Response to interpellation 2025/26:1 on unemployment among persons with disabilities
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns unemployment among persons with disabilities. L argues that the government is taking measures through regulatory letters and budget bills to improve matching, increase wage subsidies, and strengthen educational support to folk high schools 1 2 3. L emphasizes the importance of early identification of disabilities 1 2 and claims that the folk high schools have not seen a reduction in funding 3. S argues that the government's words do not match the reality where people are met with waiting and passivity 4 5. S claims that cuts in Arbetsförmedlingen have weakened the support 4 and that Arbetsförmedlingen lacks resources 6 7. S argues that budget cuts have led to a reduced workforce 5 and that the folk high schools are affected by cuts 4 5 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.
Arbetsmarknadsministern Johan Britz (L)
Madam Speaker! Serkan Köse has asked me what measures I intend to take to reduce unemployment among persons with disabilities. I would like to begin by thanking the member for a very pressing interpellation.
That over 30 percent of the long-term unemployed have a disability is deeply concerning and indicates a structural exclusion that requires targeted efforts from society's actors.
The Government has, in Arbetsförmedlingen's regulatory letter for 2025, given the agency several assignments aimed at improving the opportunities for work or education for persons with disabilities. A continued assignment has been given regarding reinforced support to effectively match long-term unemployed persons with employers. Arbetsförmedlingen shall, with its own staff locally and regionally, reinforce this support and increase the number of participants in the activity, among other things to prevent long periods of inactivity in the framework programs.
The regulatory letter also contains a new goal for Arbetsförmedlingen: to improve matching and support the supply of skills in the labor market. This shall be achieved by increasing the number of participants in labor market training and workplace-based interventions and the number of people with wage subsidies. Furthermore, Arbetsförmedlingen has been tasked with carrying out specific information initiatives aimed at employers to increase knowledge about the support measures available for persons with disabilities in connection with and during employment.
It is also of great importance that Arbetsförmedlingen can identify persons with disabilities early so that it can quickly provide each job seeker with the support they need. The Government has therefore tasked the agency with continuing the work to significantly shorten the average time it takes to identify and register disabilities, with special priority for job seekers who have been without work for more than two years. These efforts are central to creating pathways into the working life for persons with different circumstances.
In the budget bill for 2026, the Government has proposed a strengthening of the special education support, primarily aimed at folk high schools, in order to facilitate education for persons with disabilities. In addition, a new targeted grant for folk high school education for this target group is proposed. The purpose of these measures is, among other things, to strengthen the folk high schools' capacity to meet the needs of participants with varying support needs as well as to prevent education programs from being discontinued.
In the budget bill for 2026, the government has also proposed increased funds for more vocational training at the upper secondary level and within the university colleges, as well as labor market training.
In summary, reinforced support for the job seeker, effective work to identify a disability, and active employer work are required to facilitate the transition to work or education for persons with disabilities.
Serkan Köse (S)
Madam Speaker! I want to begin by thanking the Minister for the answer. But I can simultaneously state that the words do not match reality, Madam Speaker, for while the government speaks of missions, regulatory letters, and information initiatives, people of flesh and blood remain stuck in unemployment year after year.
Today we have over half a million unemployed in Sweden. Among them is a particularly vulnerable group: persons with disabilities that entail reduced work capacity. The unemployment among them, Madam Speaker, is twice as high as among others. One in three long-term unemployed belongs to this group. It concerns people who want to contribute but who time and again are met with waiting, passivity, and closed doors.
Madam Speaker! The Swedish National Audit Office has recently reviewed the labor market policy for this group in the report Arbetsförmedlingens stöd till personer med funktionsnedsättning. The conclusion is bleak, Madam Speaker: One in ten people has to wait more than three years just to have their disability identified by Arbetsförmedlingen – three years in idleness and waiting for legal support – and in many cases, the disability is not identified at all. Even when it is eventually identified, this is no guarantee of intervention. Half receive no support at all, and only three out of ten receive an intervention within two years. At the same time, even the money set aside for this group is not being used.
