Maintenance support and other support measures

The plan wants to redistribute resources from rich to poor and raise incomes for those with the lowest incomes, and it sees poverty as something that weakens people's bargaining power. To let recipients of subsistence support keep more of the support when they start working raises precisely the poorest households' incomes and reduces threshold effects. It aligns with the requirement that everyone should be able to make their everyday finances work.

• raised incomes at the bottomdecisive»Genom en politik för högre löner för dem med lägst inkomster så skapas efterfrågan.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Through a policy for higher wages for those with the lowest incomes, demand is created.”
• combat poverty traps»Att människors fattigdom sänker förhandlingsstyrkan betyder också« (party programme ↗)“That people's poverty weakens bargaining power also means”
• redistribution downwards»omfördelar resurserna från rika till fattiga människor« (2022 manifesto ↗)“redistributes resources from rich to poor people”
• secure everyday finances»Alla ska få vardagsekonomin att gå ihop, vart livet än har tagit oss.« (party programme ↗)“Everyone should be able to make their everyday finances work, wherever life has taken us.”

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 overarching goal is full employment and that everyone who can work shall work; work is the foundation of both the economy and individual freedom. To urgently investigate how recipients of maintenance support can keep more of the support when transitioning to work removes precisely those threshold effects that make work unprofitable. Threshold effects in maintenance support are not explicitly mentioned, so the support is derived.

• the work principle applies to alldecisive»Alla som kan jobba ska jobba och bidra för att bli en del av samhället.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Everyone who can work shall work and contribute to become part of society.”
• full employment as goal»Arbete är grunden för den ekonomiska politiken. Full sysselsättning är vårt övergripande mål.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Work is the foundation of economic policy. Full employment is our overarching goal.”
• work's liberating value»Arbetet är grunden för människans frihet och välfärd.« (party programme ↗)“Work is the foundation for human freedom and welfare.”
• active labour market policy»En aktiv arbetsmarknadspolitik för fler jobb är särskilt viktig i ekonomiskt oroliga tider.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“An active labour market policy for more jobs is particularly important in economically uncertain times.”

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 wants security systems to be broad and have low thresholds and that the most disadvantaged families receive increased resources and better opportunities to support their family. The election manifesto raises targeted support such as housing allowance for families with children. Quickly investigating how recipients of social support can keep more of their support when transitioning to work counters precisely the threshold effects the plan wants to eliminate.

• low thresholds in security systemsdecisive»Försäkringen ska vara bred, ha låga trösklar för« (party programme ↗)“The insurance must be broad, have low thresholds for”
• better support for vulnerable families»möjligheter att försörja sin familj.« (party programme ↗)“opportunities to support one's family.”
• resources to the most disadvantaged»ökade resurser till de sämst ställda familjerna« (party programme ↗)“increased resources to the most disadvantaged families”
• raised targeted allowances»höja bostadsbidraget för barnfamiljer och bostadstillägget för pensionärer.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“raise housing allowance for families with children and housing supplement for pensioners.”

The election manifesto states that it should be more worthwhile to move from benefits to work and that today it is not sufficiently worthwhile to take that step, and the party programme explicitly warns that benefit traps and thresholds make it unprofitable to return to self-support. Investigating whether recipients of livelihood support can retain more of the support upon transition to work is precisely the threshold effect the plan wants to eliminate. However, the plan does not address that an investigation is already underway.

• worthwhile to go to workdecisive»Vi vill att det ska löna sig mer att gå från bidrag till arbete, och att fler med kortare utbildning och erfarenhet ska ha möjlighet att få enkla jobb.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want it to be more worthwhile to move from benefits to work, and that more people with less education and experience should have the opportunity to find simple jobs.”
• no benefit traps»Samtidigt får inte bidragsfällor och trösklar göra det olönsamt att återgå« (party programme ↗)“At the same time, benefit traps and thresholds must not make it unprofitable to return”
• barriers to work must go»Det lönar sig inte heller tillräckligt att ta klivet från bidrag till arbete. Sverige har inte råd att fortsätta så här.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“It is also not sufficiently worthwhile to take the step from benefits to work. Sweden cannot afford to continue like this.”
• protected work line»Arbetslinjen måste värnas, och den som kan jobba ska inte leva på skattebetalarnas pengar.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The work line must be protected, and those who can work should not live on taxpayers' money.”

