Today, almost one in five foreign-born women is unemployed. One of the reasons, according to the minister, is that many women are stuck at home with children. The government has therefore proposed that the large family supplement should disappear in the long run. The allowance is a supplement in addition to the child allowance and is larger the more children there are in the family.
– It should be crystal clear for everyone who comes to Sweden, that here in Sweden both men and women work and contribute to welfare. You have to work and support yourself. You should not have more children than you can support, said Eva Nordmark (S) last week.
Reformists (S): Risk of more child poverty
But more children would end up in poverty if the large family supplement is removed, says Linn Svansbo, vice chairman of the Reformists, in Aktuellt.
– It is a general welfare reform that benefits children and families. It is the wrong way to walk politically and reform-wise if you care about integration, the labor market and gender equality, says Svansbo and continues:
– It is wrong both rhetorically and factually to paint the large family supplement as some kind of incentive for people not to go to work.
Hanif Bali: Can prevent seven children in a second
The Moderates’ Member of Parliament Hanif Bali, on the other hand, sees the abolition of the large family supplement as a way of reducing child poverty. He therefore welcomes the proposal.
– It is very good if we can screw up these reforms so that we do not get these strange deviations with seven children in a second.
According to Bali, the large family supplement may remain for the families who receive the money already today, but in the long run he wants the subsidy to be removed completely.
– We should not think that financial incentives do not matter. Sweden has a high birth rate compared to many other European countries and the reason is general contributions.
Linn Svansbo instead wants to see other reforms and highlights labor market policies and politicians who are present where families with many children live.
– What has built an equal Sweden is no less of general welfare reforms, says Svansbo.
Facts – Multi-child supplement