Response to interpellations 2024/25:500, 501, 505 and 518 on youth unemployment

Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)

Madam Speaker! Aida Birinxhiku has asked me what measures I intend to take to reverse the rising youth unemployment. Jonathan Svensson has asked me what measures I intend to take to ensure that no more young people end up in unemployment and how youth unemployment is to be combated. Daniel Vencu Velasquez Castro has asked me what measures I and the government intend to take to create more job opportunities for young people and when I believe the rising youth unemployment will reverse. Adrian Magnusson has asked me what measures I and the government are taking to combat youth unemployment.

Young people are a cycle-sensitive group in the labor market with a higher risk of unemployment in an economic downturn. At the same time, young people with completed upper secondary education often have a good starting position in the labor market when the cycle turns upward.

In order for young people to be able to establish themselves long-term on the labor market, education is therefore the most important measure. During the mandate period, the Government has increased the number of places in both the university colleges and the vocational adult education.

According to the government's latest forecast in December 2024, a gradual recovery in the labor market is expected to begin as early as 2025.

The government has allocated 250 million to promote summer jobs and jobs for youth. This gives young people an opportunity to gain valuable work experience. By targeting the initiative towards those who have difficulty finding jobs on their own, we improve the opportunities to establish themselves in the labor market for those who are furthest from the labor market.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Aida Birinxhiku (S)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister for Employment, for the answer!

It is a serious situation we find ourselves in: Almost every fourth young person is unemployed today. When unemployment reaches new record levels, young people, among others, are hit particularly hard. Just as the Minister for Employment said, young people are a particularly cycle-sensitive group in the labor market.

I actually have no other opinion than that the minister also shares the concern over the development. My question is more about what the Minister for Employment does in practice so that this development will reverse.

The Minister mentioned Arbetsförmedlingen, but Arbetsförmedlingen is being forced into both layoffs and cuts due to the government's policy. The Minister highlighted education as the most important measure, which I completely agree with, but then it is difficult to understand why the government has done everything except provide sufficient resources to the education sector. The Minister also gave no explanation as to why the list of government bills is essentially empty, despite the challenges we face in the labor market area.

The answer from the Minister for Employment is therefore not particularly reassuring considering what the government has delivered in practice and considering that the government's answer so far has been cuts in labor market and education policy.

So it obviously does not have to be that way, Madam Speaker. When I listened to the government's press conference on Friday and heard the Minister for Employment talk about more summer jobs for young people, I thought I heard that the Minister has possibly realized just this – that the current policy is not the right way forward and that not enough has been done to reverse the development. But the answer we have now received from the Minister for Employment makes me worried that is not the case. On the contrary, one seems palpably satisfied with the work that is already being done.

It also seems that proposals from the opposition are being dismissed, for example the driving license lift that we Social Democrats have presented so that more young people can obtain a driving license and thus more easily get a job.

Madam Speaker! It is not only we Social Democrats who think that the government is doing too little when it comes to youth unemployment. So does the youth wing of the minister's own party, which also highlights this as the greatest failure so far during the current parliamentary term.

Therefore, Madam Speaker, I want to ask the Minister for Employment: Is the government prepared to take more measures to reverse the development, or is the Minister for Employment simply satisfied with the work already being done and thus also with the situation that prevails?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Jonathan Svensson (S)

Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for coming to the chamber tonight. I also want to thank my colleagues who have also chosen to raise this important issue.

It is clear that Sweden is in a tough and protracted recession with all the consequences that it entails for society, above all for individual individuals.

A group that is particularly vulnerable on the labor market is, just as the Minister described, young people. Young people tend to be those who take the first and biggest hit when the economy turns downward and the unemployment statistics begin to turn upward. This is largely due to the fact that young people work in relatively cyclical industries or have not yet quite gained a foothold on the labor market.

According to SCB's latest statistics, as many as one in four young people did not have a job to go to. This is a sharp increase since the government took office after the 2022 election, and we are now beginning to approach the absolute highest figures from the earlier part of the pandemic.

