Response to interpellation 2025/26:87 on childcare during inconvenient working hours
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 municipalities should strive to offer childcare during inconvenient working hours and that a state grant of 79 million kronor exists for this 1. L proposes that the state grant for maximum fees be significantly strengthened during 2026 and 2027 to lower fees 1 2. L believes that families with children have received approximately 5,000 kronor more in their pockets every month since they took power 3 and that it is crucial for hard-working Swedes to get a respite 3. L emphasizes that the Education Act contains rules that municipalities cannot disregard 4. 5 S argues that the state grant of 80 million kronor has been eroded by inflation 5. S believes that it is better to increase the child allowance to strengthen families with children's finances 5 6 and proposes that the state grant be increased by an additional 50 million kronor 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.
Utbildnings- och integrationsministern Simona Mohamsson (L)
Madam Speaker! Rose-Marie Carlsson has asked me how I, within my area of responsibility, can further strengthen the municipalities' conditions to offer childcare during inconvenient working hours.
Many occupational groups have working hours entirely or partially scheduled to evenings, nights or weekends. For parents in these occupational groups, there may be a need for childcare during times when preschool or after-school care is not offered. Municipalities shall strive to offer care for children during the time when preschool or after-school care is not offered to the extent that is needed, including with regard to the parents' gainful employment (Chapter 25, Section 5 of the Education Act [2010:800]). It is possible for municipalities to apply for state grants to organize care during the time when preschool or after-school care is not offered.
Despite this, there may still be parents who have a need for such care but do not receive it. From the preparatory works for the Education Act, it clearly appears that the municipality should make an individual assessment based on the local circumstances for each application for a place. The assessment should also include the parents' actual possibilities to arrange care for their children themselves (prop. 2009/10:165 p. 532). The Education Act's requirement that every municipality shall strive to offer care at inconvenient times is not something that the municipalities can disregard.
For 2025, 79 million kronor have been allocated for the state grant that municipalities can apply for for childcare during evenings, nights, and weekends. The state grant is intended so that municipalities can offer more childcare so that children who need it can receive care during evenings, nights, and weekends. The grant can be used for both existing activities and new activities conducted during evenings, nights, and weekends.
For care during times when, for example, preschool cannot be offered, fees may be charged in the same way that a municipality may charge a fee for a place in a preschool that it organizes, and the fees shall be reasonable (Chapter 8, Section 16 of the Education Act). In the budget bill for 2026, the Government proposes initiatives for a preschool with high quality and with reduced fees. The Government proposes a reduction of the childcare fee and a substantial reinforcement of the state grant for maximum fee of 1 billion SEK for 2026, and the estimated reinforcement for 2027 is 1.5 billion SEK. It is important that the state and the municipalities take responsibility together.
Rose-Marie Carlsson (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you for the answer, Minister!
It is not the first time, and probably not the last time during this mandate period, that the question of childcare during inconvenient working hours – that is, care during evenings, weekends, and nights – is debated here in the chamber. The background is that it is becoming increasingly common for guardians to testify or for one to read in the press that childcare suddenly closes earlier in the evening than it did before or that the municipality is closing the night nursery. This causes concern. It is exactly as the minister says: The municipalities have an obligation to offer a preschool place within four months, but not during inconvenient working hours.
It is important to create conditions so that people can combine work life and family life. It is important that everyone has their own income, because it is crucial for one's own personal finances, the family's finances, how one feels mentally, how one can be a good parent, and for self-confidence.
The form of care we are talking about is more costly for the municipalities than a regular place. To stimulate and encourage the municipalities to offer OB-care, there is, as the minister says, a targeted state grant of just over 80 million kronor. The amount has been the same for several years, and in line with inflation, the state grant has been eroded. Furthermore, many municipalities have had worse finances, and it is not as straightforward to offer the demanded care.
This is not a statutory activity, and therefore there is no information on how many municipalities offer this childcare. There is only information on how many and which municipalities are applying for the targeted state grant. Just from June this year, that number has decreased from 161 to 157 providers. It is slowly going down.
Not so long ago, one could still read about a person who was forced to resign because the nursing home was closing. She – usually it is a woman – was forced to move to another municipality, which offered the requested care.
I submitted a written question to the current minister's representative. The answer was that the government is following the issue closely. Now there is a new minister joining the government, but I do not believe the current minister has a different opinion.
