Response to interpellations 2024/25:378 and 394 on unemployment
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
L wants to strengthen households' purchasing power and promote growth through lowered taxes on labor 1 2. L wants to re-establish the work principle by activating the unemployed with cost-effective measures, language skills, and vocational training 1. L argues that today's system creates passivity and benefit dependency and that the problem is a lack of competence among the unemployed 2. L emphasizes that people must take personal responsibility 3. S criticizes the government's passivity and argues that bourgeois politics leads to poorer growth and higher unemployment 4. S believes that the government is weakening Arbetsförmedlingen 5 and that resources for active labor market policy have been reduced 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)
Madam Speaker! I have been asked what I and the government intend to do to reverse the development regarding unemployment, and whether I can account for the direction and content of the government's labor market policy.
Serkan Köse has asked me what measures I intend to take to curb the increased unemployment and create more job opportunities.
The government wants to support the economy's recovery and prioritizes reforms within three areas in particular. It is about continuing to strengthen households' purchasing power, about reforms for increased growth, and about re-establishing the work principle so that more people enter employment.
The Government's strategy to get more people into employment is aimed at activating the unemployed and at prioritizing cost-effective measures, initiatives that provide knowledge in the Swedish language and training that benefits the skills supply.
In the 2025 budget bill, the government makes investments that involve reduced taxes on labor and extensive investments in education. The government has also increased the resources of Arbetsförmedlingen to improve matching in the labor market and provide better support to job seekers.
The government has a good basis to meet unemployment and constantly follows and analyzes the developments in the labor market in order to be able to conduct an effective labor market policy whose measures shall contribute to a well-functioning labor market.
Patrik Björck (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister for Employment, for the answer!
When I wrote the interpellation, I had access to the December statistics for the Swedish labor market. Some time has passed since then, and it has become worse. That is the tragic part.
No matter how you measure it, Sweden has high unemployment. We all know that it is a waste of resources. It is a waste that affects both society, individuals, and the Swedish economy. It hits both wage earners and companies hard. Unemployment is growing, the number of bankruptcies is hitting new records, and there is high unemployment and low growth. This is what the policy that the government is now pursuing has led to.
I asked what the government intends to do to reverse the development, and I asked about the government's labor market policy. The tragic thing, Madam Speaker, is that the government is doing nothing to reverse the development. The government is pursuing precisely the policy that has led us to where we are. If one continues to do as one always has done, it will be as it always has been. Conservative policy will always lead to increased bankruptcies and higher unemployment. It is a tragic fact.
The only way to change this would have been if the Liberals could have helped us Social Democrats to form governments to pursue an active labor market policy, an active industrial policy, and an active policy to increase households' consumption opportunities. That is, however, not the case.
Madam Speaker! We shall look a little closer at the answer. It is about strengthening the households' purchasing power, says the Minister for Employment. But food prices are increasing now. Food prices are what truly burdens the households, and they are increasing. When it comes to the reforms for increased growth, the bankruptcies are now hitting records. The Minister for Employment says that the work line shall be re-established so that more people get into work, even though it is going exactly the opposite way.
On every point in this answer, one only describes a wishful thinking. That is what is so serious.
The Minister for Employment also refers to the budget. When the budget was presented – it is admittedly a few months ago now – the Fiscal Policy Council, which is appointed to review the government's economic policy, stated that the analysis of the budget does not work. The effect of the tax cuts proposed in the budget bill is doubted. It is not an effective measure if one wants to create more jobs, says the chairman of the Fiscal Policy Council.
If one reads the somewhat finer print in the Council's review of the budget, it states that the lack of matching between employers' needs and the unemployed's skills seems to be a more important explanation for unemployment among groups with weak competitiveness. This applies in particular regarding education, as job seekers often lack the specific skills that employers demand.
One is also skeptical that the government's budget will lead to any improvement in the labor market. The things pointed out in the response do not, therefore, work in reality.