Youth unemployment is also, in practice, already as high as it was after the 2008 financial crisis, which led to a long-lasting high youth unemployment. That one in four young people in this country lacks a job to go to will lead to large costs for society as a whole but above all – obviously – for the individual individuals who lack a job. It can be about young people who have not succeeded in taking the first important step into working life or who have just received a new position but have not had time to qualify for a-kassa before they are laid off.

Madam Speaker! In the response that the Minister has just accounted for here in the chamber, he highlighted several things that I think are worth discussing a bit more. Among other things, he described that the government has set aside 250 million kronor in a temporary one-year grant so that more young people can get a summer job or other work.

It is obviously a legitimate approach for those of us who want to see youth unemployment pushed back, but I still think it is of interest for those who might listen to this debate that it is not any new money being added to Arbetsförmedlingen, but money that already exists in an existing budget appropriation.

It is clearly evident in the material that the government presented, linked to the so-called budget initiative, that it concerns a pure reprioritization within the framework and an already decided appropriation. It is therefore not new money being added, but rather money being reprioritized within the existing budget.

At the same time, Arbetsförmedlingen is finding it difficult to deliver on its ordinary mandate due to the government's recurring cuts to active labor market policies. The agency is forced time and again to make large cuts to meet increasingly tougher budget conditions. Just last year, hundreds of employees were laid off. When the agency is forced to make cuts, it results in poorer local presence, poorer accessibility for citizens, and poorer conditions to work with the group that we choose to highlight here today.

If one combines these two realities, namely a lack of actual additions to handle youth unemployment in the spring budget and the constant cuts to active labor market policy, it looks, from my horizon, unfortunately quite bleak for those who want to combat youth unemployment.

We Social Democrats believe that Sweden's young people deserve a labor market policy that takes youth unemployment seriously, a policy where powerful measures are taken to turn the development into something better and ensure that more young people get a foot in the door of the labor market.

I therefore want to take the opportunity to ask the Minister for Employment: How does he and the government justify the continued large-scale cuts in active labor market policy while tens of thousands and again tens of thousands of young people lack a job to go to?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Daniel Vencu Velasquez Castro (S)

Madam Speaker! Thank you very much for the answer, Minister for Employment!

As has been highlighted many times here, it is undeniable that Sweden faces great challenges. We have a competitiveness that is challenged from various sides. Never before have we in Sweden and Europe been so dependent on cooperation to build resilience and independence. We should be proud that Sweden is seen as a strategic country in that work. We have a good industry, we have a good business climate, and we have innovative entrepreneurs who want to create jobs.

When one is out in Europe, many are surprised by the low growth and high unemployment that Sweden has, but for those of us who live here, Madam Speaker, it is not so surprising. For approximately 900 days, the Liberals have been responsible for the labor market policy in Sweden. Promises have been made and attempts have been made, but nothing seems to turn the development around.

The last time we had such high youth unemployment, it also happened to be a bourgeois government. It is as if the classic bourgeois politics of reduced benefits, simple jobs, and lower taxes simply do not work and are not sufficient to create jobs in Sweden.

It also becomes a bit strange when the investments that one refers to are de facto not any investments. They are cuts at Arbetsförmedlingen, and the vocational training programs receive less money now than when the government took office.

I would say that it is bad to give with one hand and take with the other. But what is even worse is to take with both hands and leave absolutely nothing left for young people seeking that first job and that first chance at self-sufficiency.

Some who are particularly vulnerable on the labor market are young people in socioeconomically weak areas, for example Järva or Skärholmen in Stockholm, which I myself come from and where I live. There are many in those areas who grow up with an inherent feeling that no one cares about them or that it doesn't matter how much they struggle, because they will never manage anyway. It is a devastating situation and something that divides our society.

At its core, it is about all people, regardless of where they live and regardless of what background they have, having the right to work. That is precisely why the red-green government in the city of Stockholm has implemented a number of initiatives that the government can be inspired by to get more young people into the labor market. Thanks to local labor market initiatives in Järva, we now see a decreasing youth unemployment. Järva is therefore, in a positive sense, moving against the trend at the national level. Youth unemployment there has gone down by 2 percent in a year. It is inspiring to see how, for example, district sisters work proactively with specifically women who are far from the labor market to get them into work and create employment for them. It is inspiring to see how Jobbtorg Kista Unga works.

