Response to interpellation 2024/25:216 on women's increasing sick leave due to stress
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
1 L argues that the government has strengthened welfare through permanent state grants to improve working conditions 1. 1 L emphasizes that the employer is responsible for the work environment and that the government is working with a work environment strategy to break increased stress 1. 2 L argues that the government has already implemented targeted initiatives on women's health and maternity care 2. S argues that the government is underfunding welfare and that targeted resources are required for women-dominated professions instead of general grants. 3 4 S argues that stress-related ill health is a systemic error caused by underfunding and an imbalance between demands and resources 3 4. 5 S believes that society undervalues women-dominated professions 5. 5 S argues that Sweden needs an equal equality where wages, working conditions, and the work environment show respect for welfare workers, and that this should be prioritized over tax cuts for the super-rich 5. 6 S appreciates the minister's commitment and willingness to see the big picture in the issues 6. 7 L believes that professional work and work at home affect people generally and that the issue must be seen in its entirety 7. 7 L argues that the government has provided money to strengthen welfare and improve working conditions 7. 7 L emphasizes the importance of preventive work as well as measures to help those on sick leave return to work 7. 8 L argues that the government has work in progress on several fronts, including through the work environment strategy 8.
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 Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! Jessica Rodén has asked me, partly, what initiatives I intend to take to ensure that employers in female-dominated occupations, such as healthcare, school, and care, are given the conditions to create a sustainable work environment and reduce the work-related stress that primarily affects women, and partly, how I am working to promote equality initiatives in the labor market that reduce double work for women and create a more equal distribution of both paid and unpaid work.
I would like to thank you for the questions and for the interpellator's commitment to equality. As Minister for Equality and Employment, I am pleased that important issues such as these are raised and debated in the Riksdag.
The overall goal of the gender equality policy is that women and men shall have the same power to shape society and their lives. Two of the six gender equality policy sub-goals are closely linked to the issues to be discussed today, namely sub-goal 4 on the equal distribution of unpaid home and care work and sub-goal 5 on equal health.
To begin with, the government in the budget bill for 2023 and 2024 has permanently added 16 billion kronor in general government grants to municipalities and regions. This constitutes a significant part of next year's reform space and is intended to strengthen welfare and improve working conditions within these sectors.
The basis for the occupational environment legislation is that it is the employer's responsibility to ensure a good and safe working environment through systematic occupational environment work. Safety representatives in the workplaces also have a central role in these matters. The Swedish Work Environment Authority's regulations on organizational and social work environment (AFS 2015:4) are significant for making visible and addressing problems in the work environment. From 2022-2024, the Swedish Work Environment Authority has conducted a specific national inspection effort within the health and social care sector with a focus on organizational and social work environment.
From the government's work environment strategy 2021-2025 (skr. 2020/21:92) it follows that the development of increased stress in working life needs to be broken. The government's agencies within the work environment area, Arbetsmiljöverket and the Agency for Work Environment Knowledge, Mynak, have been tasked to annually develop action plans to implement the work environment strategy within their respective areas. Through the government's work environment forum, an ongoing dialogue is maintained on these issues with representatives for the labor market parties and relevant agencies.
There are also other factors linked to stress-related illnesses and sick leave than the work environment. I therefore also want to refer to the questioner's other question and agree that a high burden in unpaid home and care work can be a contributing cause to women's higher sickness absence. Both women and men should have good conditions to share equally in the unpaid home and care work and in the parental leave. Among other things, in order to promote more equal parenting, the government has therefore recently reformed the parental leave benefit and made it more flexible.
The government also makes equality initiatives within the area of women's health. For 2024, the government allocates 1.6 billion kronor for the area of maternity care and women's health and estimates allocating the same amount for 2025.
Furthermore, the government earlier this year decided on an action program to prevent and combat men's violence against women, violence in close relationships and honor-related violence and oppression, as well as prostitution and human trafficking 2024-2026. That we combat the fact that women are subjected to violence is a prerequisite for their health and for them to be able to participate in the labor market.
