The Standard for Self-Support

The plan does not address how self-sufficiency should be defined statistically. The closest underlying principle is the plan's view of humanity: unemployment is a waste of people's abilities and work should be organised so that everyone can contribute according to their ability, while the right's judgmental view of lazy people is rejected. Counting subsidised employment as non-self-sufficient stigmatises exactly such work as less worthy and lacks support in the plan.

• rejects judgmental view of humanitydecisive»Deras klassförakt syns i en dömande människosyn, som handlar om att« (party programme ↗)“Their class contempt is visible in a judgmental view of humanity, which deals with”
• unemployment wastes abilities»Arbetslöshet är ett enormt slöseri med människors kompetens och erfarenheter.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Unemployment is an enormous waste of people's competence and experience.”
• everyone shall be able to contribute according to ability»kan bidra efter förmåga« (party programme ↗)“can contribute according to ability”
• full employment through investments»Vi vill se en samlad strategi för full sysselsättning som bygger på stora,« (party programme ↗)“We want to see a comprehensive strategy for full employment that is built on large,”

The plan bases employment policy on full employment and active labour market policy, and the party programme states that every job well done deserves respect. Defining subsidized employment as non-self-supporting rejects precisely those interventions the plan prioritizes for those furthest from the labour market. The plan does not address the statistical measure itself, making the conclusion uncertain.

• active labour market policydecisive»En aktiv arbetsmarknadspolitik för fler jobb är särskilt viktig i ekonomiskt oroliga tider.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Active labour market policy for more jobs is particularly important in economically uncertain times.”
• measures for the unemployed»En aktiv arbetsmarknadspolitik gör det lättare för arbetslösa att hitta nya jobb och« (party programme ↗)“Active labour market policy makes it easier for the unemployed to find new jobs and”
• respect for all work»Varje väl utfört arbete förtjänar respekt« (party programme ↗)“Every job well done deserves respect”
• full employment»Full sysselsättning är vårt övergripande mål.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Full employment is our overarching goal.”

The plan says nothing about how self-sufficiency should be measured statistically. The nearest underlying principle is that everyone should be able to contribute through work according to their capacity and that society should actively support the path to work, including through aids and rehabilitation. A definition that excludes subsidised employment points to precisely those jobs the plan is built on as non-work, which is why the plan does not support the requirement.

• work according to capacitydecisive»Vår politik ska ge alla människor möjlighet att efter sina förutsättningar genom arbete bidra till samhället.« (party programme ↗)“Our policy shall give everyone the opportunity to, according to their capacity, contribute to society through work.”
• active support for work»Samhället ska aktivt stödja individens möjligheter till arbete exempelvis genom åtgärder för rehabilitering och utbildning.« (party programme ↗)“Society shall actively support the individual's opportunities for work, for example through measures for rehabilitation and education.”
• adapted workplaces»Ingen ska heller vara utan jobb för att rätt sorts hjälpmedel inte finns att tillgå på arbetsplatsen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“No one should be without a job because the right kind of aids are not available at the workplace.”

The election manifesto makes the work line an explicit commitment: the one who can work should not live on taxpayers' money, and it should pay more to move from benefits to work. A measure that counts subsidized employment as self-sufficiency hides how far it really is. The party programme's requirement for better measures points in the same direction, but the plan says nothing about the definition as such.

• protected work linedecisive»Arbetslinjen måste värnas, och den som kan jobba ska inte leva på skattebetalarnas pengar.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The work line must be protected, and the one who can work should not live on taxpayers' money.”
• profitable to move from benefits to work»Vi vill att det ska löna sig mer att gå från bidrag till arbete« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want it to pay more to move from benefits to work”
• need for better measures»Ekonomisk tillväxt är ett relevant och etablerat mått på kortsiktig välståndsutveckling, men tillväxtbegreppet« (party programme ↗)“Economic growth is a relevant and established measure of short-term prosperity development, but the growth concept”
• subsidized paths in»Förenkla och förstärk nystartsjobben och bredda de så kallade etableringsjobben.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Simplify and strengthen new start jobs and broaden the so-called integration jobs.”

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's guiding commitment is the work line: people must support themselves as far as possible, more must contribute and fewer depend on benefits, and authorities must be clear in the expectation that everyone who can must manage their own livelihood. A measure that counts subsidized employment as self-support hides how many actually bear their own livelihood. The plan therefore speaks for a definition that measures actual self-support.

