Response to interpellation 2024/25:317 on women's economic vulnerability and over-indebtedness
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
KD considers over-indebtedness to be a serious social problem with consequences for the social security system, the justice system, and healthcare 1. KD argues that young women's debts are increasing more than men's due to easily accessible credit online 1. KD advocates for stricter requirements on lenders, interest and cost caps, as well as moderate marketing 1 2. KD considers that the measures should be general 2. KD argues that the government is taking measures and that an additional investigation should be commissioned 3. KD considers that young men are also affected by sugar dating 3. KD wants to create more jobs by facilitating for small businesses and lowering taxes 3. S argues that young women are forced to sell sexual services to pay off debts 4 5. S considers that the government must strengthen support for young people in economic crisis 4. S wants to prioritize more jobs and education 6. S argues that women's disposable income is significantly lower than men's 6. S wants to drive issues regarding education, equal opportunities, and a strengthened economic safety net 5.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)
Madam Speaker! I have been asked what concrete measures I and the government plan to direct the preventive work towards debt and ensure that there is sufficient support for young women in financial crisis.
Protecting consumers from falling into a debt trap is a priority issue for the government. The problems with over-indebtedness are not only related to socio-economic effects in the form of, among other things, production and tax losses. Over-indebtedness also entails costs for the social insurance system, the judiciary, and healthcare.
For individuals, it can lead to long-term indebtedness, be stigmatizing and lead to mental ill-health. These are very serious consequences not only for the indebted person but also for their family. The Government takes seriously the risks that can lead to more and more people taking loans that they cannot pay back.
Economic equality is one of the gender equality sub-objectives: Women and men shall have the same opportunities and conditions regarding paid work that provides economic independence for life. To this is also added, of course, the importance that all people shall have the opportunity and conditions to build up their finances in order to feel both security in everyday life and a belief in the future.
Over a longer period, the number of over-indebted persons in Sweden has increased, especially the number of young people. According to the Swedish Enforcement Authority's latest follow-up, young women's debts are increasing more than men's. One explanation for this can likely be that it is very easy to shop on credit today, not least online.
To counter over-indebtedness, a number of measures have been implemented in recent years, including rules on interest and cost caps, stricter requirements for the marketing of credits, and provisions stating that credit must not be a default option, or be presented first, when purchasing online.
The supply of consumer credits has, however, continued to grow at a rapid pace. The fact that it has become easier to provide credits over the internet also contributes to creating unhealthy consumption patterns.
In light of this development, and in order to address risky lending, further measures are required. Last year, the Government submitted a memorandum with proposals to tighten the requirements for permits for those who provide consumer credits. The proposal implies that a permit to operate a banking or financing business shall be required to provide or mediate credits to consumers. The proposals are currently being prepared in the Government Offices.
Furthermore, the Riksdag has recently, following a proposal from the government, decided to expand the scope of and tighten the rules for the interest and cost cap. These rules will come into effect on March 1 of this year. In the budget bill for 2025, the government has also announced that it will appoint an inquiry to submit proposals aimed at countering over-indebtedness.
When it comes to support for those in debt, the budget and debt counselors available in the municipalities are important. Budget and debt counselors shall, through various forms of financial counseling, contribute to preventing debt problems and helping people in debt.
The Government has tasked the National Audit Office with analyzing and evaluating the municipal budget and debt advisory. The assignment is to be reported by March this year at the latest. Furthermore, the Swedish Enforcement Authority has received an assignment in the regulatory letter for this year to support municipal budget and debt advisors. This is to be reported in October 2026.
I am closely following the developments in this area and intend to return to the issue if necessary.
Anna Wallentheim (S)
Madam Speaker! During the Christmas break, Sveriges Radio produced a report showing that the police and social services are alarming that more and more young women in our country are starting to sell sexual services but also their own bodies in order to be able to afford to pay their debts and bills. This led to me submitting an interpellation that actually had several questions. After discussion with the Chamber Office, it was decided that it was something that had to be divided among several ministers.