These are examples that the government is welcome to be inspired by, but they are also examples that need support from the government. They need an active labor market policy. Therefore, I would like to ask the Minister for Employment if he can announce some more measures to turn around the situation we see for young people in the Swedish labor market.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Adrian Magnusson (S)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer! The interpellation debate we are having right now concerns one of our time's absolute greatest societal challenges, namely youth unemployment. We have in Sweden a situation with an almost skyrocketing youth unemployment, which has been emphasized here earlier several times. Approximately every fourth young person in this country is unemployed. It is nothing other than a catastrophic failure.

Furthermore, the trend is negative. We have a situation in Sweden where more and more young people are becoming unemployed instead of a development moving in a positive direction. We have a youth unemployment that is soon to be up at pandemic levels, just as Jonathan Svensson mentioned. It is like when the pandemic was at its worst. Back then, the restaurants closed at 8 p.m. and it was so sparse between the cafe tables that one could hardly sit at the cafe. It is at that level almost now when it comes to youth unemployment. It is actually hair-raising.

But let us travel a bit south, to the Minister of Finance and the Minister for Employment's home region of Skåne. There, the so-called ordinary unemployment is at its highest in the country. According to Arbetsförmedlingen's figures, which usually lie somewhat lower than SCB's because they measure slightly differently, unemployment in Östra Göinge amounts to almost 20 percent, in Landskrona to 13.2 percent, and in Burlöv municipality to almost 15 percent, to mention a few examples. This is nothing other than a failure, and it is also dangerous.

We know that unemployment and the feeling of not being a part of society can lead to something much worse. We know that the lack of belonging – a job usually provides a sense of belonging – means that people isolate themselves. The isolation can, in turn, lead to very dangerous and harmful consequences both for the individual and for society as a whole.

At the same time as we have a situation with skyrocketing youth unemployment, we know that mental ill-health is spreading among young people. We know that more and more young people are finding it increasingly difficult to secure a home and even more difficult to actually buy a home. We know that more young people are becoming dependent on their parents for longer, regarding both housing and finances, in order to manage their livelihood.

The Prime Minister said in his government statement in September last year that things are brightening for Sweden. Who is it brightening for, really? Well, it is brightening for those who already have, who get to benefit from the government's tax cuts for the very richest. It is not brightening for Sweden's young people, who observe that they are getting neither jobs nor housing.

Madam Speaker! I amused myself a little this afternoon by reading an interpellation response from the representative of the Minister for Employment from November 2023. There, it was spoken of education but also of the liberal tightrope of tax cuts, especially for those who already have the most.

Since then, unemployment has skyrocketed and youth unemployment has, as we have noted several times here tonight, reached new levels.

To do the same thing over and over again – a bit like Member of Parliament Vencu Velasquez Castro was touching upon – but expect new results is what one usually calls the definition of madness. The government's medicine against youth unemployment is, however, constant. What is also constant are the rising curves on the Arbetsförmedlingen and SCB's PowerPoint presentations on youth unemployment.

When will the Minister for Employment and the government be ready to test measures that can have a positive effect on the development of youth unemployment, instead of the negative effect we can see now?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)

Madam Speaker! Thank you to the interpellants for your commitment to this issue, and thank you for the initiatives and the proposals that you present as solutions to this societal problem! One can debate whether it is 25 percent or 10 percent of young people who are unemployed, but that is not the main question. It depends somewhat on how one measures and whether students should be counted as unemployed or not.

Regardless of how one measures it, I believe we can agree that we have a group of young people who often have not completed upper secondary school and have difficulty getting a foot in the door on the labor market. If one gets stuck in benefit dependency and does not enter a context, the risk is great, as several interpellants have pointed out, that it has far-reaching social consequences and many negative consequences for the people involved.

Therefore, it is very important that we provide good opportunities for education. This year, there will be 130,000 training places where one learns on the job, i.e., vocational training places within komvux or within the university college (yrkeshögskolan) that are possible for young people to apply for. But we need to do more than that.

