Response to interpellation 2024/25:180 on the government's work to strengthen students' finances and counteract the increase in debt
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
L believes that the Swedish student grant is one of the world's most generous and that the student means are well-balanced to cover reasonable living costs 1. L argues that the student means are indexed and that most students have a good experience 1 2. L emphasizes that the CSN interest rate is significantly lower than market interest rates and that the system is intended to pay for itself without a profit motive 3. L believes it is reasonable for students to borrow a portion for their education as it is an investment 3. L argues that the current grant is a pure encouragement and that there are no plans to increase the grants, which are very large from an international perspective 3. L emphasizes that the generous support should be sufficient for the students' expenses 4. V believes that the student grant does not cover living costs and that students go into the red every month 5 6. V advocates for a higher grant component, reintroduced study conditions in the unemployment insurance fund, and a reformed housing allowance 6.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Mr. Speaker! Nadja Awad has asked me if I consider it a problem that so many with student debts end up with the Enforcement Authority. Nadja Awad has also asked me what measures I and the government intend to take to create financial relief for students and whether an increase in the grant portion of the student aid can be such a measure. Furthermore, Nadja Awad has asked me if I intend to take measures within my area of responsibility to prevent people from ending up with the Enforcement Authority. Nadja Awad has finally asked me if I and the government intend to lower CSN's reminder fee.
Mr. Speaker! The Swedish student grant is one of the world's most generous student support systems. The student grant is fundamental for equal education and gives everyone, regardless of background, the opportunity to study. Flexible and well-balanced grant levels remove obstacles and enable people to supplement previous studies or to study further at a higher level.
The total amount of student financial aid, that is, the student grant and the student loan, is intended in principle to cover reasonable living costs during the period of study. The student financial aid is also indexed to follow the cost developments in society. This means that the cost increases in society are handled by adjusting the student financial aid amounts with the so-called price base amount. This means that the level of the student financial aid increases if the costs in society increase.
Within the student support system, there are also opportunities for, among other things, supplementary grants for student parents and supplementary loans. The student support system is also intended to function together with other safety nets such as the social insurance system. Student parents and students under 29 years of age with low incomes can, for example, be entitled to housing allowance.
The results analysis in the budget bill for 2025 shows that the general purchasing power of student grants has increased and that the student support contributes to a high participation in education. The Government therefore assesses that the total amount within student grants is currently well-balanced.
In order for the generous student support system to be maintained, loans must also be paid back. Borrowers who do not pay their student debts result in an increased administrative burden for the Central Student Loan Board, CSN. Such costs must be covered. If they are not covered by the borrowers bearing this, the costs must be covered in some other way, for example by the taxpayers. The reminder fee is part of the system that contributes to ensuring that those who take out student loans pay back in time.
It is, however, important to point out that for those borrowers who for some reason have difficulty repaying their loans, there are special safety rules within the repayment system. There is, for example, the possibility to apply for a reduction of the repayment or a write-off of the student debts. CSN continuously informs about these safety rules.
The Government is closely following the developments in this area. No work is currently underway to review the reminder fees.
When it comes to unpaid student debts, it is obviously a problem for the individuals who end up with the Swedish Enforcement Authority. The Government follows the issue of individuals' indebtedness very closely. The Government has also in the budget bill for 2025 signaled that there is a need for a review of the student loan system. One of the starting points for the signaled review should be that the security for the students is protected and that the students' indebtedness is taken into account.
The possibilities for individuals to repay their student debts are strengthened if the education is completed. One of the government's main priorities within education policy is also to provide good conditions for studying in high-quality programs within municipal adult education, vocational colleges, and higher education.
Nadja Awad (V)
Mr. Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer.
The Left Party's view on knowledge is that it is a democratic right. One of the most important prerequisites for making knowledge and education accessible to more people is a student support system that provides social and economic security for students in everything from adult education to higher education. For the student support to continue to have that effect, the Left Party believes that it must meet the students' living costs. It is now starting to change, Mr. Speaker, for the worse because this government and the Sverigedemokraterna, in this difficult economic crisis for households, families with small children, and students, prioritize lowering taxes for the very richest. The Minister says that the total amount within the student support, that is, the student grant and the student loan, covers reasonable living costs during the period of study. But it does not.
Food prices are increasing, electricity grid fees are rising, rent increases are at their highest in decades, public transport prices are increasing, learning materials cost, clothes cost, and everything costs more. It is so expensive for our students.
For the fourth year in a row, SSCO presents Stockholm's student budget. They report on what the economic situation looks like for an average student in Stockholm. According to their calculations, a student in Stockholm in 2024 is minus 4,585 kronor per month. Their conclusion is therefore that a student in Stockholm cannot cover the necessary expenses solely with the help of student support. To afford it, students must either work alongside their studies, borrow money, use any savings, find alternative solutions to finance their living costs during their studies, or cut back on less urgent expenses, for example, healthy food or dental care.
