Response to interpellation 2024/25:274 on youth unemployment in Östergötland
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns the high youth unemployment in Sweden and Östergötland. L argues that young people are sensitive to economic cycles and that education is the most important measure for establishing oneself on the labor market 1. The government is investing in vocational training and the job guarantee for youth 1. L emphasizes that responsible politics gives small business owners better conditions to hire young people 2. S considers youth unemployment to be a crisis and that the government is not making sufficient efforts 3. S argues that the government has made it harder for young people to enter the labor market 4. S wants to invest more in schools and double the number of labor market trainings 5. S criticizes that the government has cut support for education and skills development 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.
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)
Mr. Speaker! Eva Lindh has asked me if I consider youth unemployment in Sweden to be a problem and if I intend to take any measures to reduce youth unemployment.
Young people are a cycle-sensitive group in the labor market and thus risk becoming unemployed early in an economic downturn. At the same time, young people with completed upper secondary education often have a good starting position in the labor market when the cycle turns upward. According to the government's latest forecast in December 2024, a gradual recovery in the labor market can begin as early as 2025.
Young people aged 16-24 who have been unemployed and registered with Arbetsförmedlingen for at least three months during a four-month period can be offered a place in the job guarantee for youth. Within the program, different types of interventions and support are offered, for example work placements, work training, study and career guidance, and labor market training.
The single most important contribution for young people to establish themselves in the labor market in the long term is, however, education, as it strengthens individuals' opportunities to establish themselves in the labor market. The Government has made investments in more places both within the university colleges and the vocational adult education to improve access to education so that more can quickly enter employment. The Government has a good foundation for meeting youth unemployment, and I will continue to closely follow the issue.
Eva Lindh (S)
Mr. Speaker! Young people in Sweden are in a tough situation right now. Many feel anxiety about the future. Mental ill-health is high. The housing shortage means that many young people cannot move out from home.
Youth unemployment is at very high levels. If young people get jobs, it is with increasingly worse working conditions. I believe that the young people listening to this debate recognize what it is like to sleep with their phones and see if they get any job today or not. These are very tough working conditions.
Mr. Speaker! Youth unemployment in Sweden is now at very high levels. In fact, unemployment among young people in Sweden is the second highest in the entire EU. In my county, Östergötland, youth unemployment is increasing in practically all municipalities.
It is difficult when one cannot get a job and start an independent life, something that so many young people truly long for. And many young people in unemployment not only have difficulty starting an independent life, but they also suffer from mental ill health because they do not get a job.
Being unemployed as a young person unfortunately means great difficulties in entering the labor market for a very long time. For young people, it is not just an economic problem: It is about hope for the future, about feeling needed and about being included in society. When young people do not have a job to go to and do not have a place where they can contribute with their knowledge and ideas, it does not only mean lost opportunities for the young but actually also a loss for our country, our county and our society.
It is a betrayal of the young, because they are needed in the labor market and in society. That is why I submitted this interpellation to Minister for Employment Mats Persson. I really wonder if the government thinks this is a problem. I think it is a crisis, and during crises, one must make exceptional efforts, in this case to reduce youth unemployment.
I thank Mats Persson for the answer. In the answer, the Minister says that when unemployment is high, it is usually also high for the young. We know that is usually the case, but it is not something we need to think is okay. I mean that special measures are required to get this to change.
Unemployment is, as I have described, a problem for the young. It is a problem for society. It is also a problem now that we are in a recession, because in a recession more people need to enter jobs. Also from an economic perspective, this is important.
If we Social Democrats had been in government, I can guarantee that we would have made specific interventions. I do not see this government doing so. Therefore, I think it is good that we can debate this issue today.
Jessica Rodén (S)
Mr. Speaker! First, I would like to thank my colleague Eva Lindh for highlighting this incredibly important issue. Thanks also to the Minister for being here today, so that we have the opportunity to debate this.
I want to contribute perspectives from my home region, Sjuhärad, which is located in Västra Götaland. Sjuhärad is a region with proud labor market traditions. We are called the textile kingdom. It is a reminder of our textile heritage and the significance that the textile industry has had for our region. Even today, the textile industry plays a central role in our economy, with strong elements of small-scale entrepreneurship and green industries. Our companies in Sjuhärad demonstrate both innovation and resilience.
The employment rate in municipalities such as Mark and Ulricehamn was around 86 percent during 2023, which is well above the national average. These are impressive figures that reflect a labor market where companies and people work hard to create a better future. But we must not turn a blind eye to the challenges we face. Borås, which is an important engine for both trade and the textile industry, has today a higher unemployment rate than the national average.
