Response to interpellation 2024/25:176 on measures to combat unemployment

Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)

Madam Speaker! Serkan Köse has, given the serious labor market situation, with high unemployment and growing layoffs within, among other things, healthcare and the construction sector, asked me what concrete measures I and the government intend to take to combat unemployment and strengthen the labor market.

When the government took office, inflation was very high. This has meant a heavy economic burden for households as well as companies, municipalities and regions. The overriding task for the economic policy since the government took office has been to fight inflation. That fight is now won.

The government wants to support the economy's recovery and prioritizes reforms within three areas in particular. It is about continuing to strengthen household purchasing power, about reforms for increased growth, and about re-establishing the work principle so that more people get into work.

To meet the high unemployment, the government has submitted proposals in the autumn budget regarding reduced tax on work and investments in education and support for people far from the labor market. The government also proposes a new job tax deduction for ordinary people. It should always pay to work, and many households have been pressed hard by high costs.

But it is not enough to just lower the tax on labor. Many unemployed people are far from the labor market. Therefore, a reinforcement of Arbetsförmedlingen's support for job seekers with great support needs is proposed. In the budget bill for 2025, an addition of 79 million kronor is proposed. For 2026, 158 million kronor is proposed, and from and including 2027, 238 million kronor is added.

The single most important contribution to establishing oneself on the labor market in the long term is education. High-quality education strengthens individuals' opportunities to establish themselves on the labor market and makes it possible to take advantage of everyone's competence.

The investments made in more places within both the university colleges and the vocational adult education improve access to education so that more people can quickly enter the workforce. In the budget bill for 2025, the government proposes an additional 900 million kronor for approximately 11,000 training places within regional vocational adult education in komvux, that is, yrkesvux. Furthermore, the grant for mentors in lärlingsvux is doubled.

Everyone who can work shall do so. High requirements shall be set for those seeking work, and this shall be combined with that unemployed are offered the right support and measures. Furthermore, there shall be clear activity requirements for receiving benefits.

Arbetsförmedlingen has received a continued mandate in this year's regulatory letter to increase the geographical and professional mobility among the unemployed. Those who are without work must be prepared to undertake an education, retrain, or seek a job in another municipality.

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Serkan Köse (S)

Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer.

During a press briefing before 2024, Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson said that we should expect even more bankruptcies and a difficult situation for the regions. Since then, we have received press release after press release and news clip after news clip about the situation on the Swedish labor market.

On May 14, Arbetsförmedlingen stated that the labor market was weakening. In August, Johan Pehrson was interviewed in the newspaper Arbetet, and it was spoken of the highest unemployment in ten years.

On October 15, we could see that Arbetsförmedlingen announced that long-term unemployment continued to increase. On October 22, Arbetsförmedlingen spoke about record-high payouts from the unemployment insurance fund during the third quarter, when 34 percent more received compensation from the fund. In October, the government itself also spoke about how unemployment continued to rise, and Arbetsförmedlingen spoke about large differences between unemployment in different parts of Sweden.

Now in November, the Swedish Public Employment Service (Arbetsförmedlingen) has stated that unemployment continues to rise and that almost 362,000 people are without work.

That is why we have this debate today, Madam Speaker. I had expected that the Minister in the interpellation response would show that he understood the seriousness of the Swedish labor market. But unfortunately, we can observe that it is clear in the government's response that one does not realize that we have a crisis in the Swedish labor market. Let me state, Mats Persson, that we have a labor market crisis today. Since the Minister took office, unemployment has increased for all groups, Madam Speaker: youth, the long-term unemployed, and even those who previously stood close to the labor market.

Madam Speaker! The government often blames inflation and recession. But other countries in Europe have the same challenges. Still, they succeed in turning the trend. The problem is not the outside world but the government's passivity.

Madam Speaker! To speak plainly: Sweden is today facing the highest unemployment in ten years, if we disregard the pandemic. These are figures that the government itself has confirmed. We have today over 361,000 people who are without work. 145,000 have been unemployed for over a year. Among these are 45,000 young people who are still waiting for their first job. Behind this statistic, Madam Speaker, there is a person, a family struggling to make the finances work, and a society that risks being torn apart by divides and hopelessness.

At the same time, Madam Speaker, the European Commission's latest forecast shows that Sweden is among the countries with the worst growth in the EU. With an expected GDP increase of only 0.3 percent during 2024, we place ourselves among the union's weakest economies. It is obvious that this is not just a result of global inflation or recession. It is also a result of political decisions - or rather, a lack of political decisions.