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 election manifesto explicitly demands that the job bonus is strengthened so that the person who goes from social support to work gets to keep more of their income increase – exactly what the counter-proposal wants to have investigated urgently. The plan is based on that it shall always pay to work and that social support shall be a help onwards, not a dead end, and the party programme wants to lower marginal effects. The plan therefore supports the demand.

• keep more upon transition to workdecisive»Samtidigt ska dagens jobbonus förstärkas så att den som går från försörjningsstöd till arbete får behålla mer av sin inkomstökning.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“At the same time, today's job bonus shall be strengthened so that the person who goes from social support to work gets to keep more of their income increase.”
• social support as way forward»Försörjningsstödet ska vara en hjälp på vägen vidare, inte en återvändsgränd.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Social support shall be a help on the way forward, not a dead end.”
• work shall pay»Det ska alltid löna sig att arbeta.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“It shall always pay to work.”
• lowered marginal effects»behöver utformas så att marginaleffekterna sänks och fler klarar sig utan behovsprövade bidrag.« (party programme ↗)“need to be designed so that marginal effects are lowered and more manage without means-tested benefits.”

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 party programme requires that the individual to the greatest possible extent retain their own income before supplementary benefits are paid out, that all full-time workers shall be able to live on their income, and that unjustified barriers to the labour market are avoided. The goal of social policy is self-sufficiency and countering benefit dependency. Investigating how recipients of maintenance support retain more upon transition to work follows from this.

• retain more of own incomedecisive»Skattesystemet ska vara utformat så att den enskilde i största möjliga utsträckning får behålla sin egen« (party programme ↗)“The tax system shall be designed so that the individual to the greatest possible extent retains their own”
• avoid barriers to work»omotiverade trösklar in på arbetsmarknaden« (party programme ↗)“unjustified barriers to the labour market”
• self-sufficiency as goal»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 ↗)“encouraged, and benefit dependency countered.”

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 core commitment is that it shall always pay better to work than to live on benefits, among other things through a job premium making the step from benefits to work extra profitable and lower tax on low income. Quickly investigating how threshold effects when transitioning from maintenance benefits to work can be reduced lies directly in line with this. The plan's own instrument is however job premium and benefit ceiling, not retained maintenance benefits.

• job premium when moving to workdecisive»Införa en jobbpremie som gör det extra lönsamt för långtidsarbetslösa att gå från bidrag till arbete« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Introduce a job premium making it extra profitable for long-term unemployed to move from benefits to work”
• it shall pay to work»De samlade bidragen ska aldrig bli så höga att det inte lönar sig att jobba.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Combined benefits shall never become so high that it doesn't pay to work.”
• lower tax on low income»Genom att sänka skatten på låga inkomster och införa ett bidragstak, så att det alltid lönar sig bättre att jobba än att leva på staplade bidrag« (2022 manifesto ↗)“By lowering tax on low income and introducing a benefit ceiling, so that it always pays better to work than to live on stacked benefits”
• work line guides benefits»Skatter och bidragssystem ska utgå från arbetslinjen.« (party programme ↗)“Taxes and benefit systems shall be based on the work line.”

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 decisive commitment is that it should become more profitable to work and that incentives must become clearer for someone who has long been supported by taxpayers. Letting recipients of subsistence support keep more of the support when transitioning to work is precisely such a measure against threshold effects. The plan therefore speaks for the counter-proposal's requirement for a prompt investigation.

• clearer incentives to workdecisive»Det måste också bli mer lönsamt att anställa och att arbeta. Incitamenten för att bidra till det gemensamma måste bli tydligare för den som länge försörjt sig på skattebetalarna.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“It must also become more profitable to employ and to work. Incentives to contribute to the common good must become clearer for someone who has long been supported by taxpayers.”
• work should pay»Göra det mer lönsamt att arbeta« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Make it more profitable to work”
• profitable to contribute»Göra det lönsamt att arbeta och bidra till samhället« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Make it profitable to work and contribute to society”
• work should always pay»Efter de första hundra dagarna bör en nedtrappning av nivån göras – det ska alltid löna sig att arbeta.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“After the first hundred days a phase-down of the level should be made – it should always pay to work.”

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.