The survey shows that many students experience their financial situation as strained and that many live on small margins. More than half of the surveyed students stated that they feel stressed about their finances. When studies are not allowed to be a full-time occupation for economic reasons, the risk of mental ill-health increases. It looks this difficult purely financially for many students all over the country, not just for those who live in the capital. So we cannot have it, Mr. Speaker.
If the Minister judges that the student support is currently at a reasonable level, a good level, if the Minister considers that a student can live on both the student grant and the student loan, which this year stands at 13,156 kronor per month, I have a question. Why does the Minister not test living as a student does? Pause the tax cuts and the high politicians' salaries that the government has given itself and test living as a student does. The Minister and the government do not seem to believe that an ordinary student in 2024 in Sweden goes into the red by 5,000 kronor a month.
Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Mr. Speaker! I thank you for a very important question regarding the conditions for knowledge.
We just heard that knowledge is a democratic right. Access to knowledge, sitting down and studying hard from Monday to Friday, hopefully with good lectures, interesting seminars and much teacher-led time, which this government is working to increase in the education at universities and colleges, is a right. Figures have appeared here in the debate, but the unique thing in Sweden in this figures exercise is the grant portion of the student aid amount from January 2025. Everyone who studies in Sweden will thus receive 4,433 kronor in grant to read and fill themselves with knowledge. It is fantastic. Then one can borrow 10,192 kronor per month in 2025. That corresponds to a total amount of 14,625 kronor from 2025 onwards. I think it is fantastic. It is not just a matter of me thinking it is fantastic and good, but it also happens to be high compared to how it is internationally. Then it is of course so that if one works in Sweden, one can earn a significantly higher income even in those jobs that are not particularly high-paid.
We know that the student grant is relatively generous. A student can therefore receive 14,625 kronor starting from next year, and it is almost next year. CSN has reviewed the situation for university students during 2024, and the answers show that the vast majority have a good experience of their study situation - 74 percent state that it is good or even very good.
Then, of course, we are aware that students are not a homogeneous group. They can experience their situation very differently and have different situations, for example, regarding access to housing, Mr. Speaker. That is quite obvious. We know, for example, that older students at universities tend to experience their finances as significantly more strained.
I want to return to the report and point out that it shows that the average figures among university students are that they manage well and that the average student makes the total amount last. But as I said, it is always the case that it is more insufficient in certain areas, not least depending on the rental situation. There, the student support system, as I said in my first answer, is intended to be complemented by the fact that studying parents and students under 29 years of age with low incomes can also be entitled to housing allowance.
I would like to conclude by pointing out that the so-called exemption limit for those who are studying and want an extra job to supplement and improve their financial situation is also something that will be adjusted starting next year.
TALMANNEN
I understand the Minister for Education's ambition to include the entire chamber in his speech, but our sound technicians are tearing their hair out if one does not speak into the microphone.
(Minister for Education JOHAN PEHRSON (L): The feedback is received!)
Nadja Awad (V)
Mr. Speaker! It doesn't matter how much this government and the minister say that the student grant is being increased by, because it is still insufficient.
We know that the student grant is adjusted upwards every year following the cost developments that we see out in society. But that adjustment starts from very low amounts. As I began the debate with, students all over Sweden are back several thousand kronor every month.
So, it doesn't matter how much the government tries to portray itself as an ambitious government that really wants the students to be able to believe that this government is investing in raising the economic standard for the students. If you look at reality and if you look at the figures, you see that the level is still not sufficient. It is not adjusted upwards sufficiently.
If we are to talk about concrete proposals for how students' economic standard can be improved, we must talk about how one can value higher education and the period of study as a full-time occupation.
Vänsterpartiet wants the proportion of grants in student aid to increase so that the debt burden does not become more burdensome. With higher grants and lower loans, the repayment of the student loan is also facilitated. We do not want to indebt students. Their representation is already sufficient among those who currently have cases with the Enforcement Authority.
Those who are studying or have just started looking for a job should also have the right to the basic amount in the unemployment insurance fund. During the pandemic, we saw that unemployment among students increased, and it is a group that does not have large economic margins. The student condition must therefore be reintroduced. I would very much like to hear what the minister has to say about that.
Furthermore, the student grant does not interact particularly well with the social insurance system. The Left Party therefore wants the compensation systems to be reformed so that they are linked to students' employment instead of whether they receive a student grant, so that no student should run the risk of being left out of the health insurance.
The housing allowance also needs to be reformed so that all students, regardless of age, can apply for it. The alternative is a separate set of regulations for students where the management of the housing allowance is taken over by CSN. It would simplify things if one could apply for student grants and housing allowances in the same place. Furthermore, more people would find out that this housing allowance exists. In fact, there are very many students who do not know about it at all. What is the Minister's view on this?
