenges, it requires a policy that takes into account both reality and people's everyday lives. But this seems to be lacking in the government and the Sverigedemokraterna. During the worst economic crisis we have seen in decades, Madam Speaker, the government is, in fact, standing quite passive. We need to do something about this, because it is Sweden's children and young people who are paying the price.
The Tenants' Association meets every month with families with children who are struggling to afford a roof over their heads and avoid eviction. The applications to Majblomman, which previously concerned requests for digital gadgets and help with class trips, are now about being able to afford basic needs such as clothes, blankets, and shoes. The queues for the Red Cross's distribution of food parcels are growing, and the pressure on Rädda Barnens' free leisure activities is increasing.
At the same time as this is happening, the government is pursuing a policy that increases economic inequalities - those who already have get more. The Minister cannot ignore the fact that the government, together with Sverigedemokraterna, has implemented extensive tax cuts for those who are best off. You are, for example, raising the ceiling for the rut and rot deductions, but the families with children that we are discussing would never even think about being able to afford to utilize them; they cannot.
The bourgeois policy that is now being implemented unfortunately lives up to the prejudices I have. Those who already have a lot will get even more, while families with children struggle to put food on the table. This is not only unfair - it is wrong.
We have a development in Sweden where the five richest own as much as 5 million Swedes. The proportion of billionaires in Sweden doubled between 2019 and 2022, while child poverty is increasing. We also have a development where welfare is suffering and welfare staff are being laid off. Is this reasonable?
We Social Democrats represent something completely different and completely different values. We have a different view of society and the human being. Our policy aims to finance our common welfare and create a just distribution of society's resources. Yes, it may mean that the richest have to pay a little more so that all of Sweden's children can have it a little better.
Through a strong welfare state, it is not the size of the wallet that determines whether one can afford education, healthcare, or care. Through a strong welfare state, we do not only empower the individual but also the entire country.
I am a Social Democrat because I believe in the principle that we contribute according to our ability and receive according to our need. Economic equality contributes to a stronger society. My question to the Minister therefore is: When will the government close the tap that increases the economic inequalities affecting children and instead ensure that the country's resources are distributed so that everyone can grow and prosper?
Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Madam Speaker! To claim that this government is passive is nothing more than very empty political rhetoric. It is, sadly enough, possible to counter quite directly by pointing out that the member's own opening statement concerns the situation in 2019-2022, when the proportion of wealthy people increased significantly while child poverty increased just as significantly, according to what the member himself states. I must ask the member to read up again. Which party was it that governed Sweden during those years that the member, astonishingly enough, himself takes up as an example of when the gaps increased significantly?
There must be a sense of decency in a political conversation, and one must take responsibility, especially when coming from a governing party. That the member brings up the years when the Social Democrats themselves led the country as a time when the gaps increased significantly should prompt quite a lot of reflection in the member. It is astonishing that one takes up just this example.
My friends, I can assure you that the work the government is doing right now is, among other things, about restoring the work line, so that these very children can grow up with parents who can support themselves and their families. I know, after all, what it means to be in a work community, to feel the pride of being able to support oneself and one's family and to be able to show one's child that one has a job to go to.
We are now doing a long series of things, because we know that, for example, long periods of economic assistance contribute not only to an increased risk of constant exclusion but also to a significantly increased risk of ill health. Therefore, it is also important that the job tax credits that the government implements primarily aim to give those with low and medium-high incomes an increased opportunity to move from benefits to being able to support themselves.
In this lies a very important hope for the future. It also shows children and young people that there is hope and that one will be able to support oneself.
In the investigation on activity requirements - participation in full-time activities for the right to social assistance - we have recently, among other things, submitted proposals on how an activity requirement could look. It is about countering a long-term dependency on benefits, something that we know all too many Swedes fall into.
I have, among other things, made visits to Hackney, which is an area where people have had four generations of unemployment. Four generations – it is almost difficult to grasp. But the risk exists that if we do not break the long-term welfare support and the dependency on benefits here in Sweden, we will see this in the future's Sweden. So it shall not be. Swedish children shall grow up in families where the parents go to their work and where the children receive an education that means they too can go to a job in the future.
Anna Wallentheim (S)
Madam Speaker! I have no problem addressing what the Minister has just raised. It is true that we had a Social Democratic government between the years 2019 and 2022, but power in Sweden emanates from the Riksdag, and in the Riksdag we had a right-wing majority. The Social Democratic government submitted several proposals here in the Riksdag that were voted down.
Recently we had a debate here in the chamber where we discussed the problems in the country's schools, where cuts are being made. There we unfortunately have a market policy that is tearing down our welfare. I have no problem defending that we at least tried to present proposals that made a difference but which were voted down in this chamber.
I would like to conclude by thanking the Minister for her answer and her participation in the debate. I am convinced that the Minister, just as I do, actually believes that child poverty does not belong in our country. It must, of course, be combated.
I want the Minister to know that I have never thought anything else. I know where the Minister's heart stands on this. I only wish that the Minister and the government could see that their economic policy cannot achieve what I desire.
We Social Democrats call for a policy and a decisiveness where even children in families with low incomes shall have their needs and rights met. Sweden is and shall be one of the world's best countries to grow up in, but today not all children have the same opportunities to realize their dreams. All children shall have the right and the opportunity to this, regardless of social class, gender, ethnic background, any disabilities or where they live. The best interests of the child must come first. This we only achieve when the gaps decrease.
When it rains manna from heaven, the poor man stands without a spoon. This is a concrete consequence of the government's policy. As a Social Democrat, I can never think that it is the right way to go.
Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Anna Wallentheim, for an important interpellation! I truly believe in dialogue. I have also, throughout all my years in the Riksdag, worked to find common ground and work long-term to achieve change. I believe that it is part of our common mission as elected representatives to achieve change that aims for, among other things, that children and young people should be able to grow up in a fantastic country.
Sweden shall be a fantastic country to grow up in. I am glad that I have an opportunity to now be able to influence this through my role as a minister. It is about, among other things, earlier preventive measures and a preventive perspective in many respects.
I see, for example, that the new Social Services Act will be an important tool when it comes to working for children and young people and against child poverty, but also to ensure that we get a safer Sweden. Our social services are an incredibly important part of society's ultimate safety net. The social services should be able to make early preventive interventions and extend a hand before the situation has gone too far. Different interventions should be possible to make. The design of the new law is something I look forward to being able to present soon.
But it is naturally about much more, just as the member says. This should be one of the world's best countries to grow up in. There, I truly share Anna Wallentheim's view. I believe we both have that image before us and want to work for this. Just focusing on the best interests of the child is part of many different legislative processes, the cathedral that we are building of increased safety for children. The things we have discussed are part of the whole, but further legislation regarding the best interests of the child will be an additional part that I hope to be able to present in this chamber in the near future.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.