The food Swedes eat differs markedly between younger and older generations. Food researcher Richard Tellström points to a trend in which eating with a knife and fork has become less common.
According to Tellström, the differences in food preferences between generations have never been as great as they are today. This is most evident in what people eat for dinner.
– Evening meals are probably the fastest to change, he told the tax-funded Swedish Broadcasting Corporation (SR). Breakfast is the slowest, but evening meals are very fast, and there is a big difference between young and old.
When SR asked people of different ages what they preferred to eat for supper or dinner, most younger people said sushi, for example, while older people preferred fish with vegetables.
Tellström also believes that food preferences are influenced by what you eat between the ages of one and 25, and that this has a significant impact on eating habits. He predicts that home-cooked meals such as raggmunk (a type of traditional, swedish potato pancake), pannbiff (similar to salisbury steak, often served with lingon berries), and ärtsoppa (pea soup) will disappear from nursing homes by 2080. In general, food eaten with a knife and fork has become less common, in part because many people eat with a cell phone in one hand.
– What you might call knife and fork meals. That kind of food is on its way out, he says.
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Condom use among young Swedes has declined over the past year, according to RFSU’s annual Condom Check survey – and the same trend is also noted in our Nordic neighbors.
For several years, the trend has been upwards, with high levels of condom use during and just after the corona restrictions. But according to the latest survey, the proportion of Swedes who have used condoms in the past year has remained at 40%.
– Our survey shows that it has stagnated and now we need to make more efforts to make young people understand that it is important to protect themselves and their partners, says Pelle Ullholm, sex educator at RFSU, in a press release.
Despite the decline, Sweden is the Nordic country where condom use is highest. At the same time, the proportion of young people aged 16-35 using condoms has decreased – from 58% in 2023 to 54% in 2024.
“Used to digital communication”
The proportion of people who used a condom the last time they had sex with a new partner has also decreased – from 53% to 47%. Among the youngest, 16-20 year olds, the decline means that use is back to the same level as in 2016 – before the previous positive trend took off.
In both Finland and Denmark, use has decreased in 2024 compared to the previous year, while Norway is the lowest in the Nordic region at 35%.
The survey also shows that the willingness to use condoms remains high: 68% of young Swedes say they want to use condoms with a new partner. At the same time, actual use dropped from 47% to 44% between 2023 and 2024.
– The majority of young people today are used to digital communication, they are not as used to being in social situations in physical spaces.But we see that the ambition to use condoms is there, so what is needed is the right support and conditions to reverse the trend, says Ullholm.
More than one in three employees at Northvolt’s Skellefteå plant has been imported from outside the EU.In total, 1650 work permits have been granted – often to people from the other side of the world.
The bankruptcy of taxpayer-funded battery manufacturer Northvolt has been described as one of the biggest industrial crashes in Sweden’s modern history, with thousands of employees expected to lose their jobs in addition to the billions that went up in smoke.
Now an investigation shows that the battery giant has systematically used non-European labor immigration from the third world – and that all migrants attracted by Northvolt are now at risk of deportation.
When Northvolt filed for bankruptcy earlier in March, around 3,000 employees were still working at the battery factory in Skellefteå – and almost 1,100 of them have migrated from outside the EU.
It is noted that a total of 1650 Swedish work permits have been issued where Northvolt was listed as the employer on the application. The IF Metall trade union is one of several stakeholders reacting to the proportion of the workforce coming from non-European countries.
“A little over half”
– I have received information that a little over half of the employees here come from third countries, so there are quite a few.This is a special situation, says IF Metall’s chairman Marie Nilsson, who wants the migrants to be allowed to stay in Sweden.
Many of the immigrants come from Africa and Asia, but why the battery manufacturer has invested heavily in importing labor from the other side of the world, instead of attracting Swedes or other Europeans to the factories, is not something that the company itself has commented on.
The imported migrant workers now have three months to find a new job where they earn at least 80% of the median wage in the profession – otherwise they lose the right to stay in the country.
“Basic knowledge of English”
Already in November, researchers found that Northvolt was in many ways a very dysfunctional workplace, with foreign staff living segregated in shanty towns and the proportion of migrants so high that English – and not Swedish – was the language spoken inside the factories.
–They have become very vulnerable to their employers when they are in a country where the majority language is different from the one used in the workplace, said linguist Andreas Nuottaniemi at the time.
–Many people have moved here with only a basic knowledge of English, which is different from the rest of society, where Swedish is quite highly valued, he continued.
Despite Northvolt being touted as an innovative leader in the “green transition”, audits have also shown that the company never managed to produce a single Swedish battery– instead, the batteries consisted mostly of imported parts from China.