Jessica Rodén (S)
Madam Speaker! We face an alarming reality where sick leaves due to stress-related ill health continue to increase, particularly among women in welfare professions.
The government refers to the employer's responsibility and to the Swedish Work Environment Authority's supervisory efforts. But it is the government's responsibility to provide employers with the conditions to create a sustainable work environment. Targeted resources specifically for female-dominated occupations are required, and not general state grants that risk disappearing in the big picture.
Despite the measures mentioned in the response, we see no clear improvements in the statistics. Sick leave remains at alarming levels. In municipalities and regions, we see the effects of the government's long-term underfunding of the welfare system.
Försäkringskassan writes the following in the report Mental health in today's working life: "Regardless of occupation, women run more than twice the risk as men of being signed off sick for stress-related mental ill-health. The risk is greatest in the age group 30-39 years, and in addition to mental ill-health, stress can lead to, among other things, cardiovascular diseases. The gender differences are reinforced by the fact that many women work in risky occupations within the welfare sector and often carry double workloads. To achieve a better balance in private and work life regardless of gender, increased equality and more focus on preventive work environment measures are required."
Madam Speaker! This quote from the Försäkringskassan report shows with all clarity that women in welfare professions pay the price for deficiencies in the work environment and equality. It is women who take care of our children in preschools, care for our elderly in nursing homes and teach future generations in schools. It is women who pay the price for a system where welfare is chronically underfunded.
Madam Speaker! Mental illness does not only mean great suffering for the individual but also entails enormous costs for society. Stress-related mental illness has increased over time, and never before have so many been on sick leave for stress as during 2024.
We Social Democrats have several proposals that we believe would be more effective in countering women's sick leave due to stress. Instead of tax cuts for high-income earners, resources are needed that strengthen the welfare and the female-dominated professions. Targeted investments in the work environment and earmarked funds to improve working conditions within healthcare, school, and care are needed. By ensuring sufficient staffing, the workload can be reduced and stress levels can fall.
I would therefore like to ask the Minister: Is the government prepared to introduce targeted investments in the working environment in the welfare sector and in other areas that would, in practice, reduce the stress for the women in these occupations?
Sanna Backeskog (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank Member Jessica Rodén for a very important interpellation. I also thank the Minister for Equality for being here and discussing these important issues with us today.
Our Swedish welfare is created and distributed by those who work in the municipalities and in the regions. Today, the municipalities and regions have approximately 1.2 million employees, and of these, 80-90 percent are women. It is therefore likely a woman we are speaking to when we call to check something before the excursion at the preschool, a woman who teaches our children and young people to read, write, and count in school, and a woman we report our arrival to at the health center. It is on the women it depends. They are the ones who take care of us when we are old and sick, and they are the ones who contribute to quality of life and participation in society for those who are dependent on LSS. It is the women who "keep the pots boiling," not just in the school canteen but in the entire welfare sector. That these women are now so exhausted by stress and poor working conditions is a major scandal and an enormous societal failure.
In Försäkringskassan's situation report Mental health in today's working life, it is described that it is well-documented in research that it is primarily a poor work environment that causes stress-related sick leave and that an important explanation for high sick leave within healthcare, school, and care is an imbalance between demands and resources.
High demands in combination with low influence at the workplace is a major risk factor for stress-related sick leave. Sick leave due to stress has quintupled. Among those affected, four out of five women are in the welfare sector. Among Kommunal's members is Sweden's largest professional group: assistant nurses within home care, elderly care homes, and home nursing. These are signed off sick more than twice as often as the average in the labor market. In an interview, Malin Ragnegård, chairperson for Kommunal, says: "The majority of assistant nurses experience that the staffing at their workplace is insufficient. At the same time, employers talk about assistant nurse being a shortage occupation, but with this extremely poor work environment, it is primarily a risky occupation!"
Madam Speaker! I see this so clearly during site visits and during internships all over the country and in my home county of Gävleborg. I see employees who are on their knees in Region Gävleborg, which today is governed by the Tidö parties, and I see it in the municipalities where very different party constellations cooperate in government. It is simply a matter of stating that municipalities and regions are not being given the conditions to be good employers.
