Targets for expenditure area 15

The election manifesto requires that study support be raised and that it shall become easier to educate yourself regardless of who you are, the thickness of your wallet or where in the country you live. The party programme gives education an explicit role to compensate for class differences. A reintroduced equalizing goal, where study support reduces differences between individuals and groups, directly responds to these commitments.

• education independent of economicsdecisive»Det måste bli lättare att utbilda sig efter grundskolan oavsett vem du är, tjockleken på din plånbok eller var i landet du bor.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“It must become easier to educate yourself after primary school regardless of who you are, the thickness of your wallet or where in the country you live.”
• compensatory education»roll att spela i att kompensera för klasskillnader och andra skillnader i« (party programme ↗)“role to play in compensating for class differences and other differences in”
• raised study support»höja studiestödet så att fler kan välja att vidareutbilda sig« (2022 manifesto ↗)“raise study support so that more can choose to further their education”
• investments in education»Vi vill göra stora investeringar i att höja kvaliteten i utbildningssystemet.« (party programme ↗)“We want to make major investments in raising the quality of the education system.”

The party programme makes it a central task to open the doors of knowledge to everyone precisely to break class patterns and demands that social skew in admission to higher education is broken, with a study financing system adapted for this. A reintroduced equalizing goal for study support, which shall reduce differences between individuals and groups, is a direct expression of that principle. The plan does not, however, comment on the goal structure in the expenditure area.

• knowledge breaks class patternsdecisive»Att öppna dörrarna till kunskap för alla är centralt för att bryta klassmönstren.« (party programme ↗)“Opening the doors of knowledge to everyone is central to breaking class patterns.”
• break social skew»Den sociala snedrekryteringen till högskolan måste brytas« (party programme ↗)“The social skew in admission to higher education must be broken”
• adapted study financing»Utbildningssektorn och studiefinansieringssystemet måste avpassas för« (party programme ↗)“The education sector and study financing system must be adapted for”
• socially determined educational chances»Alla har i dag samma rätt till utbildning, men de verkliga möjligheterna är alltjämt socialt« (party programme ↗)“All today have the same right to education, but the actual opportunities are still socially”

The plan assigns study support an explicitly redistributive function: the student finance system must make higher education possible regardless of parents' finances and recruitment to higher education must be broadened to underrepresented groups. That is precisely the function that the counter-proposal's redistributive goal would inscribe again. The election manifesto reinforces this direction by wanting to raise study support and strengthen students' security.

• study support independent of backgrounddecisive»Studiemedelssystemet ska ge möjlighet för alla unga att bedriva högre studier oavsett föräldrarnas ekonomi.« (party programme ↗)“The student finance system must provide the opportunity for all young people to pursue higher education regardless of their parents' finances.”
• broadened recruitment»Sverige som kunskapsnation har mycket att vinna på om de grupper som i dag är underrepresenterade får bättre möjligheter att studera.« (party programme ↗)“Sweden as a knowledge nation has much to gain if the groups that are currently underrepresented gain better opportunities to study.”
• increased study support»höja studiestödet och förbättra studenters a-kassa och sjukförsäkring.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“raise study support and improve students' unemployment insurance and sickness insurance.”
• adequate study finance»Bland annat ska studiemedlen vara tillräckligt höga« (party programme ↗)“Among other things, student finance must be sufficiently high”

The party programme makes it a shared responsibility to remedy the injustices created by inheritance and upbringing and points to education as the individual's strongest tool regardless of social and economic background. A reintroduced equalizing goal for study support is a direct expression of this ambition. The plan emphasizes equal opportunities rather than equal outcomes, which dampens but does not eliminate support.

• remedy upbringing injusticesdecisive»ansvar för att ge alla maximala möjligheter i livet, att utjämna de orättvisor som arv och uppväxt skapat.« (party programme ↗)“responsibility for giving everyone maximum opportunities in life, to remedy the injustices created by inheritance and upbringing.”
• public financing enables mobility»En offentligt finansierad skola, vård, omsorg, brottsbekämpning och ekonomisk grundtrygghet främjar social rörlighet och värnar omsorgen om varandra.« (party programme ↗)“A publicly financed school, healthcare, care, crime prevention and economic basic security promotes social mobility and cares about each other.”
• lifelong education access»Alla som vill ska ha möjlighet att utbilda sig genom hela livet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Everyone who wants to should have the opportunity to be educated throughout their life.”
• equality not uniformity»Rättvisa handlar om jämlikhet, men inte likformighet.« (party programme ↗)“Justice is about equality, but not uniformity.”