When we see a shaky global situation with increased anxiety, which appears to mean that the recession will not become less protracted but possibly rather the opposite, we need to create even more opportunities. That is why the government has now ensured and looks forward to 15,000 jobs for young people or summer jobs being created during the coming year. It is an important measure so that 15,000 young people across Sweden, not least in those parts of Sweden where unemployment is higher, shall get a chance to get a foot in the door on the labor market, support themselves, and create references and networks for the future.

What we have now seen is a development that no politician in this chamber – no Social Democrat, no one from the Liberals, or anyone from any other party – desires. It is rooted in a very shaky world around us that we have to manage and make the best of. The best we can do is to follow the development closely and do what we are doing now, that is to add additional resources, even more educational places, and even more jobs for young people, because we see that the world around us demands it of us. It is to take responsibility.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Aida Birinxhiku (S)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister for Employment, for the answer! There is much to work through after the Minister's answer, but I would like to begin with what I mentioned first in my previous speech. There is no one here who holds any other opinion than that the Minister for Employment shares the concern over the development.

No one in this chamber doubts the Minister for Employment's will or that the Minister for Employment wants youth unemployment to fall. But what I am asking for in this interpellation debate is how he translates that political will into political action.

Our view as Social Democrats is that in the prolonged recession that the Minister for Employment describes, we cannot only follow the developments but must consolidate our efforts. We must consolidate our efforts to turn around youth unemployment. We must consolidate our efforts for high-quality education, for more labor market initiatives, and to equip young people with the tools they need in today's labor market. It is not my view, Madam Speaker, that this is what the government has done. The government has, on the contrary, shown a great passivity that risks having far-reaching consequences for both the individual and society as a whole.

On some points, however, we are in agreement. We are in complete agreement on what the Minister for Employment usually talks about: We shall set high requirements that those who can work shall work. But then we must also set high requirements on this government. Then we must be sincere that the government simultaneously makes it harder for people to do the right thing. That is the result when one now closes service offices around the country and when the Arbetsförmedling's presence around the country is worsened.

Madam Speaker! It is also the case in my constituency Halland. Hylte municipality, which has the highest unemployment in the county, was recently hit by two large layoffs in just one week. Now a total of 85 people risk losing their jobs, in a municipality with 10,000 inhabitants. When the Minister for Employment was asked about this, he answered something along the lines that they should just find another job. It is this passivity, Madam Speaker, that causes concern – that the government, in the prolonged recession with record-high unemployment, chooses to withdraw.

Madam Speaker! I have great respect for the fact that we in the Swedish Riksdag can have different views on the solutions moving forward, and I hope that the Minister for Employment also shows that respect in this interpellation debate. I have noted that the Minister in previous debates has concluded very constructive conversations by claiming that the Social Democrats have now become a contribution party, or how it usually sounds. I do not think that is particularly constructive.

As I have said, I do not doubt the political will of the Minister for Employment. But I would like it to lead to more political decisiveness, because right now I do not really see it. I see it neither in the resources being allocated nor in the bills being submitted, or rather, not being submitted.

My question is whether the Minister for Employment truly sees it. Does the Minister for Employment, based on the resources and propositions that have been announced, think that this government is doing enough to turn around youth unemployment? And if not, is the Minister for Employment then ready to take more measures?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Jonathan Svensson (S)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer!

In his answer, the Minister states that none of us are satisfied with the situation we find ourselves in. I naturally agree; it is not a desirable situation we have right now.

The Minister also mentions that large parts of Europe and the world are also in a recession, and that is obviously true. But I still think it is worth pointing out that Sweden's unemployment statistics have worsened at a significantly higher rate than those in many other European countries. We are currently playing in the league together with, for example, Spain and Greece and competing for the highest unemployment in Europe. We have thus had a significantly worse development in our country than in many other places, and that is why we stand here today and want to see measures from the government.

