This is an opinion piece in Dagens Nyheter. The author is responsible for the opinions in the article.
Right now is the poorest week of the year from a children’s perspective. Many parents, not least single mothers, are waiting for support after struggling for weeks to give their children a decent vacation. That’s why we are now publishing the annual children’s rights report.
This will introduce a targeted single parent supplement within the general child benefit. It would be a surefire investment that would effectively reduce the economic hardship of children in Sweden.
Because something has to be done. Mayflower has long seen significant increases in financial support for the basic needs of individual children. Families with children with limited resources are under severe pressure due to inflation in recent years and the erosion of key financial support for families such as child benefit and housing benefit. Civil society is forced to compensate for the development.
2024 shared the Mayflower 42.4 million crowns will be paid directly to financially vulnerable children. Our financial support for children increased by SEK 17.1 million between 2021 and 2024. During the same period, approved applications for the clothing and footwear category increased from SEK 11.3 million to SEK 18.3 million. An increase of 62 percent.
The majority of parents who contact us are single parents. The statistics confirm our everyday life; Single parents are four times more likely to be financially vulnerable compared to cohabiting parents. This pattern is a structural social problem that has long taken root in Sweden’s welfare society. This is a low-intensity scandal.
This time we do not address the causes, but rather focus on solutions worthy of a country that puts children’s life chances and rights first, not just in words but also in action. We demand targeted, child rights-oriented and effective measures. And we can say that a supplement for the sole earner falls into this category.
The difference between the finances of single parents and those of other families with children is more pronounced here than in many other comparable countries
In scientific The supporting report to our proposal shows the existence of support for single parents in other countries and the importance that reform would have in Sweden. The difference between the finances of single earners and those of other families with children is more pronounced here than in many other comparable countries. This is especially true from a Nordic perspective. In Denmark, Norway and Finland there has long been targeted support for single parents in the form of supplements to general child benefit.
We wanted to find out to what extent the single parent allowance can lift economically weak single parents out of poverty (both relative and absolute) and whether local support is required. The microsimulations we conducted with the help of Statistics Sweden included around 170,000 single-parent households with a total of around 250,000 children aged 0 to 19. We tried three alternative amount levels: SEK 800, SEK 1,250 and SEK 1,700 per child per month.
The main result shows significant effects on financial vulnerability before and after the three alternatives examined. Using the Low Income Standard (LIS) measure, poverty would fall from the current 16 percent to 11-14 percent when allowances for single parents are included. Between 4,500 and 8,600 fewer single households would be in financial distress.
The result also shows that a single earner allowance would reduce households’ need for local means-tested support. Depending on the amount of the surcharge, the proportion would rise from 8.7 percent of all affected households to 6.4 to 7.5 percent. As a direct effect of the reform proposal, 2,000-4,000 single households would forego the social welfare office. Municipalities would save between SEK 180 and 339 million annually.
We estimate that the cost of a reform with a single earner allowance is between SEK 2.2 and 4.7 billion per year, depending on the amount. This contrasts with the real decline in value of a total of SEK 7.4 billion that has occurred in child and student benefit since its last increase in 2018.
We can conclude that the introduction of a single-parent supplement to child benefit would be an effective method to compensate for the financial differences between families with children in Sweden and significantly reduce the financial vulnerability of many single-parent households.
The system eliminates the stigmatization of certain children that testing can lead to
The sole earner allowance is one balanced example of how Swedish family policy can be modernized through targeted support within the framework of a retained general child benefit. In international research, “Targeting Within Universalism” or targeted efforts within general systems is identified as a successful concept.
The system eliminates the stigmatization of certain children that testing can lead to. In short, the proposal strengthens countries’ ability to adapt family policies to new family-related patterns and societal changes.
In the Swedish context, the proposed reform would contribute to the equal goal of family policy to provide all children with a good standard of living. Ultimately, this would reduce the devastating risks associated with social vulnerability while raising children.
Read more articles from DN Debatt:
Jonas Rydberg, Sveriges Stadsmissioner: “700,000 in poverty – when will the Swedish state act?”
Three economists in a new ESO report: “Stuck in poverty? You’re not alone – fewer and fewer are rising in income”
18 poverty researchers: “The government keeps children in poverty – as punishment”
