Saturday, October 18, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

One in two single parents cannot afford unexpected expenses

Published 18 October 2023
– By Editorial Staff
Across the EU, 26% of single parents live in material poverty.
2 minute read

20 percent of Swedes would not be able to pay a major unforeseen expense today, according to new statistics from SCB (Statistics Sweden). Among single parents, the figure is close to 50 percent.

In the SCB’s Survey on Living Conditions (ULF – Undersökning om levnadsförhållanden), several questions are posed to measure material and social poverty, meaning that one cannot afford a certain standard of living. A household that cannot afford at least five of the indicators can be assessed as living in material poverty.

Nearly 1.7 million people in Sweden live in households without a cash margin, that is, the ability to pay an unforeseen expense of at least SEK 13,000, or about 1,130 euros.

– Of these, an estimated 187,000 are single adults with children. In this group, for example, it is more common than in the general population to find it difficult to make ends meet, says Helena Månsson, researcher at the SCB, in a press release.

Can’t pay

In Sweden, 14 percent of all single parents with children live in material poverty, with 17.7 percent stating that they find it difficult, or very difficult, to make ends meet. About 13.2 percent of the same group say they are behind on payments.

Across the EU, 26 percent of all single parents with children live in material poverty.

The EU country with the highest material poverty is Romania, where 49 percent of single parents are said to belong to this group, followed by Greece with 47 percent, and Bulgaria with 46 percent.

The lowest proportion of single parents with material poverty can be found in Luxembourg, which has eight percent, and Italy, which is at 12 percent.”

Measurement of material and social poverty

It means that one cannot afford a certain standard of living. This is measured by examining whether individuals can afford the following:

  • Can pay unforeseen expenses of at least 13,000 kronor (in 2022) without borrowing or asking for help.
  • Can afford a week's vacation per year.
  • Can pay debts: mortgages, rent, bills, installment purchases.
  • Can afford a meal with meat, chicken, fish or an equivalent vegetarian option every other day.
  • Can afford to keep the house adequately warm.
  • Has access to a car.
  • Has access to the internet.
  • Can afford to replace worn-out furniture.
  • Can afford to replace worn-out clothes.
  • Owns two pairs of shoes.
  • Can afford to spend a small amount on oneself every week.
  • Can afford to regularly participate in a recreational activity that costs money.
  • Can afford to meet family or friends for a coffee or dinner at least once a month.

An individual who cannot afford five or more of these items lives in material and social poverty. A person who cannot afford seven or more of the items lives, according to the EU's definition, in severe material and social poverty.

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Youth unemployment edges down in Sweden

Published 15 October 2025
– By Editorial Staff
At the end of September, 363,000 people were registered as unemployed in Sweden.
1 minute read

Unemployment continues to decline and stood at 6.9 percent at the end of September, according to new figures from Arbetsförmedlingen (the Swedish Public Employment Service). Despite the positive trend, the unemployment level remains high compared to the previous year.

At the end of September, just over 363,000 people were registered as unemployed in Sweden. This marks the second consecutive month of declining unemployment figures. However, compared to the same period last year, unemployment has increased, the statistics show.

It is obviously gratifying that unemployment has decreased for two months in a row, but compared to a year ago, approximately 4,000 more people are registered as unemployed. The unemployment level is therefore still high, says Lars Lindvall, chief forecaster at Arbetsförmedlingen, in a press release.

A positive signal is that the number of unemployed young people continues to decrease. At the end of September, 43,554 young people between 18 and 24 years old were registered as unemployed, a decrease from 45,378 the year before.

The statistics also show that 34,668 people found employment during September, an increase from 30,462 in the same month last year. The number of redundancy notices simultaneously decreased sharply, from 7,586 to 5,057 people.

Interest in climate issues declining among young Swedish women

The exaggerated climate crisis

Published 14 October 2025
– By Editorial Staff
According to a recent report, an increasing number of young women are turning away from climate alarmist issues.
2 minute read

Engagement with climate issues among young women is declining sharply, according to a recent survey. Meanwhile, issues such as healthcare, education, and crime are being prioritized increasingly higher.

A recently conducted survey reveals that young Swedish women are becoming significantly less passionate about modern left-leaning values such as climate alarmism.

According to the report Youth Focus 2025, climate issues have lost ground among Sweden’s young people. In 2019, 51 percent of young women considered climate the most important issue.

In this year’s report, the corresponding figure has dropped to 15 percent. Among young men, engagement has fallen from 34 to 13 percent.

We don’t talk much about climate, only in school, says 15-year-old Disa Magnusson in Södertälje, a city south of Stockholm, to publicly funded broadcaster SVT.

At the same time, the survey shows that young people today are more engaged in societal issues that affect their daily lives. Healthcare tops the list, followed by education and crime.

In this year’s report, we see a generation that feels concern about certain societal issues and wants to act for society’s benefit here and now, says Sofia Rasmussen, CEO of Rasmussen Analysis.

