Response to interpellation 2024/25:613 on increasing the student grant for upper secondary school students
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 increase of the student grant for upper secondary school students. S wants to increase the student grant by 200 SEK every month to counteract the erosion of purchasing power caused by inflation 1 2 3. S argues that today's student grant has been eroded by nearly 300 SEK during the last four to five years 3. S wants to finance this by having the banks pay 3 and argues that the government prioritizes high-income earners over families with children 1. L argues that the government has strengthened households' purchasing power through tax cuts and reinforced job tax credits 4. L argues that increased taxes risk driving important activities out of Sweden 5 and that an increased bank tax is passed on through higher interest costs 5. L argues that an education tax causes the tax base to disappear 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.
Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Mr. Speaker! Niklas Sigvardsson has asked me if I have acted to increase support for upper secondary school students in the work with the autumn budget amendment. Niklas Sigvardsson has also asked me what I instead intend to do to strengthen upper secondary school students' finances. Niklas Sigvardsson has further asked me if I will work to increase upper secondary school students' study grants in the coming years.
From the quarter after the student has turned 16, the child allowance is converted into a study grant for a full-time student in upper secondary school. The study grant within the study assistance has historically been left at the same amount as the child allowance.
The study grant is part of the state's support to families with children and aims, among other things, to compensate for part of the family's costs for the children's schooling. Within the study aid, there is also an extra supplement that can be granted to students from low-income households.
Parents are obligated to provide maintenance for their children until the child reaches 18 years of age. If the child attends school after this point, the maintenance obligation remains during the period that the schooling continues, but at most until the child reaches 21 years of age.
Students in upper secondary apprenticeship education can receive a cost compensation, so-called apprenticeship compensation, to cover extra costs in the form of food and travel that an apprenticeship education may entail. To ensure that no one opts out of an apprenticeship education for economic reasons, the government increased the compensation level starting from January 1, 2025.
The government inherited an economy with high inflation, low growth, and high unemployment. After years of high inflation, which has created a weak economic development, the recovery in the Swedish economy has begun. The economic situation has, however, contributed to many households, including families with children, having a more strained economy.
To strengthen the purchasing power of households, the government in the budget bill for 2025 has eased the tax burden for households through, among other things, a reduction in tax on work from and including 2025. The government's reinforcements of the job tax deduction are primarily aimed at persons with low and medium-high incomes and make it more profitable to work.
The Government has also tasked Arbetsförmedlingen with distributing funds to municipalities with high unemployment in order to strengthen their opportunities to create summer jobs and jobs for young people during 2025.
The government's policy now focuses on continuing to strengthen households. Although real wages are now rising, more needs to be done to strengthen the households' purchasing power and restore it to previous levels. At the same time, the situation for households remains tough. The government therefore follows the issue closely.
Niklas Sigvardsson (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister for Education, for the answer to the interpellation!
It was perhaps above all the conclusion of the answer that was interesting, Mr. Speaker. Even though it is important that we establish the rules of the game for the student support system, or the study aid system as it concerns here, the questions were aimed at how the minister has acted in budget negotiations and how he intends to act in upcoming budget negotiations. The minister has now, however, announced his resignation as party leader after the interpellation was submitted.
It is, after all, economically tough times for very many families with children here in the country. One can certainly speak of having inherited high inflation and the like. Inflation may have become lower now, but instead, social problems such as unemployment have bitten in. Therefore, it is still extremely tough times for many young people, that is to say those who receive the student grant, but also for many of their families who still suffer from a lack of income and money because food costs are still very high. Quarter by quarter we see that price increases are still occurring. On an annual basis, we are still up to 5–6 percent cost increases for the ordinary grocery bag. Even if housing prices may have decreased for those who have interest, we have still in recent years seen massive lagging rent increases, which makes it extremely tough.
It is, after all, not only this spring budget or the autumn budget that has seen to it that it is tough for families with children, as the minister has in several budgets had the opportunity to come up with various proposals on how we can strengthen the finances of families with children. We Social Democrats have had various proposals regarding both child allowance and student grant. At the beginning of the mandate period, we had proposals for extra payments of both the student grant and the child allowance. When it comes to proposals in the autumn budget, we had an increase of both the child allowance and the student grant for upper secondary school students by 200 SEK every month.
This shows that there is actually a difference between the two different political alternatives we have here in Sweden today. Here in the chamber, there are different budgets with different priorities. We see that the minister represents a party that, instead of protecting families with children, has protected high-income earners. Thousands of kronor more per month have been allocated to people who have incomes like mine and the minister's, while the families with children, even those with single parents who will see the housing allowances disappear from the turn of the month of June/July, get less money in their wallets every month. This shows that it is actually possible to make a difference.
It is therefore interesting to see what the government intends to do moving forward. I hope that the Liberals can be the force in the government that works to increase the child allowance and the student grant, which this interpellation is about. We know that our Nordic neighboring countries have made other priorities during this mandate period. They have, in different ways, strengthened the incomes for families with children, while our government has chosen to let both the child allowance and the student grant remain unchanged.