But that was not what I intended to say, rather I want to mention an additional perspective that the Minister raised in his original answer. It concerns the completed upper secondary education. The Minister highlighted it as a very important measure for young people to get a foot in the door on the labor market, and I naturally agree with that. It is clear that young people who have a completed upper secondary education have a significantly stronger position on the labor market than those who do not.

Madam Speaker! If this is what we are in this chamber regarding agreement: A completed upper secondary education is very important for the establishment of young people in the labor market. But at the same time as the Minister describes the importance of this, it is actually enough to open any local newspaper around the country to read about the constant cuts in the education sector. Municipality after municipality is forced into cuts to reach a balanced budget, largely due to the government's inability to compensate welfare for the large cost increases.

If one only looks at how many people had to leave their positions within the municipal sector during the last year due to lack of work, i.e., in practice cuts, one sees that it was as many as 1,009 people solely within Sweden's municipalities.

If one advocates for the well-being of the education sector and sees that it is of great importance for young people's establishment in the labor market, one should be somewhat concerned when seeing which occupational categories those who are laid off belong to. The three largest occupational categories that lose their jobs when Sveriges kommuner lay off employees are teaching assistants, teachers, and childcare workers.

Madam Speaker! This is something I cannot quite reconcile. I do not think it is logical. At the same time as every fifth student lacks complete upper secondary school grades when they leave upper secondary school after five years, we are forcing Sweden's municipalities into starvation.

We thus have a situation in our country where we have some of the highest unemployment figures in Europe and record-high levels of youth unemployment, with all the consequences that it entails. In such a situation, I, and surely many others, could imagine that the public sector would pool its resources to seriously tackle unemployment and youth unemployment. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case.

At the same time as unemployment and youth unemployment reach new record levels, the government chooses not to compensate the education sector to stop drastic cuts, while simultaneously continuing with cuts to the labor market policy.

Nor even the Ministry of Employment manages to present any significant number of bills. The largest so far during the parliamentary term has been the one regarding the unemployment insurance fund, which admittedly contains some good things but which in many respects is about deteriorations of the unemployment insurance fund. The Minister mentioned in a previous debate that a bill had been submitted. Absolutely, and it is important, but it is still relatively small in relation to what needed to be done.

Madam Speaker! It is probably quite obvious that we Social Democrats are not entirely satisfied with where the government is steering the ship of Sweden. Had we been allowed to govern this country, we would with great probability have made different priorities.

I still want to give the Minister a chance to explain how continued cuts to the education sector and continued cuts to the active labor market policy would lead to more young people across our entire country getting a job to go to.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Daniel Vencu Velasquez Castro (S)

Madam Speaker! I would like to dwell a little on the city of Stockholm, which I come from and which I have noted that Mats Persson has also visited. In Järva, which I know Mats Persson has been to, a trend break has occurred that is important to highlight here.

I must say that it is quite disappointing that it is not highlighted more clearly by the Minister, because when the municipality can guarantee summer jobs to all young people who have applied, something also happens with unemployment. When the municipality invests in neighborhood sisters and neighborhood mothers and when the children get to see their mothers go to work, something also happens with those children.

This view of work and unemployment as some kind of individual problem is deeply problematic, I argue and we Social Democrats. Unemployment is a societal problem that we politicians are ultimately responsible for solving.

We Social Democrats naturally recognize that the global situation is worrying. The global situation largely creates the economic downturn that we see. But then, as has been mentioned previously, powerful measures were needed to create jobs in our country.

I and member Aida Birinxhiku sit on the Committee on Industry. If Mats Persson does not know, I can tell you that there are a record number of bankruptcies in our country right now. Small businesses account for four out of five of the new jobs and are in many ways engines of integration. But they also receive no support from the government to be these job engines. So when and where, Madam Speaker, will these jobs be created?

The labor market measures being taken also need to be long-term and predictable. The government began its mandate period with cuts. Then they brought back money, but not enough. While we Social Democrats time and again propose increased investments and resources for Arbetsförmedlingen, the government continues with cuts and hopes that the problem will solve itself. The government is creating a vicious spiral that will be difficult to break, Madam Speaker.