The same survey also demonstrates declining interest in feminism and gender equality among the country’s youth.

New priorities

Several of the young women who expressed themselves in the survey report that they feel greater trust in more conservative parties. Parties that profile themselves around more traditional values, with emphasis on order and security.

This is a development that could significantly impact Sweden’s future politics, especially when a generation that previously often identified with supposedly progressive left-wing values now shows a shift in interest and engagement.

Interviews with young women show that issues such as friendship, love, and high school are prioritized higher than climate.

People probably think they won’t be alive then, says Disa Magnusson about why climate issues don’t engage as much as before.

The survey demonstrates a clear shift toward issues perceived as more urgent and directly relevant in the daily lives of today’s youth.

At the same time, interest in long-term societal problems remains, but engagement has changed both in form and expression.

About the Youth Focus Survey

Youth Focus 2025, produced for the tenth consecutive year by the King's Foundation for Young Leadership (Konungens stiftelse Ungt Ledarskap) and Rasmussen Analys, aims to highlight young people's values and attitudes and to strengthen their role in society and working life.

This year's report is based on responses from 1,280 people, of which 1,018 are young people between 15–29 years old. The survey was conducted during the period May 13–20, 2025. To enable comparisons with other age groups, the survey also collected 262 responses from people born before 1995.

This makes it possible to distinguish what is unique to the younger generation from broader societal trends, while also enabling an analysis of how older respondents perceive and describe today's youth.

Source: Youth Focus 2025

More minors in Sweden are facing trial for serious offenses

organized crime

Published 14 October 2025
– By Editorial Staff
A conviction ruling means that a court determines guilt, but since children under 15 are not criminally responsible in Sweden, no sentence is imposed.
1 minute read

The number of children under 15 who are brought to trial in so-called evidentiary proceedings has increased sharply over the past year. A large proportion of the cases involve murder and attempted murder.

Up to and including September this year, 68 children under 15 have been brought to trial in evidentiary proceedings. This is nearly double compared to the entire previous year, when 38 children were processed in this type of case. The year before that, in 2023, the number was only seven cases, according to the Swedish Prosecution Authority (Åklagarmyndigheten).

Senior prosecutor Maria Franzén at the Swedish Prosecution Authority sees the increase as a consequence of rising crime rates among children and young people.

Since the proportion of children participating in this type of crime is increasing, it’s an expected effect that the number of cases with evidentiary proceedings also increases, she tells Swedish public radio SR.

Not criminally responsible

Of the 68 children, a full 43 are suspected of involvement in murder, preparation for murder, or attempted murder. Among the high-profile cases is a then 13-year-old boy who allegedly shot and killed a person with connections to criminal networks inside a restaurant.

An evidentiary proceeding means that a court determines the question of guilt, but since children under 15 are not criminally responsible under Swedish law, no sentence is imposed.

Evidentiary proceedings are a good tool for social services to implement appropriate interventions for these children who have committed these crimes, says August Knutsson at the Swedish Police Authority’s national operations center.

Swedish deputy PM seeks ban on burqa and niqab

The Islamization of Europe

Published 13 October 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Busch argues that the veils express a strict interpretation of Islam that conflicts with Swedish values.
2 minute read

Christian Democrat leader Ebba Busch proposes a ban on burqa and niqab in public spaces. She argues that the ban is needed to combat honor-based oppression, among other things.

The proposal is part of a “development initiative for increased social cohesion” that a working group within the Christian Democrats (KD) has prepared for the autumn.

Busch argues that niqab and burqa are expressions of a strict interpretation of Islam that is incompatible with Swedish values.

Islam must adapt in Sweden. One can be a proud Swedish Muslim, Christian, Jew, atheist, but it is fundamental Swedish values that must apply to all of us, she tells the Schibsted newspaper Aftonbladet.

She points out that Sweden must “wake up” from the naivety that has placed the country in a culture war where more and more people live under honor-based oppression.

It is that type of very naive liberalism, or lax Social Democrat politics, that has brought Sweden to the situation we are in today. With a failed integration that currently means that approximately a quarter of a million young people in Sweden are estimated to live under honor-based oppression-like circumstances.

“Both women’s oppression and honor-based oppression”

The ban would cover, for example, public places such as squares, shopping centers and healthcare facilities. The proposal has not yet been anchored with the other Tidö parties (the Swedish center-right governing coalition). However, opposition leader Magdalena Andersson of the Social Democrats (S) says she is prepared to discuss such a ban.

Both burqa and niqab are expressions of both women’s oppression and honor-based oppression, and that is something we Social Democrats distance ourselves from. Exactly how to deal with it, I am prepared to discuss and look at, says Andersson during yesterday’s party leader debate on SVT.

In Denmark, a similar ban was voted through in 2018, which means that covering one’s face in public places is prohibited.

During the Christian Democrats’ party congress in November, the proposal will be put to a vote.

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