I am still reflecting on the question because I do not think the answer was quite given. How did the Minister for Education act to raise the student grant during the recent budget negotiations? And how does the Minister intend to continue the work in order to be able to raise the student grant in the future?
Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Mr. Speaker! I want to begin by assuring Niklas Sigvardsson that my announced departure has no connection to this interpellation.
With this said, I want to say that the question is very important. We have a very serious situation in the world. I accounted in the first part of the interpellation answer for things that were very messy when this government took office, which we are trying to rectify. Since then, we have had an escalating trade war and a very large international uncertainty, which holds back investments, not least investments in Sweden, and makes that we have a continued troublesome labor market. Many people experience an uncertainty due to this.
But if you combine the budgets that this government has placed on the table of the Riksdag, you see, if you look at the different deciles, that it is those with the lowest economic standard who have received the most. The government's policy continues to focus on strengthening households in general and strengthening the Swedish economy, which thereby strengthens both the labor market and real wage development.
The earned income tax credit is primarily aimed at people with low and medium incomes and makes it more profitable to work. For a household with average incomes, the enhanced deduction implemented in our latest budget means 534 kronor in reduced tax per month. Since 2023, this has meant a total of 1,076 kronor in reduced tax per month.
The government has also, as I said earlier, from this year onwards increased the apprentice allowance from 1,000 to 1,500 kronor per study month so that no one has to opt out of an apprenticeship education for economic reasons, especially since we know that such an education can lead to employment. I also want to repeat that we are investing in opportunities for more people to get summer jobs. If one is unable to arrange it in another way, municipalities shall, for example, offer this.
Regarding the question about budget negotiations within the government and, naturally, which is well known, negotiations with the Sweden Democrats, I reveal nothing of what takes place there. The budget that we present is the one that we stand for jointly.
I want to remind Niklas Sigvardsson that this is a government that ensures it has support for its economic policy all the way. We can thus provide people with better conditions to plan their finances. If the situation were to worsen further, the government is ready and does not rule out either other reinforcements of benefits or different forms of support or tax cuts to make it easier for Swedish households to cope with a difficult time and, in the worst case, an even more difficult time.
Niklas Sigvardsson (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer – even if it does not provide more money to high school students.
Let me give a historical perspective that explains why we Social Democrats believe it is relevant to raise both the child allowance and the student grant. We can look back at the student grant increases that have occurred. It was raised in 2006 to 1,050 kronor, and then it took until 2018 before the grant was raised again, then by 200 kronor. This was largely due to the fact that when looking at how inflation had eroded the student grant during those years, the assessment was made that it had been eroded by approximately 107 kronor over those eleven years – and we raised it by 200 kronor. After some time had passed, we needed to review it because inflation erodes the value of money.
The contribution was therefore increased in 2018, and if one compares with the previous year's figures, one can see that an erosion of 265 kronor has occurred over the last four years, and that is without including inflation for the last year. This means, therefore, that the money has been eroded even further. That is why we Social Democrats think it is important that we increase the student grant – to ensure that the purchasing power is available to the families with children who receive the child allowance, but also that the upper secondary school students who receive the student grant in its entirety can afford to buy what they need with that money, even though the responsibility for support, as was said in the introduction, lies with the parents.
Before this debate and the vote, I had the privilege of guiding a school class of students in grade 9, who are about to finish grade 9 and start upper secondary school and thus receive study grants starting this autumn. It was something that was brought up without me having to ask if it was the 1,250 SEK in child allowance and study grants. The students asked if there is even an ongoing discussion within the Riksdag and the government about raising the amount. I could then say that in about half an hour I would have a debate with the Minister for Education and could pose their questions regarding a possible discussion in the government and the Riksdag about raising the amount.
From the Riksdag's side, there is such a discussion, because we Social Democrats want to increase the student grant by 200 kronor every month. We see that we need to do it in order to be able to strengthen households' total ability to support themselves. It is about ensuring that we do not have parents in our country who need to struggle to make everyday life work and be able to put nutritious food on the table. During the spring, we have seen various actions outside the Riksdag that have shown how tough it has been for many single parents, but actually also for parents living in couples, to make the finances work with the high inflation figures of recent years.
To just briefly speak about the summer jobs, which the minister nevertheless mentions: A few weeks ago, I and Minister for Employment Mats Persson had a debate about this. A total of 4.7 million kronor would go to the entire Jönköping County. When I had a discussion with a municipal council member in a small municipality, I was told that it might mean approximately 150,000–200,000 kronor in the budget there. This unfortunately will not provide that many summer jobs in that municipality, nor in other municipalities in Jönköping County. One would have needed to increase the summer job initiative as well if, in reality, one wants it to be able to compensate for not raising the student grants.
Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Mr. Speaker! It feels secure that Niklas Sigvardsson guides Sweden's future around in the Swedish Riksdag with merit and skill. I also assume that Niklas Sigvardsson is clear that there have been plenty of "note presses" in the benches of the Riksdag, i.e., politicians who promise everything to everyone and have resources for everything.
It has been and is difficult times. For example, Swedish society during the coming decades will unfortunately be characterized by a massive upgrading of the Swedish total defense. I am glad that Niklas Sigvardsson's party is involved and taking responsibility and sees the need for us to arm the military defense, the civil defense, and the entire total defense.
This means that one also has to make harder prioritizations. It has been difficult years of inflation. We arrived at an inflationary blaze that was in full flame, and let me emphasize that it was not just Niklas Sigvardsson's fault. The rest of the world had put Sweden in this situation in various ways. It was zero interest rates and broken global value chains. The pandemic and a multitude of things contributed to it all.
We have tried to do everything required to bring this down. Now we have inflation under control, but prices are still too high. Real wages fell, but now they are starting to rise again, not least thanks to wise workers' and employers' organizations who, in most cases, understand the importance of working long-term – year after year, agreement after agreement – for rising real wages, so that citizens end up in a stronger position again.
We have also chosen to keep the levels up through indexing – in a difficult time, we have strengthened the sickness benefit, the parental benefit, and the guaranteed pensions. Let me not forget that we have also raised the ceiling in the unemployment insurance fund. All of this, we in the government have chosen to prioritize.
But I agree with the calculation that Niklas Sigvardsson makes regarding the child allowance. That means that we – I speak for the Liberals in this case – do not rule out an increase there. We will take this with us in the continued discussions in the budget work that is now beginning for 2026. I see nothing right now that suggests there should be any decoupling regarding the child allowance and the student grant at the current stage.
I have great respect for the commitment that Niklas Sigvardsson has, but I also assume, as I said initially, that Niklas Sigvardsson does not act as a printing press in Sweden's Riksdag, especially not when he guides ninth graders, who are Sweden's future.
Niklas Sigvardsson (S)
Mr. Speaker! We Social Democrats present budgets that are financed crown for crown. There, the Minister for Education does not need to worry about printing presses. We finance, and we want to be involved in taking responsibility for all the long-term problems that the Minister for Education raised. That is why we submit proposals for total defense funds and the like. It is so that we can strengthen our society quickly and effectively and increase our readiness, both military and civil, while we can make distributive policy priorities through the budget alternatives.
It is possible to prioritize differently, and we have chosen to do so in our budgets. We have chosen to finance our budget proposals with different priorities than the government in the existing proposals, but also by finding other sources of revenue. For example, the banks have been able to feast on the mortgage holders' loans. In that case, we think that the banks can instead be involved in paying so that we, for example, can get an increased student grant of 200 kronor every month.
This shows that there are political priorities that are somewhat different from what the government wants. The party leadership debate that Johan Pehrson was not part of showed that other parties in the government also need to wake up. It seems as if it is the Sverigedemokraterna who are leading the government and thus are braking increases of child allowance and student grants. We hope that the Liberalerna in upcoming negotiations get better traction so that student grants and child allowance can be increased. It is about seeing the whole of families' finances and about the economy of upper secondary school students being able to become somewhat better. Today's student grants have been hollowed out by nearly 300 kronor just during the last four or five years.
Therefore, I hope that the Liberals and the Minister for Education continue to push these issues and hopefully can achieve an increased student grant in the future.
Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Mr. Speaker! I just want to be clear regarding the bank tax that we have in Sweden. From Niklas Sigvardsson, it sounds as if it is about targeting bank directors and the owners of the banks. It seems as if he believes that one can achieve that with increased taxes on some more invisible activity that is worth squeezing.
The problem is only that increased taxes risk driving very important activities out of Sweden. Most evidence suggests that a further increased bank tax – we already have a bank tax which we use, for example, to finance today's child allowance or today's sickness benefit or whatever one wants to call it – will be passed on to higher interest costs for people out in the country. It is your potential voters in Jönköping, Niklas Sigvardsson, who will have to pay for an increased bank tax. The money will not be taken from anywhere else. When it comes to other taxes, it is the same.
We are working on education policy, and right now we are talking about what people should study when they move forward after upper secondary school. Sweden shall be a highly innovative country. We shall attract people who come here and conduct research, start companies, and ensure that we have a good momentum in the Swedish economy.
Should we then raise taxes for foreign experts? Or should we raise taxes for people who have a high level of education? With an education tax, which is what the Social Democrats advocate for, the tax base will eventually disappear.
There was a time when the Social Democrats were aware that half-employment is something to strive for, because it is good for Sweden. It is good for equalization. It is good because people feel that we have a Sweden that is growing. And not least, it is important for my old mother and her finances.
I will not prolong the discussion on increased taxes, for surely this is my final remark, Mr. Speaker? Then I shall conclude.
But we can look at the Social Democrats in Region Stockholm. They do everything to raise taxes for ordinary people. But the quality deficiencies remain, unfortunately.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.