Regarding the increasing mountain of student debt at the Enforcement Authority that I mentioned, the increase over the last two years has been unusually large. CSN has looked at the repayment of student loans and what it looks like among those who have undergone debt restructuring. It has had a positive impact on repayment - two out of three pay CSN according to plan after debt restructuring. Does this government want to enable more people to undergo debt restructuring?
The falling interest rate level has become a relief for many households' finances, but the interest rate on student loans from CSN is now going in the opposite direction. The forecast for 2025 is an increase to 1.97 percent from this year's 1.23 percent. Also last year, this government raised the interest rate. Is it a reasonable prioritization of this government to raise the CSN interest rate every year?
Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Mr. Speaker! To start from the back, the interest on CSN loans is indeed much lower than market interest rates. However, it has a certain lag in such a way that when interest rates fall, it does not follow down immediately.
There was a time when the great discussion in various economic forums was whether one should borrow to repay CSN because it would be better since the interest rates on the market were so low. When the interest rates increased for a period, the interest at CSN did not follow up, and now when the interest rates tend to fall thanks to the government's very responsible economic policy to combat inflation together with others, that interest does not follow down to the same extent. There is a lag. CSN has no profit motives with its loans, instead, the system is to pay for itself.
We naturally see the situation for students and follow it very closely. It is also important to ensure that the educations maintain such high quality that they provide good conditions for work after completed studies. Deceive is a strong word, Mr. Speaker, but otherwise, one has, so to speak, deceived the students into setting aside years of their lives. Despite the fact that they receive very much grants to study, they may also have borrowed money. Then it is very serious if the educations do not maintain top quality, because it can mean that the person who has studied does not get any job and that the borrowed money has simply been thrown into the lake. That is not good, so it is a decisive issue.
Since then, it has been a constant trade-off. These are people who, generally speaking, choose to invest their time and their effort in their own knowledge. It can be a degree that leads to getting a significantly better-paid job. One gets good conditions to develop one's career throughout life, and if one studies further later in life, one can step in and build this on a much higher level. In that case, it is reasonable that one borrows some of it oneself. Otherwise, other people who do not study further, at least not directly, might not think it is worth so much to go and work if those who study get everything in grants.
Now, that is not what is being said here, but it is about the trade-off. The amount of over 4,000 is a pure grant, a pure encouragement to continue studying, because higher education is so important for Sweden. But it is also important for the individual, and therefore one must have a personal contribution.
I hear the rhetoric about members of parliament and ministers raising their fees. There are independent bodies that review this to ensure that the compensation for being both a member of parliament and a minister is reasonable. That is how it has been for many years, and it is nothing I think we should abandon.
We are following this closely, but we have no plans to increase the, at least internationally speaking, very large grants one receives when studying in Sweden.
Nadja Awad (V)
Mr. Speaker! The Swedish student support system has been one of the world's most generous, but it is now being eroded because of this government and the Sverigedemokraterna. They prioritize tax cuts for the very richest and raising their own politicians' salaries. This is what has actually been done; it is the proposal that has been presented in the autumn budget bill. Of 60 billion in budget space, they have used almost half for tax cuts that benefit the very richest in this society. And they have not chosen to stop the automatic increase of politicians' salaries. It is therefore no untruth that I have presented here.
The Minister says that this government continues to follow the students' economic situation very closely, but how long is one supposed to do that? This government has less than two years of government power left before the Swedish people hopefully vote it out.
I have asked a number of questions about how one can stop the impact on students' finances that we are seeing - they are losing several thousand kronor every month, all over the country. I have mentioned a number of proposals. But I do not perceive it as the Minister and the government wanting to move forward with the proposals to view the study time that students devote as a full-time occupation and thereby ensure that they have a reasonable standard of living. This should be treated with the same seriousness as the students apply when they educate themselves.
Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Member, for the debate! This issue is important. We need to have young people who want to invest in themselves and in Sweden by educating themselves. It is incredibly important with education and that one, with good support and own strength and energy, strives to ensure that one can contribute in the best way to the building of society, together with everyone else.
In a previous post, I mentioned a bit about the CSN report, which reviews the students' socio-educational situation and how they generally perceive their situation. The report shows that the average expenses for university students are approximately 12,500 kronor per month. Thus, the total amount, that is, a very generous grant and the loan part, which, unlike in many other countries, is provided under market-based conditions, should suffice. There are also reinforcement possibilities if one has children or high rent or is under 29 years of age. The idea is to weave together the social security systems as much as possible so that they also cover students.
This means that the demand for Swedish education is high. One must conclude that many experience that it is important to study and that the conditions are good. Both the quality of the education and following the students' study-social situation are crucial for the future, Mr. Speaker.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.