The Minister mentions that the government is strengthening Arbetsförmedlingen's support for job seekers with great support needs and that they want to re-establish the work line. But let us look at the reality! I have the budget here with me. 79 million kronor are proposed for the reinforcement of Arbetsförmedlingen's administrative costs and support for persons who are far from the labor market. What the Minister does not mention, Madam Speaker, is that these funds are taken from the appropriation for labor market policy programs and measures; we see a reduction of 160 million kronor in the budget. This means that resources are being redistributed rather than new funds being added. Then the question is: How can it help more people back into the labor market if the programs and measures needed to equip people are decreasing? You are reducing the resources.

What the Minister says about educational places is also not quite true, but I will have to come back to that in the next contribution.

Once again, Madam Speaker: I would like to have a serious discussion about the situation on the Swedish labor market, and I expect the Minister to come back with concrete reforms on how we are to get more people into work.

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Leif Nysmed (S)

Madam Speaker! I must thank you for the answer to begin with. When I saw Serkan Köse's interpellation, I thought: I must join this debate.

Serkan highlights the serious situation within the construction sector, and I myself am from the construction sector. I have worked there since 1989 and experienced both booms and recessions in the economy. In the current situation, the recession is very clear in the construction industry. There are over 11,700 just in Byggnads akassa today. Then there are a number of others waiting outside the akassa as well, for which I do not have the figure. Housing construction is at a record low, and it is not rising. It is starting to fall again now, according to the latest figure I saw this week. The need for new housing is much greater than what is being built. The bankruptcies are extremely numerous within construction. This spring, seven companies within the construction industry went bankrupt every day. But despite all these clear signals, the government and its support party Sverigedemokraterna have done nothing to turn the development in the construction sector.

The Minister refers to the fight against inflation. Inflation has fallen all over the world, and that is not the government's merit. On the other hand, the government's reluctance to keep the wheels turning within the construction sector has led to the low housing construction and the high unemployment among Swedish construction workers, which in turn threatens the entire skill supply for the future. During the 90s crisis, it was approximately 20,000 people who left the construction industry, and we see similar effects today.

I listened to a previous interpellation debate where Minister Mats Persson highlighted that he believes in learning on the job. I do too. But of the students in the Stockholm region who left the high school construction program this spring, only 10 percent received an apprenticeship. Taste that - 10 percent! Similar catastrophic figures also exist in several other places in the country. It significantly reduces the attractiveness of the construction industry. We are losing Swedish trained construction workers whom we do not need to put into education but who can do it here. They are becoming unemployed today. At the same time, apprentices are not allowed to enter the labor market to learn a trade that they truly burn for and love.

We must build up a construction and repair readiness within civil society to handle crises and, in the worst-case scenario, a war. But if we have relied solely on foreign labor, which we do to a large extent today, and lost the domestic competence, we as a country will stand naked in a serious crisis.

But in order not to only criticize the government, I also want to record some proposals for measures that are possible to take in public procurement within the construction sector.

One can start by limiting the number of subcontractors on construction sites, for example to two levels downwards. This would mean that more companies actually have to employ their own staff. We have in Sweden large construction companies that have reduced their own staff in favor of bringing in a number of subcontractors, many times with foreign labor, which has caused the Swedish workforce to be drained. In order to both reduce construction fraud and ensure safe working environments, requirements can be set that the staff must be professionally trained and have language skills. One can have apprenticeship clauses so that construction apprentices can get practical experience and be able to get apprenticeship positions after high school. Not least, follow-up and control are needed to ensure that the requirements are met, so that work-life crime is prevented. These requirements are set in several places in the country, including in Region Uppsala, and the previous government set them in connection with the investment support.

Madam Speaker! My question to the Minister is: Can the Minister imagine introducing such requirements at the national level for public procurement to ensure that we safeguard our competence supply within the construction sector in the country?

(Applause)

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Patrik Lundqvist (S)

Madam Speaker! Unemployment is an issue that receives far too little attention today. 20-25 years ago, and perhaps even closer to the present time, today's unemployment figures would have resulted in an outcry across the board, both politically and in civil society. It would have been a shock. Today we stand here and talk almost as if, "yeah, a few percentage points lower, so we can probably fix this." We have a minister who does not really seem to take the issue seriously. Some colleagues here have naturally had a slightly different tone. But it does not feel like there is any sense of crisis among the government.