The Minister referred in his answer to the investment the government is making in preschool. But it is actually no major investment. It only means that they are not making the savings they previously announced. The maximum fee provides no new money to the operations but is a compensation to the municipalities if they apply the maximum fee for the announced reduction of the fee for preschool and after-school care. One can ask how that creates more places in childcare. What does it help the parent who has to resign or say no to work because there is no childcare at the times they need it? That the fee is lower, what does it help? I will think of the film classic We were at least lucky with the weather.
If one wanted to strengthen the finances of families with children, it would have been better to increase the child allowance. My question therefore remains: How will the minister further strengthen the municipalities' conditions to offer childcare outside of regular hours?
Utbildnings- och integrationsministern Simona Mohamsson (L)
Mr. Speaker! I can guarantee that we continue to follow this closely. Just as Rose-Marie Carlsson said, it is crucial that one has the right to preschool, both for the child's development and because when children attend preschool, it also helps in the rest of their education. One also gets the opportunity to contribute to the children's development, not least when it comes to learning to read.
I also think it is crucial, as Rose-Marie Carlsson pointed out, that parents should know that they can always say yes to jobs without having to worry about whether their children have a preschool place or not. That leads to my clear view. There are already clear rules formulated in the Education Act, which municipalities cannot disregard.
The reinforcements we are making to the state grant to municipalities for the maximum fee within preschool and after-school care also include pedagogical care offered instead of preschool and after-school care, as well as care offered according to Chapter 25, Section 5 of the Education Act during the time when preschool and after-school care are not offered. My view is that there are already clear regulations that municipalities cannot disregard.
In my opening remarks, I tried to be clear that this is an issue where I believe the municipalities and the state need to work hand in hand. Municipalities should make individual assessments based on the local conditions for each application for a place, and the assessment should be based on whether the parents have a real possibility of arranging care for their children themselves.
Municipalities cannot bypass the school act's clear provisions that they must strive to offer care for children at times when preschool or after-school care is not offered. This is, therefore, not something they can dodge.
Rose-Marie Carlsson (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer!
It is impossible to miss that what we are discussing and debating today is access to childcare during inconvenient working hours. It is an issue that affects both the work line, equality, and the children's security.
In Sweden, everyone should have the opportunity to work and support themselves, regardless of which profession or what working hours they have. Our welfare is built on the fact that there are people who work while others sleep. Nursing assistants, bus drivers, healthcare assistants and police officers are some of the professions that keep society running around the clock and make the welfare function.
Parents who work evenings, nights and weekends are often met with a simple but unfair reality in the form of childcare that closes as early as five or six o'clock. Sometimes the opening hours in the morning also do not work because of long travel times.
We know that a third of the country's municipalities offer night shifts or similar activities while others lack it entirely. The Minister and I can agree as much as we want that it should be arranged in some way, but the fact remains: reality looks different. Even in the municipalities that have many workplaces where shift work is performed, there are examples where this is not offered.
The opportunities for families with children are therefore not determined by what profession one has or whether one wants to work, but by which municipality one happens to live in. When the municipality closes down night-time childcare or has never had any, these parents are forced to resign from their jobs or move to another municipality – not because they want to, but because the childcare is insufficient.
Mr. Speaker! This is not a marginal or small issue. It affects not only those who do not have access to functioning childcare but also the workplaces that cannot obtain the workforce they need. It is about nursing assistants and healthcare assistants who cannot get the colleague they truly need. We recognize the motto "more hands in healthcare."
Parents should not have to choose between work and children because they work evenings or nights. Children should not have to be moved around between relatives or friends and acquaintances because society fails to meet its responsibility. That is somewhat what I could read between the lines, which the minister implies and which is also stated in the Education Act. But this is, therefore, the consequence.
We have today a Sweden where, for example, a single parent in my home municipality Malmö can work nights at a hospital while someone in another municipality cannot do so, because they do not have access to night care there. The difference between municipalities means that children of parents working at night do not always get the same opportunity for work and livelihood – no, it is not the children who are supposed to work but the guardian! That got a bit silly, and I apologize.
This is not equivalent, and it is not a functioning line of work. If the government is serious about more people being able to work, the welfare system must make it possible. The need is not low, but underestimated. People juggle with relatives, swap shifts, or resign. The question remains: How will the minister strengthen the municipalities' conditions to offer childcare during inconvenient working hours?