The experience from Stockholm is precisely that with a clear focus, one can reduce unemployment. That being said, Madam Speaker, I shall also say that youth unemployment in Stockholm and Järva is still high. We need to do much more. Here, we would like to join forces with the government and do something together to turn the development for young people in the labor market.

I know that no politician in this chamber or any other assembly wants this situation. What sets us apart is what types of measures we want to see. We have proposed a number of measures; the government unfortunately has not done so.

Madam Speaker! I believe that Mats Persson wants to reverse the development. The problem is that I do not hear a single concrete proposal from Mats Persson about exactly what should reverse the development, not only for young people in the labor market but also for all adults who are unemployed in our country. As I said earlier: It does something to a child to see their parents go to work. Now, unfortunately, significantly more children are seeing their parents stay at home.

What is the Minister for Employment doing about it? Are there any concrete measures that he can share with us in the chamber today?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Adrian Magnusson (S)

Madam Speaker! Much has been said here today, both from my Social Democratic comrades and from the liberal Minister for Employment, about the shaky global situation. One can certainly agree with that. I thought the Minister for Employment was quite diplomatic when he said that the American president is very much in the media and that it is that which is the problem. It is perhaps that he does other things when he is in the media that is the big problem, but I understand that one does not want to end up in conflict with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs when one is the Minister for Employment. I will not go further into that.

In the Minister for Employment's response to the interpellations, he says that according to the government's latest forecast in December 2024, a gradual recovery in the labor market is expected to begin as early as 2025. Quite a lot has happened since December 2024, and it feels as though that forecast may already be obsolete in many respects and that we will have to endure the recession for longer.

Then there may be reason to test a number of different measures. I do not know, for example, what the Minister for Employment stands on our proposal for a driving license lift, which Member Birinxhiku raised. I understand that the Minister will not say yes or no here today, but it may at least be something that one can look at.

It is an exceptional situation we have, I would like to assert. The pandemic was a health crisis that more or less led to the shutdown of society. Now we have a youth unemployment that is almost in parity with that, even though we do not have that type of situation. It is quite serious.

It is also a rather trying time for many young people. What I said in my previous post about that it is difficult to get housing and similar things is closely linked to work. We could have an entire debate about insecure employment and what that does to young people's opportunity to get housing, but if one has no work at all, it is even more difficult.

Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly difficult to get a job. I visited Bromölla municipality a few weeks ago and met the labor market unit there, which works a fair amount with young people. Bromölla unfortunately has a development of rising unemployment and rising youth unemployment. It had emerged there that when young people in Bromölla applied for employment within retail, i.e., at large chains like Willys and Ica, they had to take an IQ test, a personality test, and the usual with a CV and cover letter. In some cases, they also had to record a clip where they were to pitch themselves to the employer. It is quite difficult to get a job if one is subjected to this when one is 19 years old and applying for one's first job at Axfood.

That we have this large supply of labor for young people and at the same time make it so difficult to get a job is truly a problem. There, one needs to consider how to proceed.

I have also visited another municipality in Skåne that has problems with unemployment, namely Perstorp. It is the municipality in Sweden that has the highest unemployment. There, they also have the problem that young people do not get work. We can have long discussions about why that is, but there they pointed out, for example, that Arbetsförmedlingen sends money back to the state every year while there is no local Arbetsförmedling in Perstorp. It could perhaps be a thought to make a targeted effort in municipalities like Perstorp where there is high unemployment. Now, Arbetsförmedlingen has money that they send back every year. Why not then establish Arbetsförmedlingen for a period in municipalities like Perstorp in order to try to reduce unemployment? Now, this is left in the lap of the municipalities, and it is a troublesome situation.

It is also the case that young people are not a homogeneous group – the Minister for Employment has not claimed that either, but I still want to bring it up. Young people in Stockholm and young people in Perstorp, in my home municipality Ystad or wherever it may be, can have completely different challenges. In Perstorp, for example, there is no commuting culture. Industry has always been large in Perstorp – the Minister for Employment knows this too – and people have been used to working there. To then change one's life and commute to, for example, Helsingborg is actually quite a big deal for many. Furthermore, the fees can be quite large. One has to shell out 240 kronor round trip to get to Helsingborg.