• self-supportdecisive»Människor ska försörja sig själva så långt som möjligt.« (party programme ↗)“People must support themselves as far as possible.”
• the work line»Fler måste bidra – färre måste gå på bidrag.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“More must contribute – fewer must depend on benefits.”
• clear expectations on livelihood»Arbetsförmedlingen, Försäkringskassan och socialtjänsten ska bli bättre i sitt stöd men också tydligare i förväntningen på att alla som kan ska försörja sig själva.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The Employment Service, the Social Insurance Agency and social services must become better in their support but also clearer in the expectation that everyone who can must support themselves.”
• wage subsidy for disability»Personer med en funktionsnedsättning som trots hjälpmedel och anpassningsåtgärder begränsar arbetsutbud ska ha möjlighet till lönesubvention.« (party programme ↗)“Persons with a disability that despite aids and adaptation measures limits work capacity must have the opportunity for wage subsidies.”

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's social policy goal is self-sufficiency, and tax and benefit systems shall be designed so that benefit dependency is countered. A measure that counts subsidized employment as self-sufficiency conceals precisely the dependency the plan wants to counter, which is why the counter-proposal's requirement for a sharpened definition follows from the commitment. The committee's reasoning concerns statistical reporting, which the plan does not address.

• self-sufficiency as a goaldecisive»Målet för socialpolitiken är att stödja gemenskaperna och de enskilda människorna till egen försörjning« (party programme ↗)“The goal of social policy is to support communities and individual people towards self-sufficiency”
• counter benefit dependency»uppmuntras, och att bidragsberoende motverkas.« (party programme ↗)“are encouraged, and that benefit dependency is countered.”
• employment provides independence»Med fler sysselsatta kan fler försörja sig själva och därmed få mer makt över sitt liv.« (party programme ↗)“With more employed people, more can support themselves and thereby have more control over their lives.”
• combat exclusion»Stram migrationspolitik krävs för att ta itu med integrationsproblem och utanförskap.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Strict migration policy is required to address integration problems and exclusion.”

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 counts self-sufficiency strictly: it notes that every other immigrant cannot support themselves fully and makes the ability to self-support the core of welfare. A measure that counts subsidized employment as self-sufficiency hides precisely the problem the plan builds its politics on. The plan also wants correct information about the population through a census. The demand for a measure of actual self-sufficiency is supported.

• actual self-sufficiencydecisive»Varannan invandrad person i Sverige, totalt 700 000 personer, kan idag inte försörja sig själv fullt ut.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Every other immigrant in Sweden, a total of 700,000 people, cannot today support themselves fully.”
• self-sufficiency as welfare's core»förmåga att försörja sig själv är såväl självbestämmandets« (party programme ↗)“ability to support oneself is both self-determination's”
• reward self-sufficiency»Den som kan försörja sig själv och den som anstränger sig, ska belönas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The person who can support themselves and the person who makes an effort, shall be rewarded.”
• correct information about population»Genomföra en nationell folkräkning för att stoppa bidragsbrotten« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Conduct a national census to stop benefit crimes”

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 election manifesto wants to scrap ineffective employment and integration programmes created to hide unemployment and stop public funds going to dummy jobs. The plan also uses its own measure of self-sufficiency, own income over half of median income, rather than whether the person has a subsidised position. The counter-proposal's demands for a definition that measures actual self-sufficiency follow directly from this.

• do not hide unemploymentdecisive»Avskaffa ineffektiva arbetsmarknads- och integrationsprogram som är skapade för att dölja arbetslöshet« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Scrap ineffective employment and integration programmes created to hide unemployment”
• own measure of self-sufficiency»Redan år 2016 var fler än 600 000 utrikes födda i arbetsför ålder inte självförsörjande, d.v.s. med en egen inkomst under hälften av medianinkomsten.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“As of 2016 more than 600 000 foreign-born persons of working age were not self-supporting, i.e. with own income under half of median income.”
• no dummy jobs»Stoppa användandet av offentliga medel till låtsasjobb« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Stop the use of public funds for dummy jobs”
• real jobs»Alla som har förmågan ska arbeta i riktiga jobb, försörja sig och bidra till att bygga Sverige bättre.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Everyone who has the capacity should work in real jobs, provide for themselves and contribute to building Sweden better.”