I would like to refer the Council of State and other interested parties to the review that the National Institute of Economic Research conducted in 2021 of different ways to stimulate the economy and what results they yield on unemployment. There it is stated that if one uses 1 percent of GDP for public investments, it leads to a 1 percent reduction in unemployment. If, on the other hand, one allocates the same sum to tax cuts, it leads to only a 0.3 percent reduction in unemployment.

If one says they are fighting for some kind of work line, one is making a massive fallacy if one uses the state's expanded resources, the reform space, for tax cuts. It is actually incredibly bad. It gives over three times as much effect if one invests directly in Sweden – for example in the construction sector, as we heard about here earlier – as if one lowers taxes, which this government has, moreover, done mostly for those who have the highest incomes.

There is definitely reason to review the economic situation of households and to support households that have had a hard time with inflation. But it is done in a way that does not have a large effect on unemployment. Furthermore, it is given to those who already had the greatest chances of coping with inflation.

Then one has really not delivered on any labor line. One has delivered to the rich, to those who have a lot of capital and perhaps above all to those who stand behind the Moderaternas policy. But one has really not driven any labor line.

We must change that. It is time to take the lesson that exists and use it to ensure that Sweden moves towards better employment. It is a society that is built up for everyone and where everyone has a job to go to. It is a place in existence to call one's own, to be able to build one's life as one wishes and to ensure that one creates one's own existence together.

We certainly do not do that with more tax cuts, which the government thinks is the way forward. We do it with a solid work line where we focus on putting people into work, creating value in Sweden and building Sweden strong for everyone.

It is what the Konjunkturinstitutet shows that we can do if we invest in Sweden. We must choose that path forward. I hope that the minister says that he wants to do when he comes back with his answers.

(Applause)

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Ciczie Weidby (V)

Madam Speaker! I could not help but join the debate when I, so to speak, had the Minister on the line.

Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. This is stated in Article 23 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The right to work, which also includes the right of everyone to be able to earn their livelihood through freely chosen or accepted work, is clarified in Article 6 of the UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The right to work for persons with disabilities is also clarified. The Convention speaks of that the right to work and employment shall also apply to persons with disabilities. They shall also have equal conditions as everyone else.

Just because one has a disability does not mean that one does not, in the same way as everyone else, want to earn their livelihood. One also has the right to be able to do so through freely chosen or accepted work on the labor market in a work environment that is open, and so on.

It is now 15 years since the convention entered into force in Sweden. But there are many shortcomings in the work to ensure that Sweden lives up to the convention that all people shall have the right to work and their own livelihood.

It would be easy to rattle off facts. SCB has produced a huge amount of data on the area regarding how many people with different disabilities are unemployed. It is the same percentage at 40 percent over time. It is always the same regardless of what kind of economy we have and completely regardless of which government we have. This is a group that is always sidelined and whose rights and obligations are not noticed.

From another debate I had with Mats Persson, I notice that he frames it around people's obligation to take work and not live on benefits. It is the classic liberal line and view of people.

When one meets people from the disability rights movement, they say: But please, where is our right to participate in the labor market? We are always referred to a lot of measures, subsidies, and so on. I never get to be involved and contribute and myself feel that I go to work, that I contribute to my own livelihood and that I live a life that I myself get to decide over.

Mr. Speaker! I think Mats Persson would very much like to tell: How will the government ensure that all persons not only shall have but also have the right to obtain an employment that is meaningful for them?

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Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you to the participants in the interpellation debate for an excellent debate.

It is important to note that it is no walk in the park to bring down inflation in a country. That is where Sweden finds itself right now after a situation with shock-raised interest rates and very high inflation. It is nothing that any politician in Sweden has caused. It is the outside world that has confronted us with that fact.

It is extremely important that the Riksdag, the fiscal policy, and the monetary policy from the Riksbank together take the issue seriously and act in a responsible manner so that we can bring down inflation and thereby bring down interest rates. It is also what we are now seeing happen.

It is enough to travel to our neighboring country Norway to see that it is not a law of nature that it must be that way. There, they have much higher inflation than we have here and have not been able to lower the interest rate to the extent that we have been able to do in Sweden.