Madam Speaker! Behind these figures are people who want to work and contribute but who are being bounced around in a system that does not work. And it is the government's responsibility to ensure that the system works.
Madam Speaker! The National Audit Office points out that the government's governance has not been sufficiently effective. Focus has been placed on details in regulatory letters but not on the whole. The result is a labor market policy that is not purposeful for those who need the support most.
Madam Speaker! The reasons are clear: cuts to Arbetsförmedlingen since 2019, when the Moderaterna and Kristdemokraterna, with the support of the Sverigedemokraterna, pushed through large reductions. Offices were closed, the workforce was reduced, and employer contacts were weakened. This was the result of a deliberate policy.
Madam Speaker! Since 2020, the Tidö Government has continued on the same line: fewer wage subsidies, fewer targeted interventions, and less capacity.
The Swedish National Audit Office also shows that it is not just about local offices and case officers. Arbetsförmedlingen has lost crucial specialist competence within the agency. It concerns psychologists, occupational therapists, and social counselors. The number of SIUS consultants has decreased. Even though the number has increased slightly according to the Swedish National Audit Office, the volumes are still not sufficient, and their role has changed. From previously providing close and long-term support, they have to a greater extent been tasked with hunting for jobs. The result is that those who need the most support receive the least.
Madam Speaker! This is not only inefficient. It is unworthy.
When the Minister speaks about the investment in folk high schools and adult education, it sounds as if the support has been strengthened, but the reality is the opposite. The folk high schools bear witness to cuts, the teacher density is decreasing, and courses are being discontinued. Applicants are being rejected. The Council for Adult Education warns that folk high schools and study associations combined are losing nearly 1 billion in resources during this mandate period.
Madam Speaker! These are not investments – they are cuts.
Madam Speaker! A work line that leaves people with disabilities outside is not a work line worth the name. It is passivity, and it is a betrayal. Therefore, I want to ask the Minister: What concrete measures does the government intend to take here and now so that people do not have to wait for three years for the support they are entitled to?
Jonathan Svensson (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank my colleague Serkan Köse, who has raised this very pressing issue.
At the same time as there are relatively many vacancies and several industries within both the private and public sectors are crying out for competence – they report a large shortage of people to hire – we have half a million unemployed people in the country. Of the more than half a million people who are unemployed, a relatively large proportion have a disability. SCB estimates that approximately 8 percent of all people of working age have a disability that affects their ability to work.
This group faces particular challenges in the labor market compared to the rest of the population. For example, the group is employed to a significantly lesser extent than the population at large. SCB states that as few as 46 percent are employed. Unemployment here is significantly higher than among the rest of the population. According to SCB, the levels are as high as 18 percent. At the same time, those in the group who actually work work, on average, fewer hours than the rest of the population does.
Madam Speaker! When we have a group that, under the right conditions, could have contributed to our society in many good ways, and at the same time there is a great shortage of skills in the Swedish labor market, one could imagine that society would pool its efforts to solve this challenge. These individuals should be given the right support so that they can take the jobs that exist. It would be beneficial both for individual individuals and for the economy of society as a whole.
Unfortunately, that is not quite the case today. Instead, unemployment in the group is increasing while the number of people who receive work aids in various forms is decreasing. We see how Arbetsförmedlingen repeatedly has to return money intended for wage subsidy employment. We see that the time to obtain a disability code in Arbetsförmedlingen's internal system is not decreasing at all at the rate that would have been needed.
I had a hope that when the government presented its budget bill yesterday, it would present proposals to handle this challenge and come up with a partial solution to the skills shortage issue we have in our country.
Madam Speaker! In his answer here in the chamber, the Minister just now accounted for several positive matters. Above all, it concerned various assignments that Arbetsförmedlingen has a responsibility to carry out. However, a fundamental problem arises here. It is no secret that Arbetsförmedlingen as an agency has undergone relatively large changes in recent years. It is also no secret that it has been tough to manage all the assignments.