I want to begin my speech by being clear for the listener, if one considers that I do not speak sufficiently about one thing or the other or raise the issues that, among other things, debt leads to, where young women in Sweden today are forced to sell not only pornographic content but also their own bodies to pay off debts. It is not due to a misunderstanding or that I do not care. It becomes a debate that is divided across several ministers. Next week, I will, among other things, have a debate with the Minister for Equality.
Madam Speaker! Young women in Sweden face a worrying development today. The number of young women with debts has increased dramatically, just as the Minister mentioned, during the last decade. For young women, debts have increased by 106 percent. It is a serious sign that young women in our society are not only economically vulnerable but are also being forced into increasingly risky life situations.
What we are now seeing, according to reports from the police and social services, is that more and more young women are being forced to sell sexual services to pay debts and bills, to afford food or their rent. It is a tragic consequence of young women not having enough support when they fall into economic difficulties.
It is certainly positive that the government is now investigating further measures to prevent over-indebtedness. But when it comes to preventing young women from ending up in this vulnerable situation, it is about more than just addressing lending.
We need a policy that gives young women the tools they need to be able to build a secure and sustainable economy. It is a long-term task that must start already now. We cannot wait for investigations that are to be completed later, but we must do something to help the women who are vulnerable already today.
We Social Democrats have always stood up for that all people, regardless of gender and background, should have a secure economic foundation to stand on. We must invest in preventing young women from ending up in this vulnerable situation by strengthening the support for young people in economic crisis. In that case, both preventive work against debt and a society that does not leave young women to struggle alone are needed.
The Minister mentions in his response that the government plans to strengthen municipal budget and debt counseling. That is something that is good. But I cannot emphasize enough that it is too late for many of the young women who are vulnerable and in acute need of support today.
Therefore, I want to ask the Minister: What is the government doing here and now to stop this development and ensure that young women are not forced into prostitution or sexual exploitation to solve their economic problems?
Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)
Madam Speaker! Just as Anna Wallentheim says, several ministers are involved. That is the case in some issues. This applies in particular to issues that fall under the Minister for Civil Affairs. There are many ministers who are involved and hovering in roughly the same area, which sometimes complicates the parliamentary debate here in the chamber.
I am not only pleased that there will also continue to be debates with other ministers regarding this area. Some of the issues raised here in the interpellant's contribution perhaps also had more of an equality policy character and may perhaps be better suited for debate with Minister Brandberg.
The issue of over-indebtedness is important for the government. That is what I also said when I was new as Civil Minister just over two years ago. It is a matter of working with over-indebtedness with concrete measures.
The measures often become a matter for Finance Minister Niklas Wykman, to complicate it further. But when it comes to the preventive measures, I am perhaps more involved as Consumer Minister. Those measures are important to me, and it is one of the priority issues for me as Civil Minister regarding just the consumer issues.
That is also why the government is doing very much. I know that these issues are also important for Minister Wykman. In my interpellation response, I have accounted for several measures that the government is taking. We have rules on interest and cost caps. We are now moving forward with tougher rules for this.
It also concerns the marketing. I believe that is an important part for strengthening the preventive work. Having moderate marketing, I also believe, can have a direct impact on precisely women's role in this. We can possibly see – we believe we at least sense – that young women's over-indebtedness has a lot to do with the fact that online shopping is more accessible today. That the marketing regarding credits should be moderate is, of course, very good. That it also should require a banking license to grant or mediate consumer loans is another important measure to make the occurrence of this more difficult.
It is some of the measures being taken by the government.
I also want to say that it is not the case that young women's loans and indebtedness are higher than young men's. One can say that young women have caught up with the men so that their respective levels of indebtedness today are approximately equal. I believe, however, that the measures the government takes should be as general as possible. Then, it is very possible that there are some interventions, not least in the preventive area, that can be specifically targeted at young women. But I still believe that the legislation and measures should be as general as possible, because then it will benefit everyone – including young women.
If we still perform the analysis that the proportion of over-indebted young women would have increased because online consumption has become easier and that one is offered various credits there, the tightenings we make regarding exactly this will also benefit primarily young women.