The demographic challenge is another giant challenge, where both preschool and elderly care must undergo major transitions to meet changed needs. Such transitions also create stress. I see how municipalities all over the country are struggling with reorganizations to meet a new reality with ever fewer young people and ever more elderly people in need of care.
Madam Speaker! Jessica Rodén had a good question in her first contribution. I am joining her. Is the government prepared to introduce targeted investments in the working environment in the welfare sector and in other areas that would, in practice, reduce stress for women in these occupations?
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! As I said in my opening remarks, I am glad that we have this debate, because it concerns a very important equality issue. Men and women are affected differently by stress in working life. It is good that we are shining a light on that issue.
In the discussion on work environment issues, we have, I believe, seen a rather one-sided focus on fatal accidents in working life over the past year. It is, of course, a very important issue. But we must not forget all those people, the majority of whom are women, who become ill or perhaps even die because of their work.
The government is working on this issue on several fronts. We are currently working based on the current work environment strategy, which contains a section on precisely work-related stress. It is a specific focus area in the strategy. We have also commissioned an inquiry to develop a new work environment strategy, and it will continue to have a focus on this.
We are working simultaneously on various government assignments. I can mention that Mynak has recently produced a study comparing changes regarding the organizational and psychosocial work environment in the Swedish labor market before and after the covid-19 pandemic. One purpose of the study is to investigate whether the development looks different in different social groups based on background factors such as, for example, gender, age, education level, socioeconomic status, occupational group, and occupations with potential for remote work. It is an issue I believe we need to delve into particularly.
Mynak also has another assignment, which concerns the equality effects of remote work during the pandemic. It is important that we see both what equality effects it can have for those who now have an increased proportion of remote work, and which groups do not have the possibility of remote work, for example healthcare staff. It is an area that we need to work on broadly.
In addition to the investigation on a new work environment strategy, I also want to mention that the government has recently appointed a new investigation to develop the work surrounding the gender equality policy sub-targets 1-5, which includes, among other things, gender equality in health.
I was asked whether the government is prepared to carry out targeted initiatives for female-dominated occupations. One such initiative, which the government has implemented, is that 1.6 billion has been allocated in the budget for the area of maternity care and women's health. These are important funds, partly to strengthen the quality of maternity care and the care provided to women, and partly because, within the framework of the initiative, there is an agreement with SKR. It includes, among other things, measures to develop working methods that contribute to a good working environment for healthcare workers within maternal health care and maternity care, where many women, as is well known, work. The answer is therefore yes – the government has already taken such types of measures.
Jessica Rodén (S)
Madam Speaker! Stress-related ill health is one of our time's greatest challenges. It is clear that women - especially those working within healthcare, school, and care - are hit hardest. It is not just a question of the work environment; it is about how we in society expect women to be.
The report Work-oriented rehabilitation for those on sick leave with stress-related ill health - an evaluation from the Social Insurance Committee confirms that women are not only subjected to high demands in working life but are also expected to take a disproportionately large responsibility at home. This is a matter of equality but also a matter of quality of life and health.
The report shows that deficiencies in the work environment often persist when women return to work after sick leave, which means that temporary adjustments are not sufficient. Many of those affected work in so-called emotional labor jobs where high emotional demands and low control over the work situation are everyday occurrences. This, Madam Speaker, is the result of a long-term underfunding of the welfare sector.
Powerful reforms are needed to change this reality. Women must be given the opportunity to return to workplaces that are sustainable in the long term, with support from employers and reinforced occupational health services.
Madam Speaker! Today's women should not have to choose between work and health. Stress-related ill health is not an individual failure; it is a systemic error that we politicians must correct. I want to ask the Minister if the government does not see the connection between underfunded welfare and women's increased sick leave due to stress.
