Equal maintenance support

The plan demands that social insurance and benefits be individual and that rights be tied to individuals rather than families, because it is crucial for women's self-sufficiency. It also emphasizes that women with weak personal finances cannot leave destructive relationships. Dividing maintenance support equally between parties in a household follows directly from these gender equality commitments.

• individual benefitsdecisive»Socialförsäkringarna ska vara individuella« (party programme ↗)“Social insurance should be individual”
• rights to the individual»rättigheter kopplade till individer istället för familjer eller arbetsplatser« (party programme ↗)“rights tied to individuals instead of families or workplaces”
• women's personal finances»Många kvinnor kan inte lämna destruktiva förhållanden för att deras ekonomi är för dålig, därför hänger arbetet med att uppvärdera kvinnors arbete och höja löner i låglöneyrken ihop med arbetet mot våld mot kvinnor.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Many women cannot leave destructive relationships because their finances are too weak, therefore the work of revaluing women's work and raising wages in low-wage occupations is connected with work against violence against women.”
• individualized security systems»individualiserad föräldraförsäkring och en stärkt lagfäst rätt till heltid,« (party programme ↗)“individualized parental insurance and a strengthened statutory right to full-time,”

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 party programme establishes women's right to decide over their own economy and defines the party as feminist, and the election manifesto explicitly rejects solutions that lock foreign-born women in the home. Exploring a shared, equal support structure gives both parties their own economic power and is thus in the plan's direction. The plan simultaneously has activity requirements for maintenance support, which a split payment form does not affect.

• women's economic independencedecisive»rätt att bestämma över sin ekonomi« (party programme ↗)“right to decide over their own economy”
• feminist basic view»Med denna grundsyn är socialdemokratin ett feministiskt parti.« (party programme ↗)“With this basic view social democracy is a feminist party.”
• counter women's confinement to home»Fler insatser krävs för att utlandsfödda kvinnor ska komma i arbete och vi säger nej till alla förslag om vårdnadsbidrag eller barnomsorgspeng, som låser fast utlandsfödda kvinnor i hemmet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“More efforts are needed for foreign-born women to come into work and we say no to all proposals about child allowance or childcare voucher, which lock foreign-born women in the home.”
• activity requirements for support»För att ingen ska fastna i passivitet behöver det ställas krav på aktivitet för att få försörjningsstöd.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“For no one to get stuck in passivity there must be requirements on activity to receive maintenance support.”

The plan wants a society where ownership is evenly distributed between women and men and highlights economic independence as decisive for equality. Paying out half of income support to each party in a household is a direct way to give women their own money, which is the plan's purpose. The plan also requires that means-testing does not become an invasion of privacy, which speaks for investigating the design.

• women's economic independencedecisive»Jämställda löner och ekonomisk självständighet är viktigt för att öka jämställdheten« (party programme ↗)“Equal pay and economic independence are important for increasing equality”
• even distribution between genders»Vi vill se ett samhälle där ägandet är jämnt fördelat mellan män och kvinnor, precis som ansvaret för barn och hem.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to see a society where ownership is evenly distributed between men and women, just as responsibility for children and home.”
• dignified means-testing»Det är viktigt att behovsprövningar inte blir« (party programme ↗)“It is important that means-testing does not become”
• support to households with small margins»höja bostadsbidraget för barnfamiljer och bostadstillägget för pensionärer.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“increase housing allowance for families with children and housing supplement for pensioners.”

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 makes women's economic self-determination a separate commitment and wants to lead Sweden towards greater economic gender equality. Investigating a split payment of subsistence support within the household is a way to give both parties their own money and thus self-determination. The plan's feminist stance, that gender must not determine economic assets, points in the same direction.

• women's economic self-determinationdecisive»Alla kvinnor ska ha möjlighet till ekonomisk egenmakt« (2022 manifesto ↗)“All women must have the opportunity for economic self-determination”
• economic gender equality»Vi ska dessutom leda Sverige till större ekonomisk jämställdhet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We must also lead Sweden towards greater economic gender equality.”
• feminist stance»Centerpartiet är ett feministiskt parti, som utmanar och bryter rådande maktförhållanden och kollektiva orättvisor.« (party programme ↗)“The Centre Party is a feminist party that challenges and breaks existing power relations and collective injustices.”
• gender must not determine assets»Kön ska inte avgöra lön, inte heller status, inflytande i samhällets och« (party programme ↗)“Gender must not determine wages, nor status, influence in society, and”

The plan explicitly requires a more individualized maintenance support as a means for more foreign-born women to come into work. To investigate a shared payment to both parties in the household is precisely an individualization of support. The plan also establishes that the difference in economic power between women and men is a central equality issue and that the equality perspective belongs where resources are distributed.