I would simply like to hear more measures from the Minister for Employment.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)

Madam Speaker! Let me take this opportunity to describe some of the measures the government is now taking to push down unemployment and try to counter the dull international, protracted recession we have.

The most important thing is the investments we are making in education. This year, it concerns over 130,000 educational places. It can be about jobs within healthcare and elderly care, jobs within industry, jobs within craft professions, or jobs within the green transition – not academic jobs, but jobs that require a vocational education that one can complete in a relatively short time.

What we are doing in view of the economic situation is that, in addition to what we have said previously, we are now saying that we want additional training places, especially short courses that one can take this year when it is extra tough on the labor market. We know that it will turn around a bit further ahead. After a recession comes an expansion.

A challenge and a problem here is that we have empty seats. We want to invest jointly in education. We believe in it. But our social system does not have the capacity to ensure that people take the seats that are available. It is a monumental failure for all of us that we naturally need to handle. We are now doing a number of things to straighten up the system so that it will function better and we can get more value for the tax money we invest.

The second thing we are doing that is aimed at young people is the 15,000 jobs for young people that we are now moving forward with. This will, among other things, benefit young people who have it tough on the labor market, perhaps live in a municipality where unemployment is high, and ensure that they can get a first foot on the labor market.

A third example is that we are now strengthening Swedish households by ensuring that everyone who goes to work every day gets increased purchasing power through targeted tax cuts for those who work, which also means that the economic wheels roll a little faster.

These are three examples of measures we are taking to improve the labor market and push back unemployment. We are, of course, prepared to listen to more proposals. Of course, it is also important in this situation to be prepared to do more if so required.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Aida Birinxhiku (S)

Madam Speaker! I would like to thank the Minister for Employment for the debate and for the examples the Minister raised. I can only state that we may have, and do have, different views on the solutions moving forward.

I would like to repeat what I once said to the former Minister for Employment, Johan Pehrson: The Minister for Employment cannot conjure up more and better measures through cuts in labor market and education policy. Johan Pehrson could not do it, and neither can Mats Persson.

If we are to do something about youth unemployment, high-quality education, more active labor market measures, and a government that delivers are required. It requires not only political will but also political decisiveness that makes an impact in the resources allocated and in the bills submitted. This applies especially in the difficult times we find ourselves in right now.

Madam Speaker! Sweden's young people deserve an active and responsible labor market policy. Almost one in four young people is unemployed today, which we have pointed out several times. It is clear that this has serious consequences for both the individual and for society as a whole. This risks extinguishing future dreams and causing more young people to distrust politics' ability to solve societal problems.

Mr. Speaker! No one in the Swedish Parliament wants us to have it that way, but then the government must take responsibility and act. Do not let this become the mandate period's greatest failure! That is my message to the Minister for Employment. I also hope that he takes with him the various measures that we have accounted for in this interpellation debate today.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Jonathan Svensson (S)

Mr. Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer.

In his response, the Minister presented three concrete measures. First, he mentioned investments in the education sector, but at the same time, large parts of the education sector are on their knees. In the next sentence, the Minister mentioned 250 million kronor for summer jobs for young people, but it is a reprioritization within the existing appropriation. In the next breath, it is a targeted tax cut for those who work. It is absolutely a tax cut, but it is a tax cut that is aimed primarily at those who earn the most.

I do not think these are sufficient measures to handle youth unemployment. The issue we are discussing today is of great importance for many and affects many in the country. We all have a daughter, a friend, a sibling, or someone else in our vicinity who has difficulty getting a foot in the door on the labor market. If we do not find political solutions that actually tackle the problem, it will cost us a lot in the long run.

Sweden's young people deserve a labor market policy that delivers for real and that takes youth unemployment seriously. Unfortunately, it does not seem to be the policy being pursued right now. At the same time as we have a situation with record-breaking strike actions, which has led to rising and record-high levels of youth unemployment, the government is walking over in labor market policy when it does not provide sufficient resources to the labor market policy but instead puts the education sector on a starvation diet.