The party programme states that the student finance system should create conditions for everyone regardless of economic background to study, and that a social liberal main task is equality in life chances and increased social mobility. A reinstituted equalization goal for student support thus lies in line with the plan's purpose for student finance. The counter-proposal's formulation about reducing differences between groups goes further than the plan's focus on equal conditions, so the support is derived rather than explicit.

• student support regardless of backgrounddecisive»Studiemedelssystemet ska skapa förutsättningar för alla oavsett ekonomisk bakgrund« (party programme ↗)“The student finance system should create conditions for everyone regardless of economic background”
• equality in life chances»Ingen människa ska vara fången i de villkor han eller hon föddes in i.« (party programme ↗)“No human being shall be trapped in the conditions they were born into.”
• increased social mobility»Den sociala rörligheten ska underlättas.« (party programme ↗)“Social mobility should be facilitated.”
• equal opportunities»En likvärdig skola är en förutsättning för att alla elever ska få samma möjligheter.« (party programme ↗)“An equitable school is a prerequisite for all students to have the same opportunities.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan requires that higher education be accessible to everyone and that no one should have to forego higher studies for economic reasons, while the solidarity principle entails an ambition to equalize structural injustices. A reintroduced equalizing goal for study support directly addresses this commitment. The plan also requires that the study support system be transparent and long-term sustainable, which does not prevent such a goal.

• no economic barriers to studiesdecisive»från högre studier av ekonomiska skäl.« (party programme ↗)“from higher studies for economic reasons.”
• education accessible to all»Den högre utbildningen ska vara tillgänglig för alla« (party programme ↗)“Higher education should be accessible to everyone”
• equalize structural injustices»Det är en strävan efter social rättvisa, det vill säga en ambition att utjämna strukturella« (party programme ↗)“It is a pursuit of social justice, that is an ambition to equalize structural”
• sustainable study support»vara överblickbart och långsiktigt hållbart.« (party programme ↗)“be transparent and long-term sustainable.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The counter-proposal wants to reintroduce a levelling target that measures differences between individuals and groups and social justice. The plan instead sees the individual and life chances as the starting point – what matters is not what your name is or where you come from – and wants quality, throughput and labour market entry to guide higher education. A group-based levelling target for study support thus lies wrong in relation to the plan's commitments.

• individual over group affiliationdecisive»I ett jämlikt samhälle är det viktiga inte vad du heter eller varifrån du kommer,« (party programme ↗)“In an equal society, what matters is not what your name is or where you come from,”
• quality guides education»Kvalitet och internationell konkurrenskraft ska vara styrande för den högre utbildningen.« (party programme ↗)“Quality and international competitiveness shall be guiding for higher education.”
• results rewarded in higher education»Arbeta för ett resursfördelningssystem till högskolan så att akademisk kvalitet, genomströmning samt etablering på arbetsmarknaden premieras i högre utsträckning« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Work for a resource allocation system to higher education so that academic quality, throughput and labour market entry are rewarded to a greater extent”

The plan rejects in principle politics that seeks to even out outcomes at the group level and wants instead to remove the obstacles that limit the individual. For education, the commitment is that education should be adapted to the needs of the labor market and that political governance should decrease, not that study support be given a levelling goal of social justice. The plan's goal of equal opportunities regardless of background points partly towards the counter-proposal, but does not bear the demand.

• not outcome-based targeting at group leveldecisive»Riktig jämställdhet nås inte genom att vidta politiska åtgärder för att på gruppnivå skapa samma utfall mellan män och kvinnor, utan genom att ta krafttag mot samhällsfenomen som begränsar den enskilde.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“True equality is not achieved by taking political measures to create the same outcomes between men and women at the group level, but by taking powerful action against social phenomena that limit the individual.”
• education adapted to labor market needs»Den högre utbildningen ska i högre grad anpassas efter behoven på en framtida arbetsmarknad.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Higher education should to a greater extent be adapted to the needs of a future labor market.”
• limit on distribution policy»Samtidigt är det viktigt att poängtera att en alltför långtgående fördelningspolitik« (party programme ↗)“At the same time it is important to emphasize that too far-reaching distribution policy”
• equal opportunities regardless of background»Att flickor och pojkar ska ha samma livsutsikter, oavsett bakgrund« (2022 manifesto ↗)“That girls and boys shall have the same opportunities, regardless of background”