It is important that we have pursued a responsible economic policy in order to bring down interest rates and get the economic wheels moving so that they spin faster.

It is also important to note that Sweden and our social model work very well in many ways. We have one of the highest employment rates in Europe.

We have many who are in the workforce. We have no housewives in Sweden. I think it is good that we do not have them, instead women and men seek work. We have a high labor force participation.

But we have a gap in competence between, on one hand, the unemployed and, on the other hand, what the public and private employers demand. We need to close that gap in different ways.

That is why the government is investing very much in vocational training to ensure that people can undergo an education. People are given many opportunities in Sweden to undergo an education and have the opportunity to undergo an education that ultimately leads to them getting a job.

The government is also making large investments in the future and in growth, with public investments in infrastructure and research in order to in that way achieve a Sweden that holds together.

It also contributes to the economic wheels turning faster. It is important now when the economy is recovering and we can see further ahead in that way that employment increases and unemployment falls.

Mr. Speaker! Ciczie Weidby mentions the disabled. It makes me very happy that the member does so. Just as the member describes, it is a problem that we have had in Sweden for a long time and which, frankly, has nothing to do with which government we have, but is a problem we have regardless.

I completely share the view that we need to work with employers' values and their view of people with disabilities in society in general. There are structural barriers that cause people to not be seen as a resource but as a problem, which makes the path to the labor market longer.

We have a proud tradition in Sweden that we treat people with disabilities on the basis that if people can work, they should have the opportunity to get a job. We have support systems in the form of a company, Samhall, which has as its business idea and mandate from the taxpayers and politics to take responsibility for people and provide opportunities for work for those who are far from the labor market.

It is an important part to ensure that we have support for those who have it the toughest in society.

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Serkan Köse (S)

Mr. Speaker! The Minister mentioned some countries, including Norway. One can note the difference between the measures in Norway, Denmark, and Germany and what this government is doing. In those countries, powerful measures have been taken to protect jobs and create new opportunities. But here, Mr. Speaker, we have a government that is truly sitting on its hands.

Mats Persson speaks time and again about the government investing in education. But when we look at the budget and the results, we can state that the education budget has decreased in several areas. Cuts have, for example, affected the folk high schools, one of the most important education reforms for those who are far from the labor market. The government has also not compensated for inflation in its investments, which means that the actual value of the funds provided is significantly lower than what the minister says.

We can observe, Mr. Speaker, that since Mats Persson and the Sweden Democrats took power in 2022, the budget for adult education has been cut by over half a billion kronor. And the study start grant, a grant that gave short-educated unemployed people a chance to further their education, is being abolished.

The question is, Mats Persson: How are people supposed to educate themselves and return to the labor market when you remove the tools that exist? You are cutting them down. Is this Mats Persson's work line?

Sweden has Europe's third highest unemployment. Denmark, Norway and Finland are taking measures and strengthening labor market policies through education and retraining. In Sweden, we have a government that, with the support of the Sweden Democrats, lowers taxes for those who already have the most, and furthermore, they borrow for it. Not even the Fiscal Policy Council considers this to be a measure that will lead to more people getting jobs. It will not help the long-term unemployed or young people who are still waiting for their first job. I mentioned 45,000 young people, Mats Persson!

The difference between our policy, the Social Democratic policy, and Mats Persson's policy is that we stand for investments. We stand up for people having the opportunity for education, retraining, and active labor market policies that give more people the opportunity to return to work and support themselves. That is what the work principle is: to give people the conditions to support themselves.

Mr. Speaker! During the pandemic, we Social Democrats introduced something called short-term layoffs. It saved hundreds of thousands of jobs. We reintroduced extra services and invested in welfare, which is an engine for jobs, security, and growth in Sweden. Equipping people for the future – that is the difference between Social Democratic policy and the policy that Mats Persson stands for.

Mr. Speaker! We are at the halfway point of the mandate period. During the two years that Mats Persson and the Sverigedemokraterna have governed this country, ten years of real wage increases have been erased. Unemployment has reached its highest level in a decade, and Sweden's growth is among the lowest in Europe. This, Mr. Speaker, is no law of nature. This is a result of the government's and the Sverigedemokraterna's political priorities.

My specific question to Minister Mats Persson is: In what way will the cuts in active labor market policy, reduced resources for Arbetsförmedlingen, the abolition of the study start support, and the deterioration of unemployment benefits from next year lead to more people entering the labor market? Is it the work principle, Mats Persson, or is it just empty words without real substance?