Anna Wallentheim (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer.
Just as the Minister mentions, it is not the case that young women's debt has outpaced that of men. However, it has increased more dramatically than that of young men. The latest figures I have seen show that at the moment, there is only a difference of 50 kronor between the debt of young women and young men.
As the Minister also mentions, it sometimes becomes problematic with the interpellation debates in the chamber, especially when questions fall on several different ministers. It is clear that we also have a situation in Sweden, especially for young people, with an unemployment rate that is running away. This falls on yet another minister's workload.
It is naturally problematic that we see so incredibly many young people in our society who are without work. During both 2023 and 2024, youth unemployment increased quite dramatically, and the trend unfortunately appears to continue into 2025. This does not facilitate things for young women but instead makes it so that they risk falling into a situation where they are forced to take desperate measures to manage their finances.
I want to highlight the phenomenon of sugar dating here as an example of this. It concerns young women seeking financial support from older men, often in exchange for sex or companionship. This is increasingly presented as a lifestyle online and is glorified on many pages, but in reality, it is disguised prostitution. It is a result of a policy that has not given young women sufficient conditions to build a stable and secure economic future.
The Minister mentions in his interpellation answer that economic equality is one of the gender equality sub-goals, which means that women and men shall have the same opportunities and conditions regarding paid work that provides economic independence throughout life. However, we unfortunately all know that women's average disposable income is significantly lower than men's, more than 20 percent lower. Seen to income over an entire life, the difference becomes a total of 6.3 million kronor. SCB's latest measurement also shows that this difference is increasing rather than decreasing. Therefore, it would be interesting if the Minister answered how, given his portfolio, he intends to live up to the gender equality goals and help young women to economic independence.
Madam Speaker! It is good that the government is introducing more rules to reduce unhealthy lending, but it is also important that we see even more long-term structural changes that can prevent young women from ending up in this situation.
As a Social Democrat, I naturally believe that we should always work to give both young women and young men the tools they need to build a sustainable future. Therefore, we must prioritize creating more jobs and offering more education to improve young people's chances on the labor market.
The Minister also raises another matter that concerns me, namely the view on consumption. We unfortunately know that far too many young women in our country are influenced by social media's image of how an expected lifestyle should look. Instead of giving tax cuts to the very richest and making it more expensive for young people by, for example, removing free dental care, perhaps the government should present proposals that make a real difference for young women. Even if the government's measures are good in many ways, they are not enough to solve the acute situation for these young women who are already vulnerable today.
Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)
Madam Speaker! Now this debate broadened considerably, I would say, and went quite far beyond the subjects that I, as Civil Minister, am responsible for and what the interpellation was about.
We share the problem picture. Over-indebtedness is a major societal problem. We see that the level of debt is increasing. We see that the number of people affected, whose cases end up with the Enforcement Authority, is increasing. We also see how the amount per indebted person is increasing. This is, therefore, a major societal problem.
That is also why the government is taking so many measures to address this. I accounted for these in the interpellation response, and I accounted for some of them in my second contribution. I will not repeat them, but they are fixed and are the answer to this question. I hope that they will benefit all persons and prevent over-indebtedness more strongly and better than what is happening today. They will also benefit young women.
I also want to emphasize that we intend to appoint an additional investigation. It may sound tedious, but investigations mostly result in good things. Much of what we are now undertaking to prevent over-indebtedness and risky lending comes from investigations that propose how this can be done in a legal and legally secure manner. I hope that the new investigation, which I assume will be on the desk of Finance Minister Niklas Wykman, will also be able to come up with some interesting proposals that we can move forward with.
I am fully aware of sugar dating. I assume that it can become a discussion with the Minister for Equality later. I just want to interject that this also affects young men, not just young women. It is important to remember that. Even if the vast majority are surely women - I have no statistics on this - it also affects young men. I still want to get it said.