Mr. Speaker! From my perspective, it unfortunately seems that it is not the work line that prevails at the Ministry of Employment, but rather the passivity line.

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Daniel Vencu Velasquez Castro (S)

Mr. Speaker! I thank you for the interpellation debate and the opportunity to discuss these important issues, above all for Sweden's young people. But as I have mentioned in previous remarks, this is also a pressing issue for Sweden's adults, who also face a challenging situation on the Swedish labor market.

I have in my previous posts pointed out that we are making the investments required in Järva in Stockholm to reverse the development, especially for young people in the labor market, through the assignment Fokus Järva, which has yielded good results. It was disappointing that the Minister for Employment did not take inspiration from that work when he visited Järva last time.

I am nevertheless glad that the Minister for Employment wants a constructive dialogue for the time being, but what is needed are powerful measures to reverse the development. Even though we have heard about these examples, they are not sufficient. 130,000 training places are not enough. Much more is needed, and more measures are needed. The agency that the Minister for Employment is nevertheless responsible for needs to be given more opportunities to take the labor market measures that are required.

Mr. Speaker! When the Minister for Employment is out on a visit, I also hope that he is inspired. He is warmly welcome to Skärholmen. But I have a proposal: Do not come there with a bulletproof vest. Come there with proposals on how we can reverse the development for young people on the Swedish labor market so that more young people can get into work and we can reverse the development in our country.

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Adrian Magnusson (S)

Mr. Speaker! I want to build on something that Member Birinxhiku was touching upon. When I joined the Swedish Social Democratic Youth League in 2010, and then became active the following year, one of the major issues was precisely the youth unemployment that had spread during the Reinfeldt government's time. Now I stand here as a member of Sweden's legislative assembly, almost 15 years later, and discuss the same issues again. Just as my colleagues pointed out, it is unfortunately somewhat symptomatic of a bourgeois government.

Something here is not right. We have high unemployment in Sweden, high youth unemployment, but at the same time there is a skills shortage in many industries. As the Minister for Employment himself pointed out, there are empty places within the vocational colleges. It is something that is jarring.

I met representatives for Elektrikerna last morning, and they talk about that within their industry there are enormous needs for people in the coming years. Today, large parts of the need are met with labor immigration, but it does not have to be so. There are enough people who live and work in this country who could take the jobs that exist or train for those jobs.

Just as I touched upon in my first post, this is a serious issue. We risk facing a situation in Sweden where there is an entire generation of young people who, just as Member Birinxhiku pointed out, do not believe in politics' ability to make their lives better. Regardless of whether one is a liberal or a socialist, or whatever one calls themselves, the task of politics must nevertheless be to make people's lives better. If young people feel that their lives are not getting better with the help of politics, of the democratic forces in society, there is an imminent risk that they will turn to more extreme ideologies. That would mean a serious development for the country.

Regardless of which path we choose, I truly hope that we see a development where youth unemployment falls in the coming years. I know which path I and my comrades believe in, but I believe we are in agreement across party lines on this.

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Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)

Mr. Speaker! I thank the interpellants for an excellent interpellation debate, and I thank you for the inputs, contributions, and proposals that have contributed to making the debate better. We have much to learn from listening to one another and trying to interpret and understand each other in the best way. For my part, I think it has been a valuable debate.

The government considers that education is important. It is not a question of any education at all. I want to emphasize what Adrian Magnusson very rightly said in his post, namely that it is something odd that when there is a recession in Sweden in 2025 with many unemployed people, at the same time it is a situation where entrepreneurs cannot find the right competence. It is a system error. And it is this system error that we are trying to do something about by investing in short vocational educations at a workplace, where one learns a job from the ground up, where one is a part of the community and the work community, and where a job awaits at the other end. It is a completely new way of looking at vocational educations.

I am convinced that if we can use the recession to equip people by having them attend an education and get jobs, it will also mean that Sweden stands stronger the day we enter an economic boom. It will happen one fine day.

Many thanks for a very rewarding and fruitful debate!

The interpellations debate was hereby concluded.

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