I also asked a question about the government's labor market policy. It did not quite come forward in the answer, but one can look at the government's planned work. In the autumn, we received the list of propositions. The autumn list was almost empty of proposals from the Ministry of Employment. There were two proposals. Then I thought that a massive offensive would come in the spring list, but in the spring list that just arrived, there was only a single proposal from the government on labor market policy measures. It is not enough.
Serkan Köse (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer!
It has now been 857 days since the Liberals, with the support of the Sweden Democrats, took over responsibility for the labor market policy – 857 days. The Liberals' Mats Persson leads the Ministry of Employment, and the Sweden Democrats lead the labor market committee's work in the Riksdag. Together, they have shaped a policy that has led to more uncertainty, fewer opportunities, and a weaker labor market.
After 857 days, the government's and the Sweden Democrats' failure can be summarized in one sentence: They have abandoned the labor market, abdicated their responsibility, and left the unemployed in the lurch. Sweden now stands with the highest unemployment in ten years, if we set aside the pandemic. We are approaching 600,000 unemployed. Long-term unemployment has taken hold, and 173,000 people have been without work for more than a year.
Youth unemployment is skyrocketing, and soon one in three young people in our country will be unemployed.
The construction sector is in crisis. More companies are going under, and bankruptcies have increased by over 30 percent, Madam Speaker. At the same time, residential construction has collapsed after the government, among other things, abolished the investment support for rental housing. This has led to fewer homes being built, thousands of construction jobs disappearing, and construction workers being unemployed today.
In the midst of all this, Sweden also has the weakest growth in the entire EU. Our economy stands still while other countries' economies move forward.
Despite this development, Mats Persson stands here today and tries to convince us Social Democrats that the government has a strategy to get more people into work. But we do not see a government that governs or acts. Mats Persson, where is the work line? In every debate with the Minister, he claims that the government stands for the work line.
Madam Speaker! I want to precede the debate and can state that the government also gives a simplified picture here where one does not really take the work line seriously. What is the work line when unemployment increases, Mats Persson? Fewer people receive education, and more people are left without support.
If the government stood up for a real work line, it would invest in education, job creation and security in transition, not pursue a policy that cuts down on the opportunities for the unemployed to enter work.
But what has Mats Persson done? Mats Persson says that the government is resuming the work line – which is stated in the answer – but Mats Persson has cut back on active labor market policy.
Mats Persson claims that the government has strengthened Arbetsförmedlingen, but in practice, the agency has been weakened and received fewer resources. Mats Persson speaks about investments in education, but the government has cut back on adult education, which is one of the most important measures to help the unemployed into jobs.
Madam Speaker! The only reform that Mats Persson has delivered is to worsen the security for the unemployed. Instead of providing support to those who lose their jobs, the government has worsened the allowance. After 100 days, the unemployed will be forced into poverty in insecure, low-paid jobs instead of getting a real chance for transition, education, and returning to work.
And not only that, Madam Speaker – the government has cut back on adult education and skills development, which makes it difficult for many to return to work. The government's, Mats Persson's and the Sverigedemokraternas report card after 857 days contains no job-creating reforms, no concrete measures to equip people for the labor market, and no accountability for the consequences their policy has led to.
Madam Speaker! This government with Mats Persson has had two and a half years to present a policy that takes unemployment seriously, but instead, Mats Persson has abdicated his responsibility. When will Minister Mats Persson take his responsibility and act?
Eva Lindh (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the interpellants, my party colleagues Björck and Köse, who have in an excellent manner described the situation with unemployment. I also thank the Minister for the answer.
I want to raise three connected focuses on the issue of unemployment. It is deeply concerning when we see that unemployment continues to increase. It is concerning for several different reasons, and those are the ones I want to particularly highlight.
First and foremost, it is the unemployed. It became clear when Serkan Köse raised the issue of youth unemployment. I was young myself in the 90s, and at that time, unemployment was approximately as high as it is today. The consequences for the young were that they tragically never really entered the labor market.
Why do I say this? Many of us perhaps do not quite realize the magnitude of today's unemployment. This government does not seem to think that unemployment is any major problem.