(Applause)

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Leif Nysmed (S)

Mr. Speaker! I thank you for the answer, but I miss a comment regarding active measures concerning, for example, public procurements to ensure the competence supply in Sweden for the future. It is also about enabling those who undergo vocational training to get a job after the training. It is these thoughts I would like to share.

I was a bit aggressive in my first post, and that is because this issue affects me very much. I have many friends who work in the construction sector who are being hit hard right now, and I see how this is slowing down Sweden's development.

An investment in the construction sector is also an engine to kickstart growth. An old truth is that one construction worker puts three others to work. It creates multiplier effects that get the whole society moving. For me, it is surprising that the investment support is being stopped. The first thing the government did was to stop 20,000 rental apartments in one stroke - at a time when housing construction was falling! It is completely backward to me.

You were involved in this once, Mats Persson. At that time, we set requirements in the investment support that there should be apprentices and that construction suppliers could be allowed to go out on internships. It can be done if one wants to, but I see no indications from today's government of wanting to do anything.

Another question that I want to send along and that I think you should think a bit more about is the labor market assessment and reintroducing it. I had an interpellation debate before the summer with Maria Malmer Stenergard, who had that question before she changed roles. She said then – when I did not have the right to more contributions – that she did not want to give the unions a veto over employment. Therefore, we say no to the labor market assessment, she said. That is a purely ideologically blinded reason! Instead, the government should see that measures are needed to save the Swedish labor market.

I would like to hear some comments on what you want, especially regarding public procurement. I would like to get some more answers there. Unfortunately, I do not have the right to more posts in the debate.

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Patrik Lundqvist (S)

Mr. Speaker! I intended to link a bit to a previous debate we have had here regarding the nystartsjobb (new start jobs) and also say something about what Leif spoke about.

The construction sector will turn around at some point. In the best of worlds, we would have had a government that invested and ensured that we managed this mismatch between the housing needs and unemployment. We should build housing by ensuring that the money goes to what we truly need in society. We need housing, and there is money. But we put it on other things instead of putting it on building housing and ensuring that people get jobs and can create a future for themselves.

Regardless of how long it will take before it turns around, we also need to ensure that the jobs created in the construction sector go to construction workers with reasonable wages and Swedish conditions. The Swedish model shall be followed, plain and simple. We must ensure that the jobs created do not go to exploited people from other countries or from Sweden who are forced to work under slave-like conditions and perhaps do not even know if they have a job in the future.

We must ensure that everyone is able to support themselves through the jobs that are created here, and in that case, we must also have some form of control over the construction sector when it gets started.

I would like to refer to what is called the Oslo Model. There, they have ensured to set requirements on reasonable conditions. They set requirements for transparency in the construction industry when procuring. The public sector is one of the largest builders even in Sweden, and we need to ensure that this works.

Mr. Speaker! Let us take this into the future and ensure that the jobs that will be created also become sensible jobs for decent workers with decent conditions!

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Ciczie Weidby (V)

Mr. Speaker! I naturally have respect for the fact that Mats Persson did not have time to raise all the proposals that the government has to strengthen the right to work for persons with disabilities.

I have a small proposal. Funktionsrätt Sverige and Vänsterpartiet, for example, think it would be a very smart and good idea to develop a national action plan containing goals and measures to ensure that the employment rate among persons with disabilities is raised so that it reaches the same level as among the rest of the population.

In such a national action plan, one can develop and discuss, for example, Samhall or to what extent and at what level one should have wage subsidy employments, but naturally also the companies' responsibilities. There are many countries that say that when you have over a certain number of employees, you also have certain obligations. In that way, one can force in a diversity and take a social responsibility so that all people have the right to work.

I would really look forward to this government showing that its work line, that one should take a job instead of benefits, actually also applies to these people, who do not want anything other than to go from benefits to jobs and feel important and needed on the labor market.

It may happen that I have to have a specific debate, Mr. Speaker, with the Minister regarding issues of functional rights and the opportunities and rights of people with functional impairments in the labor market. But a national action plan would be excellent.

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Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)

Mr. Speaker! I think it is important that we are a bit decent towards one another and intellectually honest in a debate like this. It is clear that no one in Sweden believes or thinks that it is the government's fault that we have high inflation in Europe and the world. That is because the world around us is terrible. We have a war in Europe, and that war has meant that inflation in the entire Western world has become very high. It is neither the Social Democrats' nor the bourgeois government's fault. It is Vladimir Putin's fault. We can be decent towards one another and describe it as it actually is.