• individualized maintenance supportdecisive»Fler utrikes födda kvinnor ska komma i arbete genom reformer av föräldraförsäkringen och flerbarnstillägget och ett mer individualiserat försörjningsstöd.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“More foreign-born women shall come into work through reforms of parental insurance and large-family supplement and a more individualized maintenance support.”
• own income for women»Alla ska arbeta – även utrikes födda kvinnor.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“All shall work – including foreign-born women.”
• economic equality»Skillnaden i ekonomisk makt mellan kvinnor och män är en central jämställdhetsfråga.« (party programme ↗)“The difference in economic power between women and men is a central equality issue.”
• equality in resource distribution»Jämställdhet uppnås där ordinarie beslut fattas, resurser fördelas och normer skapas.« (party programme ↗)“Equality is achieved where ordinary decisions are made, resources are distributed, and norms are created.”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The plan requires that the gender equality perspective permeates all policy areas and defines gender equality as people regardless of gender having power to shape their lives. To investigate a divided payment of maintenance support responds to this and to the requirement that social policy measures give the individual influence and participation. The plan's respect for the family's own sphere at the same time forms a boundary for how far the state goes into the household.

• gender equality in all policydecisive»Jämställdhetsperspektivet ska genomsyra alla politikområden.« (party programme ↗)“The gender equality perspective shall permeate all policy areas.”
• power to shape their lives»Jämställdhet är att människor, oavsett kön, har makt« (party programme ↗)“Gender equality is when people, regardless of gender, have power”
• individual's influence»förutsättningar för inflytande och delaktighet från den enskilde« (party programme ↗)“conditions for influence and participation from the individual”
• respect for the family's sphere»familjens sfär och rättigheter« (party programme ↗)“the family's sphere and rights”

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 explicitly takes a stance on how maintenance support is paid within the household and wants it to go to the woman instead of the man, since increased self-support and self-determination are the way to gender equality. The counter-proposal's demand to investigate a divided, equal maintenance support points in the same direction, even though the plan goes further than a halving. The subject matter is thus directly covered.

• equal payment of supportdecisive»Betala ut försörjningsstöd till kvinnan i stället för till mannen« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Pay maintenance support to the woman instead of to the man”
• self-determination through own income»Ökad självförsörjning ger ökad egenmakt.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Increased self-support gives increased self-determination.”
• gender equality via self-determination»Vägen till ökad jämställdhet handlar om att stärka självbestämmandet« (party programme ↗)“The path to increased gender equality is about strengthening self-determination”
• support shall not lock in women»Avskaffa flerbarnstillägget från och med barn fyra så att inte kvinnor i stora familjer fastnar i hemmet« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Abolish the child supplement from the fourth child onwards so that women in large families do not get stuck at home”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The plan states that benefit systems that tend to lock women to the home shall be counteracted and that society's efforts to free girls and women from honour culture control must be strengthened. Investigating a split support allowance, so that both parties in the household receive their share, counteracts precisely such economic control. The plan's distancing from political measures for equal outcomes speaks at the same time for restraint, which is why the support is weak.

• no locking-in benefit systemsdecisive»Både kulturella normer och bidragssystem som tenderar att låsa kvinnor till hemmet ska motverkas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Both cultural norms and benefit systems that tend to lock women to the home shall be counteracted.”
• break honour-based oppression»Samhällets insatser för att befria flickor som lever i hedersmiljö måste stärkas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Society's efforts to free girls living in honour culture must be strengthened.”
• equal rights»Män och kvinnor ska ha samma rättigheter, vara lika inför lagen samt känna sig trygga och respekterade.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Men and women shall have equal rights, be equal before the law and feel safe and respected.”
• scepticism towards outcome steering»Riktig jämställdhet nås inte genom att vidta politiska åtgärder för att på gruppnivå skapa samma utfall mellan män och kvinnor« (2022 manifesto ↗)“True gender equality is not achieved by taking political measures to create equal outcomes between men and women at the group level”

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.