ALPHA. Demokratiskolan.se is a PROTOTYPE · Content review in progress
Demokratiskolan
The Affordability card from MethodKit for Society and Politics
Card 87 of 128 · MethodKit for Society & Politics
  • AreaWelfare & health
  • Centre of gravityCentral government
  • Points of influence3 on the journey
  • Decisive electionThe general election
Welfare & health

Affordability

Accessing & affording different lifestyles & services

Whether the money lasts depends not only on your salary but on hundreds of public decisions: the tax on your pay, the VAT (moms) at the till, the price of the bus pass, the preschool fee and the interest on your loan. The power over your wallet is spread across all levels, but the heaviest decisions are made in the Riksdag.

Where does the power lie?1

  • Municipality · charges, fees & landlord · approx 25 %
  • Region · patient fees & ticket prices · approx 10 %
  • State · taxes, benefits & VAT · approx 55 %
  • EU · VAT frames & competition · approx 10 %

The central government steers taxes, benefits and the big security systems. But many everyday prices, from the bus pass to the waste charge, are set locally.

How it works: the breakdown

The municipalityThe charges & the rent
The regionThe price of care & travel
Central governmentThe taxes & the benefits · centre of gravity
Who decides?
The municipal council (kommunfullmäktige) sets the charges, and the municipal housing company is often the town's largest landlord.
The regional council (regionfullmäktige) decides on patient fees and the ticket prices for public transport.
The Riksdag, the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket), the Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan) and the Riksbank, which is independent.
What do they decide?
Fees for childcare, elderly care, water, waste and building permits, plus the public housing rents that are negotiated.
What a care visit and a bus pass cost you, within the central government's high-cost protection.
Income tax, VAT, excise duties, child allowance, housing allowance and the high-cost protections. The Riksbank steers the interest rate.
Where are decisions made?
In the municipal council's charge and budget decisions.
In the regional council's budget decisions every year.
In the Riksdag's budget decisions. The Riksbank's interest-rate decisions come several times a year.
Who pays?
You, through the fees. Under the cost-price principle the charges may not yield a profit.
You pay the fee, the regional tax covers the rest.
The redistribution happens through the central government budget: from taxes to benefits and subsidies.
Fastest way in?
Municipal election The municipal election steers the charges. Views go to the council and the committees.
Regional election The regional election decides ticket prices and patient fees.
General election The general election steers taxes and benefits, a referral response (remiss) on tax proposals.
EUThe EU sets frames for VAT and customs and watches over the competition that pushes prices down. Shaped in the European Parliament election.

Read the table by column to understand one level, or by row to compare the levels. The green level is the area's centre of gravity.

How it works: follow the decision

The case The month's bills get their amounts
  1. EU

    The frames for VAT and competition

    The EU decides which VAT rates are allowed and steps in against cartels and abuse of market power. That affects the price of most things in your shopping bag.

  2. State

    The Riksdag draws the big lines

    Tax rates, child allowance, housing allowance and high-cost protection are decided in the Riksdag's budget. The Riksbank sets the interest rate independently, with the task of keeping inflation low.

    Point of influence

    The general election is the single biggest wallet election. The budget bill is public and is debated every autumn.

  3. Region

    The region prices care and travel

    The regional council decides what a doctor's visit and a monthly pass cost. Two identical bus passes can cost different amounts in two neighbouring counties.

    Point of influence

    The regional election decides ticket prices and patient fees, questions that rarely show in the campaign.

  4. Municipality

    The municipality sets the charges

    The municipal council decides on the fees for preschool, elderly care, water and waste. Under the cost-price principle in the local government act, the charges may not yield a profit.

    Point of influence

    The municipal election steers the charges. The charge decisions are official documents that anyone can examine.

  5. Your everyday life

    The bottom line of the budget

    Rent, electricity, bus pass, preschool fee and the shopping bag: every line in the monthly budget has a counterpart that someone voted in, or that follows rules politicians decided.

The journey looks the same in reverse: what has been built came the same way, through the same decisions. Whoever knows where the decisions are made also knows where they can be changed.

Questions to discuss

  1. Which costs in your everyday life feel reasonable and which feel unfair, and who has power over them?

  2. Should a bus pass and patient fees cost the same across the whole country, or are the differences reasonable regional freedom?

  3. What should be free, what should be subsidised and what should cost full price?

  4. How do prices affect who can live, travel and take part where you live?

  5. If you could lower one fee and raise another in your municipality, which would they be?

Glossary

Självkostnadsprincip
A rule in the local government act: municipal charges may not be set higher than what the service costs.
Högkostnadsskydd
A central government ceiling on what you pay for care, medicine or care over a period.
Punktskatt
An extra tax on particular goods, for example petrol, alcohol and tobacco.
Allmännytta
Municipally owned housing companies with the task of offering rental homes to everyone.
Taxa
A publicly decided charge, for example for water, waste or childcare.

Go further

Footnotes

1) This is an estimate of how decision-making power over the issue is split between the municipality, the region, central government and the EU, based on how responsibility is divided in legislation. A teaching guide, not an exact measurement.