Published 11 June 2024 at 14.22
Domestic. Last year, almost 146,000 households were granted financial assistance, which is the lowest figure since the National Board of Health and Welfare started keeping statistics. The only group where the number of welfare recipients is increasing is among people with long-term welfare who are 65 years and older. The increase is greatest among women.
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For the eighth year in a row, the number of people receiving financial assistance is decreasing. The most common age group among aid recipients was between the ages of 30 and 39, and they make up a fifth of all aid recipients.
Of the total number of adult aid recipients, around 60 percent were born abroad.
A group who deviate from the pattern and where the number of aid recipients increases is among people who are 65 years of age and older and who receive long-term financial assistance. The increase has been greatest among women, where the percentage has almost tripled. Among men aged 65 and older, the increase is around 20 percent.
– That the financial assistance increases in the group aged 65 and older is an expected development with the increase in the retirement age. Last year, the age limit for when a guaranteed pension can be drawn at the earliest was raised to 66, which means that you may need financial assistance a year longer, says Sofia Lidén, investigator at the National Board of Health and Welfare.
There are currently around 85,200 children living in a households receiving financial assistance. This is a decrease of approximately 17 percent compared to the previous year. Seen from the total number of household types in the population, single women with children are the largest group in society that receives financial assistance.