Sanna Backeskog (S)
Madam Speaker! During the past weeks, I have met both political representatives and officials from the social committee and social services in my home municipality. They now have to manage a new Social Services Act with a new way of working at the same time as tough decisions must be made due to the economic situation. Large cost increases, super expensive and inefficient HVB placements, and a spiral of violence without historical precedent among young boys simply mean that the money is not enough. In light of this, we also see how society generally values female-dominated professions.
In November, Lönelotsarna and Sweden's women's organizations reported that women's work against the gangs is not rewarded. A social worker earns several thousand less than a police officer and a childcare worker 6,000 kronor less than a security guard. Of course, police officers should have good salaries. But is it not typical that the efforts from preschool staff, social workers, and teachers, who are expected to prevent violence at an early age and do the foundational work for safe children in society, are generally valued much lower? Work-related ill health and sick leave due to stress may not be primarily prevented by salaries, but they certainly say something about how we view the female-dominated professions.
What Sweden needs is an equal equality where we, through wages, working conditions and the work environment, show respect for the women and men who work within the welfare sector. This needs to take precedence over large tax cuts for the super-rich.
In conclusion, I would like to thank you for this important debate. Thank you, Minister for Equality, and thank you, Jessica Rodén, who initiated it! And to Jessica: Happy birthday! I wish you a continued fine day and that your hard work for the women of the welfare system will be heeded by the government.
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! I appreciate that the interpellor brings up the unpaid housework and home labor. It is clear that professional work and work in the home are things that affect us humans generally. It is not possible to see them as separate issues. Somewhere the stress bucket is filled to the extent that one can no longer cope, and then it is, of course, the cumulative stress from work and the job that one manages outside of one's professional work that plays a role. Therefore, it is important that we see the issue in its entirety.
One of the things we then need to focus on is the parenting issue, where we have recently made a reform of the parental leave which aims to achieve a more equal distribution of parental leave. It shall also become a relief for those who are single parents, who shall also be able to get greater flexibility in their everyday lives. I also want to mention these pieces of the puzzle in this work.
Money absolutely plays a role - money for sectors where many women work. As I said in my interpellation answer, the government in the budget bill for 2023 and 2024 has permanently added 16 billion kronor in general state grants to municipalities and regions. This is intended to strengthen welfare and improve working conditions within these sectors.
I also think it is important to mention that we need to work in parallel. The most important thing we can do is, of course, to work preventatively so that stress-related ill health does not occur, but we also need to have work that targets those who are on sick leave in order to make it easier for them to return to work healthy.
The government has recently decided on two assignments with a special focus on mental ill-health in order to develop the healthcare system's work with sick leave and rehabilitation. Here, the Swedish Pensions Agency and the Agency for Health Care Analysis have been tasked with evaluating the Act on Coordination Measures for Patients on Sick Leave, and the National Board of Health and Welfare has been tasked with strengthening the healthcare system's work with sick leave and rehabilitation, particularly for the area of mental ill-health.
The government has also presented a comprehensive package of measures in the budget bill to reduce sick leave.
We need to work on both of these fronts, partly to prevent people from needing to be signed off sick – no one should have to be – and partly to help those who are signed off sick to regain their mental health so that they can return to work.
Jessica Rodén (S)
Madam Speaker! I would like to thank the Minister for her commitment to these issues. It is important that we together create a sustainable working life for the women who uphold our common welfare.
Even though we see differently on which solutions are required, I appreciate the Minister's commitment and that she really wants to see the whole picture. There are many parts, and it is not possible to isolate them. We must have a broad palette, and I appreciate the Minister's commitment in this.
I thank you for this and hope that moving forward we can deliver solutions that truly make a difference for women's working environment and women's health.
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! I also want to thank you for the debate on this important issue. The Government has work underway on several fronts, including through the work environment strategy and the investigation regarding sub-goals 1-5.
I hope that we can continue to find creative solutions regarding these issues, and I also believe and hope that there is a broad consensus among the parliamentary parties that this is something that we need to be able to do better than the situation we have today.
I would like to thank both the interpellor and the member for the debate, and I would, of course, also like to congratulate the interpellor on their birthday.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.