State employer policy is something I am responsible for. There, we also follow the issue of wage differences between women and men. If there is any wage difference between women and men in the state sector, it is in that case very small. Now I might have to eat my words here, but I wonder if it is not many times the case that women have overtaken men in some sectors within the state. What we call unreasonable or unjustified wage differences, we have not been able to see within the state. It is, however, very important that we monitor this so that they do not arise again. There should be no unjustified wage differences based on gender, but men and women should earn as much for the same assignment or the same performed work.
More long-term, the entire issue, as a former Prime Minister said, is about jobs, jobs, jobs – to create conditions for increased growth and an increased number of jobs in Sweden. That is how we lower unemployment, and that is how we increase economic independence and reduce the need for loans or being dependent on other people. The government is doing a lot here now. Even though unemployment is too high, we are doing a lot of work to facilitate for small businesses, reduce the regulatory burden, and lower taxes that we believe are dangerous for growth, including taxes on savings and the very high marginal taxes.
We think it is reasonable that one should be allowed to keep half of a wage increase after tax. We are not quite there yet, but with the budget that now applies for 2025, we are starting to move towards 50 percent. I think the Social Democrats should be able to support half remaining as a principle.
Then the efforts we make within the school and the entire education system are very important, not least in the long term, so that boys and girls who leave school can be prepared to proceed to studies or directly out onto the labor market. It is absolutely crucial. Then the proportion that pass first and foremost primary school but then also the upper secondary education must increase. Even in that work, very many reforms are currently taking place.
Anna Wallentheim (S)
Madam Speaker! I want to begin by apologizing for the fact that the interpellation has been broadened. As I said in my opening remarks, the original intention was that there should be several questions in the same interpellation to be answered by a minister, but now they have been divided into several interpellations.
I would therefore also like to thank the Minister for the answers and for the fact that the Minister has nevertheless come here today. My view is that we agree on what the problem looks like. We know that the situation is acute for many women and also for young men in Sweden in terms of the economy. We see how young women are affected economically, and it leads to young women in Sweden today ending up in situations where they are forced to sell sex to pay their debts. It is a result of a lack of support, economic inequality, and that the policy has not put young women's needs first - but now one is prepared to take those steps.
There are positive and important steps in the government's response, but I naturally hope that the government takes immediate action to reduce youth unemployment, to improve support for young women, to review indebtedness and lending, and to tighten measures against sexual exploitation. We cannot wait with this for the young women who deserve to receive support already today.
As a Social Democrat, I see a way forward in this, an issue for the party to drive and an issue to discuss with the government. We know that it is with the help of education, equal opportunities in the labor market and a strengthened economic safety net that we can prevent more and more young women from ending up in that situation. We must give young women knowledge about personal finance, offer support to manage debts, ensure that they can get jobs and move forward so that they can stand on their own feet and manage the view on consumption.
As a social democrat, I have always stood up for that no one should have to stand alone in difficult times, and I will continue to fight so that young women get the support they need to build a better future.
Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)
Madam Speaker! I thank Anna Wallentheim for the interpellation debate.
We agree on the problems, and I assume we also agree on the measures being implemented. I am happy to listen to the opposition to receive proposals for more measures. If good proposals come on how we can reduce over-indebtedness, I am happy to listen to them, and then we can discuss them and see if there is anything more we can do.
The government has already moved forward with several measures, and we intend to do even more by commissioning new inquiries in the area. However, I would like to warn against narrowing the issue and making it a gender-specific issue or a problem for only young women. Young men are at least as affected as young women. We also see that over-indebtedness contributes to financing criminal economy, which is also outrageous and alarming. But even many older people are forced to go into debt and are affected by over-indebtedness. That is why the government's dental care reform for persons over 65 is extremely important. Dental care is such an expense that truly digs a hole in a large number of elderly people's finances.
Over-indebtedness does not only occur when the economy is doing poorly, but we have seen a trend over many years, during both better and worse economic conditions, where the number of people indebted to the Enforcement Authority increases. It is a societal trend with consumption patterns that are based on more easily accessible consumption and credits that are marketed in a way that is not ethically justifiable. We must address these issues as well. This is not just an economic issue but also much more.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.