The authority even describes itself as having difficulty fulfilling the full delivery of its mandate. Therefore, year after year, it has demanded more resources than it has received from the government. I think it is rather optimistic to hope that the authority will manage even more without actually providing any major supplements. Small amounts will indeed enter the budget, but no major supplements to the authority's administrative appropriations.
In view of this, I would like to take the opportunity to ask the Minister for Employment if he assesses that Arbetsförmedlingen has sufficient resources to strengthen the work of pushing back unemployment in this group.
Arbetsmarknadsministern Johan Britz (L)
Madam Speaker! I thank the members for their questions and commitment to this issue.
I will dwell on some of the matters they touch upon. I intended to say something about the identification of people with disabilities. I intended to say something about the investments being made in special educational support and folk high schools, as they were mentioned. I also intended to say something about wage subsidies. We shall see how far I manage to get.
Let me begin with the question of identification. Already in the budget bill for 2025, the government gave Arbetsförmedlingen a continued mandate to develop methods for faster and more efficient identification and registration of such disabilities that lead to reduced work capacity. The goal is that the correct support can be provided as early as possible in the process, which is crucial for facilitating the transition to work or education. I believe the government shares the interpellant's and the member's view on this.
This means that Arbetsförmedlingen shall, among other things, shorten the time it takes to identify and register a disability as well as improve coordination with other actors. The effect we are striving for is that job seekers receive the right support earlier in the process. We know that it increases the chances of establishment in the labor market.
Regarding wage subsidies, the government prioritizes investing broadly and powerfully in improving the opportunities for work and education for persons with disabilities. In the budget bill for 2026, we are increasing the appropriations for both wage subsidies and publicly protected employment so that more can benefit from measures that make a difference.
We are strengthening the special educational support and introducing a new targeted grant to folk high schools – I will get to that in just a moment – so that more people with disabilities can study on their own terms. One must not forget that we are simultaneously investing in more vocational training and labor market training to meet the labor market's needs and give more people the chance for a job.
Then we have the question of the educational support and the folk high schools. In the budget bill for 2026, we propose a strengthening of the special educational support, which is the educational support that the Swedish Agency for Special Pedagogical Schools distributes. It is primarily distributed to folk high schools. The support is a state grant aimed at facilitating studies for persons with disabilities by covering additional costs for adaptations, for example, technical equipment, interpretation support, or special competence development for staff.
We also propose a new targeted grant linked to folk high school education for persons with disabilities. Here, it will be the Folkbildningsrådet that shall distribute the funds based on needs in the operations, for example to folk high schools with many participants with disabilities, or to create entirely new educational sites. The purpose is to strengthen the folk high schools' opportunities to meet the needs of participants with extensive support needs and to counteract the disappearance of educational programs.
I also want to say a few words about the Swedish National Audit Office, but I will pause here and return to the question.
Serkan Köse (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answers to our questions!
The Minister spoke about regulatory letters, information initiatives, and ambitions. But people cannot live on regulatory letters. One cannot subsist on an ambition. People need a job, real support here and now, Minister.
I was looking forward to the Minister commenting on the National Audit Office's report, but he intends to do so in the next contribution. I look forward to hearing what the Minister has to say.
The National Audit Office is, in fact, crystal clear, Madam Speaker. The government's management is not working. It is very clear. The waiting times are unreasonable, and the measures do not reach. The money that is set aside for people with disabilities is not even used fully. In that case, fine words in the chamber do not help, Madam Speaker. Reality is not changed by a word or a couple of sentences from the Minister.
The National Audit Office links the deficiencies to organizational changes. They are very harsh in their report. Much is linked to reduced staffing. And reduced staffing is, as I mentioned earlier, Madam Speaker, linked to the government's priorities and budgets. Budget after budget, they have cut back on resources, on the time in active labor market policy but also on the administrative appropriation to the agency. It is the effects of the government's policy that we see and that we read about in the National Audit Office's report.