Since then, our task is to handle this in the best possible way. It is possible that we have different views in the chamber on how the situation should be handled, and I think we can have respect for that.

The government's view is that combating inflation is absolutely crucial so that the Riksbank can lower interest rates in the next stage so that Swedish households, who are currently having a very tough time, can get it better. For those who work, it is about being able to take a holiday with the family when interest rates go down. For those who have a tougher economic situation, it is about no longer having to dip into their savings. For those who have it even tougher, it is about the fact that they will now, thanks to interest rate cuts and the government's tax cuts for those who work, be able to get a much better economic situation.

Regardless of what economic situation one is in, it is very large groups that are now getting better off because we, with responsible politics, have ensured that inflation is going down so that interest rates can also fall. It is very important.

It is also important for those who are unemployed. It means that the companies dare to invest. It means that the construction sector can get started. It means that we will see investments in increased housing construction. It also means that when the economic wheels turn, the employers will be more inclined to hire people.

Then it is important that the unemployed are equipped to take the jobs that the employers offer - that we have an education system. That is why next year we will have 120,000 training places in vocational adult education, universities of applied sciences, etc., so that people can obtain a vocational education that leads to a job. It is very important. It is also a very important part of the government's policy. We complement the Riksbank's monetary policy and ensure that we invest in the future for growth, but we also ensure that there are educational opportunities so that people can take the vacant jobs that exist.

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Serkan Köse (S)

Mr. Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer.

This debate has once again shown that the government lacks insight into the crisis we face in the Swedish labor market. Unemployment is, once again, at its highest in a decade, but instead of strengthening resources, the government chooses to cut resources for active labor market policies. It is a policy that leaves people behind. It is not a work line, but an unemployment line that this government is driving.

Cuts in adult education of half a billion kronor, the abolition of the study start support, and reduced resources to Arbetsförmedlingen have made it harder for people to get any kind of opportunity to enter the labor market. This cannot be blamed on anyone else. Here, the government has a responsibility.

Mr. Speaker! Every unemployed individual is not just a figure but a human being who wants to contribute and work. I mean that everyone who can work should work, but for that to happen, it is important that the government comes in with measures and initiatives to ensure that people receive the support they need to be able to enter the labor market. Instead, one chooses to lower the tax for the richest. How will that help people who are far away from the labor market?

I have previously mentioned that we Social Democrats have chosen to act. During the pandemic, we saved thousands of jobs in Sweden. We invested in education, invested in welfare, and equipped people for the future labor market. We know that the solutions exist, Mr. Speaker. The question is whether this government wants to look at and use the solutions that we have previously used.

Other countries are often mentioned. In Denmark, they have a plan. In Germany, they have a plan. In other countries, they have a plan. What is Mats Persson's plan to handle the increased unemployment in Sweden? We mostly hear empty words, and tax cuts seem to be the solution to all questions.

Mr. Speaker! Unlike this government, we Social Democrats will never accept that people are left behind. We will continue to fight for more jobs, for security, and for a Sweden where all people get the chance to have a job to support themselves on. It is a Social Democratic work line.

Thank you for the debate!

(Applause)

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Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)

Mr. Speaker! I thank Serkan Köse and others for this interpellation debate.

There is a very clear dividing line in Swedish politics. It runs between the government's working line and the Social Democrats' contribution line.

When we lower taxes for people who work and make it more profitable to move from benefits to work, the Social Democrats vote no to it and raise the benefits and make it less profitable to work instead of living on benefits. When the government puts forward stricter requirements for the unemployed and reforms the unemployment insurance to ensure that it truly is a trampoline where one bounces back and not something one lives on year after year, the Social Democrats criticize it. When we stimulate the construction sector with an increased tax deduction, the Social Democrats vote no to it, despite it being a tangible stimulus to the construction sector. When we in different ways tighten the requirements on people, have high expectations of people and ensure that the work principle functions, the Social Democrats vote no to it.

The government's work line meets the opposition's and the Social Democrats' benefit line. It is very clear where the dividing line in Swedish politics lies. It is clear for the voters, clear for me, and clear for the listener: the work line versus the benefit line.

The interpellations debate was hereby concluded.

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