But the people who are unemployed are a resource for society, for the labor market, which we are not utilizing. That is the perspective we must have with us when we talk about job policy. It is usually not about people who cannot contribute. Some cannot work, but they are not who we are talking about here. Some cannot work for one reason or another, but I highlight those who can work and who actually have the strength to participate and contribute. There are young people who do not get into the labor market. People with disabilities could very well have a place in the labor market with the right support.
What consequences does this have? The people who are available for the labor market, who want to enter the labor market, are needed in the labor market. At the same time as we see that unemployment is increasing, there is an enormous skills shortage. People think that it is strange, and indeed it is strange. Sometimes it would be a matter of simple measures to give people, the unemployed, an education, a skill so that they can take a job. That would mean that we do something about the skills shortage and unemployment. What would that mean? Well, something better not only for the individual persons but also for the whole society – above all the economy.
The SD-led government really needs help with growth. It is enormously poor right now. One of the reasons is that there are far too many unemployed people who cannot contribute to the economic growth that we so desperately need. What new policy does the minister have to address this?
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)
Madam Speaker! I thank the interveners.
Let me begin by stating that I believe Sweden will fare well if we in the Riksdag have an approach where we wish each other well and do not believe that our political opponent wants us any harm. I have full confidence that the Social Democrats wish well and that as many unemployed people as possible can find a job. Then we in the Riksdag shall have respect for the fact that the different parties have different views based on ideology and values on what the solutions look like.
I do not suspect that the Social Democrats want any harm. Naturally, I hope that the opposition can have the same attitude towards the government, that is, that the government does not want any harm but that the government has very high ambitions to get more people from unemployment to jobs.
In line with this, it is also important that we are honest that the recession is not rooted in the Swedish Riksdag or how different political parties have voted, but rather the recession is rooted in the war being waged in Europe and the economic crisis that exists in several European countries, not least in Germany, which also strongly affects the Swedish economy. It is noticeable for many Swedes when interest rates go up and it is expensive to buy one's food basket at Ica, Coop or Hemköp.
We find ourselves in a situation and economic position that has its roots in factors in other countries, and we have a responsibility here to do the best we can to make it as good as possible for the Swedish people.
The Government's view is that in this situation with a prolonged recession, there are simultaneously many vacant jobs. There are 115,000 vacant jobs where employers cannot find the right competence. It is therefore important to invest in vocational training that leads to real jobs, which are focused on a profession. These should be trainings where one learns a profession at the workplace. It can be in health and social care, in industry, or in craft professions or equivalent professions where there is currently a large shortage of labor. It should be a matter of a relatively short training, and the training should in many respects be provided at a workplace. In that way, one can enter a context, stand on one's own feet, and support oneself.
Madam Speaker! At the same time, it is important to state that the system today is too weak. There are empty training places today because people do not attend the training they can attend – the training that society says one should attend. It does not mean that people are lazy or slack, but it means that the system is too weak. It creates a passivity, which in turn causes people to get stuck in long-term passive benefit dependency. They go year after year and passively receive a benefit, which the taxpayers who get up every morning and go to work help pay for, but the unemployed do no counter-performance to receive the benefit. It is not reasonable.
That is why the government is shifting the policy and introducing activity requirements so that the unemployed must do something to receive benefits. Our authorities shall set higher requirements for the unemployed so that they attend the training offered. They are given many opportunities, but they also have an obligation to do their utmost to take the jobs and training that are offered.
Patrik Björck (S)
Madam Speaker! I have great respect for Mats Persson and the government, and I hope that he does not believe otherwise.
We have different views and different policies. I tried to say that the different policies lead to different results. Conservative policy invariably always, and has always, led to poorer growth, increased bankruptcies and higher unemployment. It is not because Mats Persson wants ill or that conservative politicians want ill, but it is because conservative policy cannot deliver. It is a historical fact.
Our policy leads to higher growth, lower unemployment and better business.