Madam Speaker! Let us talk about the human perspective within the context. Behind every waiting time is a person who wants to contribute. One in ten people registered at Arbetsförmedlingen has to wait for over three years to have their disability identified – three years, Minister!
The Minister also mentioned folk high schools and adult education. But the reality is different, Madam Speaker. The folk high schools themselves testify to the cuts. Courses are being discontinued, teacher density is decreasing, and applicants are being rejected. The Council for Adult Education has warned that folk high schools and study associations combined will lose resources of nearly 1 billion during this parliamentary term as an effect of the government's budget. And these are not investments, Madam Speaker, but they are cuts disguised in beautiful rhetoric.
The consequences of the government's policy are that Arbetsförmedlingen is losing important expertise. As I mentioned, it concerns psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists and others who should provide people with the right support, but these are now being left to their fate. When the social workers are not enough, and their role is reduced to chasing workplaces instead of providing long-term support, the result is that those who need the most support receive the least support. This is also what appears in the Riksrevisionen's report.
Madam Speaker! The work line becomes empty rhetoric from the government's side if it does not include all people.
All people shall be given the best conditions to be able to establish themselves on the labor market today.
My question to the Minister is: In what way does the Minister mean that it strengthens the work line that people with disabilities are left in passivity year after year after year while the government does not even use the funds that already exist?
I also look forward to the Minister being able to comment on the National Audit Office's report, as it was submitted during the summer, Madam Speaker. What has the Minister done since then with the National Audit Office's report?
Jonathan Svensson (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer!
The Minister touched upon the issue regarding disability codes, i.e., the identification of disabilities in Arbetsförmedlingen's internal systems. It is true, just as the Minister said, that Arbetsförmedlingen has received a special mandate to actually work on reducing the times. But I can still state that the times to obtain a disability code are still far too long.
It has been some time since that assignment was given, and we have still not reached any satisfactory level. If the agency does not have the resources required to be able to work with this, it will be difficult to get much further than we have today.
The Minister also mentioned the issue regarding wage subsidies. It is true that small amounts – increments, one could actually call them – appear in the government's budget. But the fact remains: Arbetsförmedlingen and other actors are unable to use all the money. Year after year, Arbetsförmedlingen returns money to the treasury, money that could have been used out in the operations.
I still mean that it continues to be the case that Arbetsförmedlingen and the entire active labor market policy is by far too weakly resourced to fulfill its important mission, not least when it comes to people with disabilities. That is precisely why we Social Democrats, in shadow budget after shadow budget, have chosen to prioritize differently than the government has done. We have allocated more resources to the active labor market policy, because we see that there is a great need for it, especially in the times of recession that we are currently in.
Madam Speaker! The Government and the Sweden Democrats have failed to reverse the development in the labor market. We have 100,000 more unemployed today than when the Government took office. The skills shortage within the welfare sector and in the private sector has increased.
With a different policy, a different reality would have been possible. I would therefore like to ask the Minister for Employment when the government will realize what problems exist in the Swedish labor market, especially for people with disabilities, and actually deliver solutions to those problems.
Arbetsmarknadsministern Johan Britz (L)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, members, for your contributions and remarks!
I still think we should be a bit careful. I agree that one cannot live on ambitions and mandates, as Member Serkan Köse mentioned. But we must not underestimate how important it is that we try to steer our agencies in the best possible way. What I set out in my previous contribution were actually also quite clear, concrete budget allocations.
There is another thing that I think we can keep in mind. If you combine the budget items for folk high schools and study associations – which are now two different appropriations – it has decreased. But it has not decreased for folk high schools. Let us still hold onto that truth.
We do not have different objectives in this issue. The government's objective is that more people with disabilities shall be given the opportunity to enter employment. We follow that development closely. We are prepared to review the supports going forward, but we also need, of course, to look at the whole. We need to build a more inclusive working life where no one is left behind.
