Statistics Sweden must measure how many support themselves

Published 23 November 2024 at 14.18

Foreign. Statistiska centralbyrån (SCB) is now commissioned by the government to produce statistics on the degree of self-sufficiency in Sweden. The goal is to get a picture of how many people actually have an income of their own that is enough to support themselves and their families.

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The government sees the mission as an important step to strengthen the line of work and “improve integration”, according to Minister of Civil Affairs Erik Slottner.

– The purpose of measuring self-sufficiency is to create better conditions for re-establishing the line of work. Self-sufficiency increases people's freedom and opportunity to shape their own lives, he says.

Today's employment measure, which measures whether an individual worked at least one hour during a week, is considered to give an incomplete picture of the labor market. It does not take income level into account and thus says little about how many people can actually support themselves, according to the government.

– More Swedes should go to work and have their own support. In order to be able to follow up that our policy leads to just that, a measure is needed that measures how many individuals can be considered self-sufficient or not, says Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson.

The government sees the measure of self-sufficiency as particularly relevant for groups that are far from the labor market. At the same time, Statistics Norway will analyze which changes can improve the integration statistics, with a focus on linguistic, economic and social establishment.