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 Aida Hadzialic

S-top Aida Hadzialic warns of a welfare crisis in the country's regions: "The government is paralyzed by action"

Of:

Victor Stenquist

PUBLISHED: YESTERDAY 15.06

NEWS

Sweden's Municipalities and Regions (SKR) has appealed for more money - but was refused by the government.

In Stockholm, regional leader Aida Hadzialic (S) is now warning of a "permanent welfare crisis".

- Sweden is hit by an inflationary shock that risks starting a wave of mass warnings in the country due to the government's paralysis of action, says Hadzialic.

"The state cannot compensate for everything", has become Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson's mantra lately.

She said it at a press conference in early March and as recently as Tuesday at SKR's congress, according to Dagens Samhälle.

The finance minister believes that increased contributions to municipalities and regions would drive inflation, but S-top Aida Hadzialic warns that Sweden is instead facing an acute welfare crisis.

- We have been hit by an inflationary shock and have our worst economic situation in 30 years, we have war in our immediate area and rampant electricity costs and energy prices, which also affects the welfare economy enormously. The government is passive in this instead of supporting welfare, and this means that we cannot secure staffing in care, school and care, says Hadzialic, former minister and now financial regional councilor in Stockholm.

She believes that immediate efforts are needed just to be able to cope with the basic functions.

- I'm not talking about raising ambitions, but it's just about getting cost coverage for the inflationary shock that affects Swedish welfare. Ulf Kristersson said that it was just to bite the bullet, but I would like to invite him to our hospitals and say so and see what response he gets from the staff, says Aida Hadzialic.

Healthcare will suffer

She wants to see the government push at least 18 billion already in the spring budget to the country's municipalities and regions, just to meet basic needs.

- Otherwise, we risk having patients who do not receive care in time, school classes that become larger and older people who do not receive the care they need. The tears we see in welfare will grow.

- It is an extraordinary situation, and I am not normally the politician who calls for money and every tax kroner must be weighed on a golden scale, but the problem is that we will not be able to prioritize our core activities such as cancer care, maternity care and emergency medical care, says Aida Hadzialic.

SKR believes that elderly care alone will need to increase the number of employees by 30 percent in the coming years.

SKR believes that elderly care alone will need to increase the number of employees by 30 percent in the coming years.

It is common knowledge that inflation and interest rate increases can have major effects on private finances, but regions and municipalities are also hit hard.

One example is pension costs, which increase exponentially. For people above a certain salary level and born in 1986 and earlier, municipalities and regions have a debt that should correspond to their future pensions, which increases in line with inflation.

In 2022, pension costs were SEK 65 billion, but by 2024 they could reach SEK 130 billion, according to SKR's calculations, says Annika Wallenskog, chief economist at SKR.

- The regions really have it super tough. I have met several regional chairmen and some cannot get their finances together at all. There is also pressure to deal with the healthcare debt since the pandemic, and the white from Iva if you don't have enough healthcare places, you also can't find enough staff, says Annika Wallenskog.

SKR believes that elderly care alone will need to increase the number of employees by 30 percent in the coming years, while there is a labor shortage.

Money is available

From SKR's side, they want to see the government relax the possibility of taking part in the performance-based state subsidies, which are already budgeted.

- There is already a lot of money today, almost 100 billion in targeted grants, which can be used for, among other things, performance-based initiatives. It could be to reduce the number of hourly employees, or to expand care places or to expand community care. But how can you do that if you don't even have money for the basic care itself? says Annika Wallenskog.

She continues:

- You can't put cream on the mash if you don't have any mash.

According to Annika Wallenskog, there is a sense of resignation in the country. For 2023, 17 out of 21 regions have submitted a budget with a planned deficit, and only one region believes it will turn a profit. And 2024 looks even darker, according to the forecast.

Interest costs alone in municipalities, regions and their companies are estimated to increase by 25 to 30 billion this year.

- In the longer term, we have said that it should be the case that the state's contribution to the municipal sector increases corresponding to wage increases and demographic changes, so that the state's contributions are secured in value. That is not the case now, we see that the general state grants are at the 2020 level, and even if you made an investment in the last budget, it was no more than reaching the 2020 level, says Annika Wallenskog.