We all want the same thing, probably. It is just that we are thinking correctly, and Mats Persson is thinking incorrectly. This is not about a lack of respect. I want to be clear about that. When it comes to the Fiscal Policy Council's lack of respect for the government when one says that the government's policy will not lead to more jobs, I do not interpret that as disrespectful from the Fiscal Policy Council, but as a serious assessment of the government's failed policy.
Madam Speaker! I really want to emphasize that I have great respect for Mats Persson. I absolutely do not believe that he wants any harm. But he does harm. One only has to look around. Food prices are rising, jobs are becoming fewer, bankruptcies are becoming more frequent, and growth is at the bottom compared to the rest of Europe.
It is of course not only Sweden that has been affected by a global economic downturn. That is what one hears. A global economic downturn cannot affect only Sweden. The global situation that Mats Persson points out affects all countries. But the Swedish government is exceptionally poor at handling it.
In the event of an economic downturn and problems in the world around us, one should invest in an active industrial policy, an active labor market policy, and an active education policy to counteract the results of the global economic downturn. But the government does not do that. The government is passive.
Then we come to another way of looking at the world. Mats Persson explains the problem in the Swedish labor market by saying that people are too lazy and too passive, and that it is that which causes bankruptcies, economic downturns, and increased unemployment. I turn against that view, Madam Speaker.
There are surely some individuals who are passive and lazy. I am completely convinced of that. The problem is that it does not affect the Swedish economy, but if a government is lazy and passive, it affects the economy and lives of all of Sweden and all people, Madam Speaker. Even the one who is hardworking, even the one who struggles to make ends meet, even the one who does their best to improve their position on the labor market is affected by the government's passivity and laziness.
Yes, we will place demands on the individual. But we must place even tougher demands on the government. Right now, it is doing nothing.
Serkan Köse (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer!
I am also of the opinion that the government does not mean well, and I also have great respect for Mats Persson. What we are discussing and criticizing is Mats Persson's and the government's passivity. We expect more, that the government and Mats Persson should act when the situation looks as it does on the Swedish labor market.
Mats Persson mentioned in his response that they want to invest in vocational training to get more people into work. We share that view. But if we look at the consequences of Mats Persson's policy, we can see that vocational training has decreased. Despite the employers' crying need for competence, fewer and fewer unemployed people are going into vocational training.
Mats Persson says that one is investing in education, but in reality, the unemployed are given fewer opportunities to acquire skills for the jobs that exist. The number of people who undergo labor market training is at historically low levels, and the government is doing nothing to change this.
Mats Persson speaks about Arbetsförmedlingen in his response. The reality is that Arbetsförmedlingen has been weakened. The number of offices has decreased, from being present in 170 municipalities to being present in 81 municipalities in Sweden. In other municipalities in Sweden, Arbetsförmedlingen has no physical presence at all today.
The latest we have heard is that they also intend to close a number of state service offices across the country. 29 service offices are to be closed during the period 2025/2026. Instead, they refer the unemployed to digital meetings, regardless of whether they need personal assistance or not.
Madam Speaker! This particularly affects people who are far from the labor market and young people with disabilities. How are people to receive support to find jobs when there is no physical place to turn to?
We have mentioned the construction sector earlier. Mats Persson was involved in abolishing the investment support. It has led to fewer construction starts and thousands of lost jobs. Thousands of jobs could have been created with continued investment support. But the government chose to scrap it. The result is that housing construction has plummeted and unemployment among construction workers increases every day.
I have mentioned the unemployment insurance before. It has deteriorated. Again: Instead of giving people a way back to work, the government has lowered the compensation and increased the pressure on the unemployed. The person who loses their job today does not get the security and transition time needed to find a new job. Instead, the unemployed are pressured into insecure jobs or forced to seek jobs that do not even exist.
Madam Speaker! When we criticize the government's labor market policy and passivity, we often hear the same excuses: that it is due to the economic cycle and inflation and that these are tough times. But let us be clear. During the pandemic, in the midst of the global crisis, unemployment was lower than it is today. Other countries have invested in education and skills development to get people into jobs. Sweden has done the opposite. Sweden has the weakest growth in the entire EU. It is the result of the government's policy, not of an inevitable economic development.