Since the folk high schools were mentioned, I want to say that it is one of the most important forms of education for persons with disabilities. The proportion of participants with disabilities is increasing. In 2024, they amounted to 44 percent in what is called the general course at the folk high schools. Therefore, they have a decisive role for persons with disabilities when it comes to education and for achieving the goals in the disability policy. That is also why the government prioritizes folk high schools.
Well, the Swedish National Audit Office has submitted a report. They conducted a review of the design and implementation of the labor market policy for persons with disabilities that entail reduced work capacity. The intention was to review whether the design and implementation of the labor market policy in this area is effective. The government's management in the area was also included in the review. As mentioned earlier, the result was published this summer, in June.
It is noted, just as is mentioned here, that the agency's support for the target group has deteriorated over time. It is about identification. It is about an ever-increasing proportion lacking interventions and that the differences are large between the groups. Therefore, the government needs to steer the agency more long-term and results-oriented so that more in the target group will enter employment. I still want to say that Arbetsförmedlingen has taken certain measures to streamline the operations, but I also want to say that problems remain. We see this.
We will, in the usual order, submit a communication from the government in light of the review report, and it will be submitted to the Riksdag before the end of this term. I will, of course, withhold the exact content until we have finished working on it.
Serkan Köse (S)
Madam Speaker! Again: Thank you, Minister, for the answer!
Minister for Employment! I note that the folk high schools themselves testify to cuts. Courses are being discontinued. The teacher density is decreasing. And it is almost 4,000 fewer who participate in the general course compared to 2022. It is therefore not quite as the Minister claims.
We can go back to the report from the Swedish National Audit Office. It states very clearly that the government's governance has not been sufficiently effective. What we see today, Madam Speaker, is therefore nothing other than a betrayal of those who need society the most.
I mentioned people who want to contribute and work but who have been left waiting for years – three years without support, sometimes even longer. And the support is falling, Madam Speaker, because the Public Employment Service (Arbetsförmedlingen) has been torn apart. I mentioned that from 2019 until today, resources for administrative grants have been cut, but also for active labor market policy interventions. Offices have been closed. Psychologists, social workers, and occupational therapists have disappeared from the agency. It is precisely those professional groups, Madam Speaker, that are crucial for identifying disabilities and providing the right help.
The National Audit Office criticizes the government. Funktionsrätt Sverige demands action. Yet people are met with passivity, waiting times, and closed doors. It is not dignified, Madam Speaker. It is not a working line. It is a political scandal.
Here lies the dividing line in Swedish politics, Madam Speaker. The Right sees people as costs. We Social Democrats see people as assets. The Right tears down. We build up every time after the Right.
My question to the Minister is: What does the Minister for Employment intend to do here and now, with the National Audit Office's report as a basis, for those people who have waited for years to enter the labor market and fulfill their obligations? What initiatives and what measures are they? Instead of someone coming to the Riksdag later with some kind of writing, I and the Riksdag – everyone – want to know here and now. We have the National Audit Office's report. What does the government intend to do?
Arbetsmarknadsministern Johan Britz (L)
Madam Speaker! I would like to once again thank the member for the commitment, which I believe we share 100 percent.
We have the same picture of the problems that people with disabilities and reduced work capacity face on the labor market in Sweden. There is data on what works okay and what works less well. As I said earlier, we will follow this issue.
I still want to emphasize that we already last year allocated resources so that more people with disabilities and others who are far from the labor market would receive specifically tailored support with closer contact with employment service officers and better coordination with other actors. Arbetsförmedlingen is on the right track in many issues, but there is of course more to be done.
Regarding the National Audit Office's report, I do not think it will come as a surprise to the member that I obviously cannot tell what will be stated in the communication that the government will submit to the Riksdag before it is written. That would be a bit strange. We request to be allowed to return to that question.
But I thank you for this discussion, and I thank you for the commitment that we share.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.