What we see is that the government's policy has made it harder for young people to enter the labor market. It is a particularly great challenge for a region like ours, where the industry is dependent on access to competent labor.
We Social Democrats believe in a policy that clearly shows that one invests in the young and in the jobs of the future - not a policy that knocks the legs out from under the young.
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, participants in the interpellation debate, for your contributions!
It is quite clear that Sweden is a country to be proud of. Sweden is a country where people work, where we have a very high employment rate, where women are not housewives but are available to the labor market, but where the matching between employers and employees does not function as well as it should.
A fundamental problem is that too many young people leave school without complete grades. If one does not have eligibility for upper secondary school, it is difficult to enter the Swedish labor market. That is why the government is restructuring the education policy – in order to thereby ensure that more young people are equipped for the demands that society and the labor market set. That is also why the government is investing large sums of money in vocational training. This year, there will be approximately 120,000 places in our vocational trainings around Sweden.
At the same time, we have – and have had – a very, very tough economic situation. We are in a recession with high interest rates and a difficult world environment. Now that we see interest rates falling, because the government and the Riksbank have together pursued a responsible policy, we also see how small business owners will have more leeway in the coming years when it comes to hiring and also hiring young people so that they can get their first job and establish themselves in the labor market and in society.
But my clear appeal to all of Sweden's youth who do not have a job and who want to work is: Take the opportunities that exist! There are plenty of educational opportunities in our elongated country. There are good opportunities to train for professions and for vacant jobs, which allow you to support yourself and stand on your own feet.
Eva Lindh (S)
Mr. Speaker! That was a short answer from the Minister for Employment. I had hoped that he would answer my two questions. I hope that he does so in the next round.
I still wonder if the Minister considers it a problem that youth unemployment now stands at 24.4 percent - among the highest youth unemployment rates in the entire EU. Is it a problem? The second thing I wonder is: What will the Minister do? Is there a plan to act more? It is needed now.
Sweden is in a recession. The Finance Minister stated just before Christmas that the brightening that the government says is to come will probably not come next year either, and unemployment continues to increase. Should one then just wait and see? Maybe it will turn around.
The mission of politics is to act and to create the conditions to turn a recession into an expansion. One must invest so that more people get jobs. It is one of the most important political measures that we have to do. A job is important for the individual, for society, and for the economy. What does the Minister believe needs to be done more when it looks the way it does? This is not sufficient. It is bad for the youth and for all of Sweden.
What should this government do then? Invest in schools. I completely agree with what Mats Persson says, but the resources for schools are now lower in real terms. State Secretary Mats Persson says here that one is investing in other educations. They did take back places the first year. Then they reintroduced some places, but it does not match the need that exists. At the same time as we have this high unemployment, we have a huge need for staff on the other side. Education is needed to make this work, so that companies can keep running and so that people can get a job.
So, investments in schools are needed. An active labor market policy is needed. This government has not [provided that]. The number of labor market trainings needs to be doubled to get people into jobs and for it to be good for the business sector.
The business community is also wondering. They are wondering what kind of job policy the government has. It is not the case that it is only us Social Democrats who think that this is a problem. More people think that it is a problem. Therefore, the government needs to act. One should not just stand and watch - the feeling is actually that is what is being done.
When I was young, in the 90s, we had a very high youth unemployment in Sweden. It is very difficult to compare the 90s with today, but those who have done so say that youth unemployment is approximately as high today as it was in the 90s. Back then, this was a huge problem - it should be that now too - and special measures were taken.
I saw what happened to those who were young with me. Many of them did not get into work despite having the prerequisites to get jobs. I am worried about the youth generation. They need a job now. It is important now but also for their entire future.
Jessica Rodén (S)
Mr. Speaker! Sjuhärad is, as I said, a place where entrepreneurship and work go hand in hand with tradition and innovation. Our textile heritage, which has made us known as the fabric kingdom, lives on even today in the form of world-leading companies within both industry and fashion. But it is also an industry that is sensitive to economic changes, and inflation has hit the companies hard.
Rising energy prices and raw material prices have pressured small businesses. At the same time, the government has chosen to scale back investments that could support these operations. When support for education and skills development decreases, both our young people and the companies that are dependent on qualified labor are affected. For a region like Sjuhärad, where many young people could otherwise find jobs in the textile industry or other growing industries, this is a signal that they have been left in the lurch.
The Minister refers to the fact that many young people today do not pass school. In that case, it is very strange that this is a government that does not invest in school to give children and young people the prerequisites to obtain passing grades.
Research also shows that incomplete grades in school and how reading comprehension is during school years affects mental well-being in the 50s age group. These are therefore incredibly important issues. Where is the active labor market policy?
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.