Due to the perpetrator's young age at the time of the murder, he received a significant sentence reduction – the actual sentence value was assessed to be 16 years in prison.
A man previously acquitted in the district court has now been convicted of murder in Eskilstuna.The breakthrough in the “cold case” came thanks to new DNA technology.
On November 21, 2018, a man was shot dead in the open street in the Nyfors district of Eskilstuna. The investigation was hampered for a long time by a lack of evidence and silence from both witnesses and suspects.
Now the police announce that a 23-year-old man has been convicted of the murder. The case gained new momentum in the autumn of 2023, when investigator Yakup Irak chose to analyze older findings using the new technology DNAxs, which was recently introduced in Sweden.
– You have to be constantly curious about how new technology and new methods can be applied to the case you are investigating, while regularly reviewing and analyzing the material that is available, says Irak in a press release.
A DNA match from a pair of gloves found along the escape route proved decisive and prompted a witness to start cooperating. Although the district court acquitted the 23-year-old, the court of appeal has now convicted him of the murder and sentenced him to seven years in prison.
Substantial reduction in sentence
Investigator Yakup Irak hopes that the case will inspire more people to reopen unsolved cases, where a culture of silence and a lack of evidence have previously put a stop to it.
– I have always believed that we will get a conviction, he says.
According to the court, the sentence for the murder was actually 16 years in prison, but due to sentence reductions and his young age at the time of the murder, the murderer will instead receive seven years in prison. The prosecutor had asked for nine years but says he is satisfied with the outcome
Is it dangerous to travel in China?Is it forbidden to move freely, take photos and investigate what life is really like?Have international geopolitics and propaganda in our media at home in the Western bloc affected our view of the populous country to the east?British video blogger Mike Okay, 28, is hitchhiking 2,000km across the country to investigate, document and hopefully get answers to his questions.
Mike Okay is embarking on an audacious 2,000km journey across China, with the ambition of challenging conventional wisdom about the country. With a daily target of 500 km, he plans to reach Beijing in just four days – a plan marked by both courage and a sense of adventure. The journey begins with him presenting a small piece of paper, written in Chinese, which clearly explains the purpose of his journey. As he puts it:
– I have this piece of paper in Chinese.It basically says: who I am and what I’m trying to do, and it’s really fucking helpful.
The journey quickly picks up speed as he gets his first ride within the first few minutes. Although the drivers are traveling at high speeds and at some risk, he is met with unexpected hospitality – they happily share eggs and a red Chinese soda, which Mike says may even be illegal in the UK. As he makes his way through the changing itineraries, with drivers altering their route to drop him off closer to Beijing, he is sometimes forced to walk along the side of the highway – a risky but necessary part of the adventure.
Along the way, he encounters everything from mysterious tombs with ancient stone patterns to encounters with the local police. In one incident where he is asked to disembark at a service facility, he is met with unexpected kindness: the police offer him lunch and directions. This unexpected humanity is a recurring theme throughout the journey and contrasts strongly with the otherwise cold and unpredictable landscape.
Spending the night in a wind turbine factory
One night, Mike finds himself in an uncomfortable situation when, after being misdirected, he is forced to spend the night in an abandoned wind turbine factory. Despite the eeriness of the place, he finds a gas station nearby, where he buys beer and snacks to keep his spirits up until morning. As he travels through China’s varied landscapes – from deserts to lush green areas – the language barriers also become apparent. Misunderstandings and misinterpretations marked several encounters with local drivers, where he sometimes had to wait a long time for the next ride or even take a taxi out of the city center.
In one of the most memorable encounters of the trip, he bonds with Mr. Chen, a British-speaking truck driver who soon becomes an unexpected friend. Mike describes how meeting Mr. Chen opens up a new dimension of the trip – one where the helpfulness and genuine friendliness of everyday people takes centre stage. He notes:
– His name is Mr. Chen, which I feel bad about because he said, ‘I’ve been driving with you for ten hours and you don’t even know my name’.
The journey ends with Mr. Chen, after helping him through both linguistic mishaps and unexpected detours, taking him towards Beijing where Mike plans to end the adventure with a train ride into the city. Despite all the challenges – from dangerous highways to feeling isolated – Mike highlights how meeting ordinary people, from customs officers to friendly police officers, revives his faith in humanity.
With a mixture of laughter, frustration and wonder, Mike Okay gives us a unique insight into everyday China – far from the touristy facade and with a humane side rarely seen in the Western bloc’s establishment media.
Mike O'Kennedy, known as “Mike Okay” on YouTube, is a British travel blogger with over half a million followers. He is best known for his documentaries on travel to remote and controversial places, including North Korea and Xinjiang in China. His content focuses on providing a personal and uncensored insight into these areas, often with humor and a sense of adventure.