I am asking again because I did not quite get an answer: When does Minister Mats Persson intend to act? When will we see the concrete solutions to reverse the development? And when does Mats Persson intend to stop shifting the blame and not just blame a conjuncture or an economic development?
It is also very much about the government's priorities. We wish, among other things, that the government has an active labor market policy to create conditions for people to be able to take their first job.
Eva Lindh (S)
Madam Speaker! All of us politicians know how it can be. It does not always turn out exactly as one wants, the world does not always become as we want, and we are not always affected exactly as we wish. I completely agree with that. And nor do I doubt Mats Persson's will regarding his assignment.
But somewhere, after one can state that the outside world affects us, there is a difference in what we see and what we do with it. My and our view is that it means we must activate ourselves even more. It must lead to an active job policy to address the difficulties that a country, a municipality, and a region face. One must be active.
As unemployment is now increasing more and more, which was not at all expected based on this government's assessments, we therefore demand that the course must be changed and more be done to get more people into work. It is, in fact, what the companies are demanding. They need more staff with the competence that is in demand. The unemployed are seeking jobs. And our growth, our economy, needs more people who are in work so that we can truly get the economy moving. One cannot simply respond by giving carrots to those who already have and whips to those who do not.
An active job policy is required. That is what we are demanding. What is the Minister's answer to this?
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)
Madam Speaker! Let me begin with the question about other countries. I think it is a very interesting aspect. How is it that other countries have different unemployment levels than what we have in Sweden? The truth is that we in Sweden can be very proud that we have an incredibly high employment rate. A very large proportion of the population belongs to the workforce. In other countries, there are housewives and others who do not actively seek work. But in Sweden, they do, and in Sweden, the vast majority of people work.
What is not working in Sweden is the connection between people's competence and the needs of companies and employers. That is why, in this prolonged recession, we can have a situation where we have 115,000 vacant jobs while the unemployed are unable to take them because they do not have the competence that is in demand.
That is also why it is so very important that we invest in education. The Social Democrats often talk about a specific form of education within the framework of labor market training, but what is relevant is to look at all education. It is clear that what is most relevant for someone who does not have a job is which educations one can apply for. The truth is that there are over 120,000 vocational educations that one can apply for this year – within healthcare, industry, crafts, and other fields. There are different types of educations one can apply for. If one says that we are not investing in education in Sweden, with the large investments that the government has made in vocational educations, I do not think that is a fair assessment. Then it is true that there are low levels for this specific form of education at Arbetsförmedlingen, but there are many other educations where the expansion is very strong and where one also fills its places to a greater extent.
Madam Speaker! There is something that we politicians, regardless of party, have not succeeded with. This applies to both politicians with a red party designation and conservative politicians. We have high ambitions in this area. But the truth is that Arbetsförmedlingen every year returns quite a lot of money that we in the Riksdag have decided on but which do not come into use because they are empty training places.
Then I will return to the fact that we have a system failure. The government is changing this now; we made the decision on it some weeks ago. How is it that until now we have had a situation where the municipalities and Arbetsförmedlingen have not been able to talk to each other? One does not know if someone who is supposed to be at komvux is de facto at komvux and thus completing their education. How is it that year after year one can live on benefits without having to provide a counter-performance and attend an education to receive the benefit? We are changing that now from the government's side. Point by point, we ensure that more people can attend educations and that more people also complete the educations that are provided.
Madam Speaker! Lastly, I want to say that in this economic situation, it is important to support households. It is important to realize that a box of tomatoes costs a hell of a lot. In this situation, it is important that we strengthen households. That is also why the government is now lowering the tax for all hard-working people, so that the one who gets up in the morning knows that they get more money to move with. In that way, the economic wheels can get moving, and we can get up the demand in the economy. In that way, we can also get up the growth, get up the employment, and push back the unemployment.