The Minister also refers to the maximum fee. We have not yet seen the proposal on how the maximum fee is to be constructed. Will there be money left over so that it can be used for other things, or will it only go towards compensating for the loss of income when one receives a lower fee? The Minister cannot answer that today, because there is no finished proposal. When can we see a proposal on the maximum fee?
Utbildnings- och integrationsministern Simona Mohamsson (L)
Mr. Speaker! I am pleased that Rose-Marie Carlsson also appreciates the work line – primarily for parents and perhaps not for children, as they are to go to preschool.
Since 2013, there have been state grants to increase access to care during evenings, nights, and weekends. The grant can be used both for existing activities in the municipalities and to start new activities. For the year 2025, the state grant amounts to approximately 80 million kronor, which can stimulate and contribute to offering just care at inconvenient times and increase the scope. This is therefore a state grant that municipalities can apply for if they themselves do not have the means or have prioritized doing so. It is up to the municipalities to apply for this grant.
For care during a time when, for example, preschool is not offered, fees may be charged in the same way that a municipality may charge fees for a place in a preschool that is organized. The fees shall be reasonable.
It is important to reduce the economic barriers, which I and the member agree on. This is important to increase the possibility of participating in preschool and after-school care but not least also for the children's language development.
Household finances also need to be strengthened so that the prolonged recession can be broken and the Swedish economy can recover. The Government intends to introduce a tax-free allowance for income so that households' childcare fees within the framework of the maximum fee will be lower. We do this so that more people will never have to hesitate because they face the choice between getting some breathing room in their finances and having their children in preschool. Therefore, we propose that the state grant for the maximum fee should be strengthened.
As has been said, there is today a state grant. It has been available for municipalities to apply for since 2013 so that they can increase access to care during evenings, nights, and weekends. This is crucial for the work principle but also for children's language development.
Rose-Marie Carlsson (S)
Mr. Speaker! I thank you for the answer. We are equally in agreement on how important preschool is. It is important that all children are truly in preschool, because it lays the foundation for everything for the children.
I thank you for the debate, but I will return in other contexts. It is not enough to say that the municipalities can arrange childcare on evenings, nights, and weekends. We also know exactly what is stated in the Education Act regarding how that can be done here.
It cannot be that one has to resign. Often it concerns women who may be single and are forced to leave their jobs. Society must be able to step up for those who make Sweden function, even outside of office hours and especially at night.
The Minister also speaks about strengthening household finances, specifically targeted towards families with children. But it would have been much better and more accurate if the child allowance had been increased.
Let me return to the targeted state grant. To stimulate the municipalities to take their responsibility and offer childcare during inconvenient working hours, a targeted state grant corresponding to 80 million was introduced a number of years ago, as the minister mentioned. It has remained at the same level ever since it was introduced.
A quick measure that could make a difference is to expand the targeted government grant. Therefore, we Social Democrats have allocated an additional 50 million kronor to the targeted government grant that the municipalities can apply for in our shadow budget. We have thus increased it by just over 60 percent.
In conclusion, I would like to ask the Minister: Is the Minister prepared to make the same investment that we Social Democrats are making?
Utbildnings- och integrationsministern Simona Mohamsson (L)
Mr. Speaker! It is good that some different budget proposals are being presented here as well. We have presented a budget for families with children. Since we took power, families with children have received approximately 5,000 kronor more in their wallets every month. It is crucial that hard-working Swedes, who contribute to the Swedish economy every day, get a breather in their daily lives after a prolonged recession.
I am glad that the preschool's maximum fee is part of the reliefs we are presenting. Those hundreds or thousands of kronor matter for whether parents should take an extra shift at work or simply be able to get a breather in their finances and not have to worry about being forced to choose between going to the cinema on a Friday or having their children go to preschool.
It will sound repetitive of me, but I say it again: It is clear in the provisions of the Education Act that municipalities shall strive to offer childcare during the times when preschool and after-school care are not offered. This shall be done with regard to the parents' gainful employment and the family's situation. The municipalities shall make individual assessments based on the local conditions, and these can vary quite a bit. That is why we have a state grant.
I look forward to more municipalities, together with the state, taking responsibility so that more parents in Sweden can be hard-working parents but also so that more children have the opportunity to attend preschool.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.