Patrik Björck (S)
Madam Speaker! That there is a high employment rate in Sweden is completely correct. It is due to many decades of hard work from the Swedish labor movement and from the Social Democrats. We have pursued a policy where we have demanded that adults who can work shall work, and we have achieved a high employment rate.
Many times we have had the help of the Liberals, who were called Folkpartiet at that time, in the work to build the structure and the society where we have a high employment rate. I can extend a hand to Mats Persson. During the time when the Liberals/Folkpartiet understood labor market policy, we could often implement reforms together for equality, parental leave, and other things that built this opportunity for a high employment rate. We agree that it is good.
The problem is that in SCB's latest report from February, it is noted that employment continues to decrease. One cannot simply say that we have high unemployment and high employment. Employment is naturally decreasing from a level that is higher than many other countries. But we Social Democrats do not think we should compare Sweden with other countries when it comes to employment levels. It is decreasing, and that is a problem.
Mats Persson says that one works "point by point" and gives an example. It is also the only example in the list of propositions. That the information exchange between Arbetsförmedlingen and the municipalities should be improved is good and well. But one cannot say "point by point" if one only has one point. This is what I want to turn against.
People talk about working on the budget and so on. The Fiscal Policy Council, which analyzes this, not based on party-political conditions but based on strictly economic ones, says that the government's policy will not lead to higher employment.
Serkan Köse (S)
Madam Speaker! Mats Persson has every time he has had the opportunity been involved in and reduced the resources for active labor market policy – in 2019, 2021 and onwards, one has voted on budgets that have entailed cuts in active labor market policy. One has halved the programs and measures from 2018 to today. One has also reduced the administrative appropriation for Arbetsförmedlingen. Then one has injected a couple of million to somehow compensate, but it has not been enough. Arbetsförmedlingen itself, in its budget basis to the government, has demanded very many millions to fulfill its mission.
In a situation where a very large amount of support to an agency is cut and offices have to be closed, it becomes very difficult to expect that it will do a good job. A message to the Minister is that he should look at how he can ensure that resources to our state agency are strengthened so that it can fulfill its mission. The answer we get is that it will not be possible to manage this. As I mentioned earlier, offices are being closed. And not only that – now they are also closing the Statens servicecenter, where Arbetsförmedlingen is included. The question then is: Where are people supposed to turn?
Madam Speaker! Let me also say something about the situation for young people. LO conducts an annual survey called Ungdomskollen. In it, one can read something that is very worrying and which I believe we all need to take to heart. Youth unemployment is increasing, but what is most worrying is that pessimism is growing among young people. Many young people feel hopelessness. This is something that I think the Minister needs to take to heart. How are we going to turn this around? A third of young people say they feel hopelessness regarding the future. This is what the debate is about: to ensure that our young people have a belief in the future. This is also what I want to send with the Minister.
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)
Madam Speaker! I thank you for the debate. At the same time, I want to express a great disappointment over how the Social Democrats have acted in recent years. The fact that in your shadow budget you slaughter the subsidized employments makes me very concerned. If it had become a reality, it would have meant that fewer people could have been given the opportunity to get out into a workplace and get a job. It would be a death blow. That in your policy you raise the benefits and make it more profitable to live on benefits instead of working makes me very disappointed, just as you do not live up to the government's large infrastructure but instead cut into the road potholes. It is clear that these are things that would affect growth, make Sweden weaker and increase unemployment. This makes me very disappointed. I would have liked to see that we could have handled those types of issues in broad political unity. But unfortunately, that is not the case.
It is important that we collectively in the Riksdag now do our utmost to push back unemployment, not least because it concerns many people. There is no shame in becoming unemployed. It can in principle happen to anyone when there is a tough economic situation and turbulent times in our global environment.
It is important that we now offer many educations, and we do. It is also important that people, with the opportunities they receive from society, take their own responsibility, live up to the obligations that exist, and attend the educations that are offered. With this, we have a good foundation to be able to turn the development so that more people can find a job and break the unemployment.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.