This chapter is about social assistance (ekonomiskt bistånd). This is a financial support you can receive if you cannot support yourself. The chapter describes the costs for which you can receive support, how much you can receive and how you apply for social assistance.

The benefits described are:

• livelihood support (ekonomiskt bistånd)
• other support for living in general (andra typer av socialt stöd)

In what situation can I claim?

If you are unable to provide for your needs or to obtain provision for them in any other way, you are entitled to assistance from the social welfare committee towards your livelihood and for your living in general. This is a benefit you receive from your municipality and it is given to both individual people and families.

The assistance aims to ensure a reasonable standard of living and is designed in such a way as to strengthen your resources for independent living.

Whether you are entitled to social assistance depends on your income and assets. It is the Social Services in the municipality where you live that decides whether you are entitled to social assistance.

What conditions do I need to meet?

A basic condition for receiving social assistance is that you cannot support yourself but that you are prepared to try to support yourself. For example, if you are unemployed, you must actively seek work. If you have any assets these have to be used first before you are eligible for assistance.

You can do a test calculation on the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare's (Socialstyrelsen) website to find out whether your finances are over or under the level required to get support. The result gives you an indication but is not a guarantee that you will receive support, as the municipality's Social Services make an individual assessment.

You always have the right to lodge an application and have it assessed. If you are not satisfied with the decision, you can appeal against it.

In general, social assistance need not be paid back. However, the Social Services can require you to repay the support in when assistance has been given prior to some expected income and if it is given as a loan. Recovery is compulsory in case of fraud and administrative error.

Livelihood support

Livelihood support is provided for reasonable expenditure on 1. food, clothing and footwear, play and leisure, disposable articles, health and hygiene, a daily newspaper and telephone (national standard); 2. housing, domestic electricity supply, journeys to and from work, household insurance and membership of a trade union and an unemployment insurance fund.

Support for living in general

Having a reasonable quality of life means more than having money to support yourself. You can therefore receive financial support in addition to your livelihood support if the expenses are considered reasonable. Some common examples are costs for dental care, health and medical care, medications, spectacles and domestic equipment.

EU/EEA citizens*

All EU/EEA citizens may reside in Sweden for 3 months without residence permits. After 3 months, a right of residence is required. People who have a right of residence are those who are employees or self-employed people or who have come to Sweden to seek work and have a genuine possibility of obtaining employment, those who are studying or pensioners and who have sufficient funds to support themselves in addition to full-coverage health insurance for themselves and their family members.

The equality of treatment principle means than an EU/EEA citizen who has the right of residence in Sweden is entitled to the Social Services help on the same terms as Swedish citizens. However, they also have the same responsibility to try to contribute to their own situation and to support themselves.

People who do not have the right of residence (e.g. during the first 3 months in Sweden) in general only have the right to support to remedy an acute emergency situation - in practice often, one-off support for food, accommodation or travel to their home country.

* For the UK - Each case needs to be assessed individually to determine whether a person falls within the scope of Art 30 of the Withdrawal Agreement, and so the EU Coordination Regulations apply, or whether they fall within the scope of situations described in Art 32 of the Withdrawal Agreement and/or come under domestic legislation and the Protocol on Social Security Coordination attached to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

What am I entitled to and how can I claim?

How much you receive in financial support depends on your family situation.

Other amounts apply to children and young people and these vary depending on age. The amounts are decided every year by the government and apply as minimum levels. However, the Social Services can calculate higher or lower amounts than the national standard if there are special reasons. Remuneration for other reasonable costs varies.

In addition, you are entitled to support for housing, domestic electricity supply, journeys to and from work, household insurance and membership of a trade union and an unemployment insurance fund.

To apply for financial support, you should contact the Social Services department in your municipality.

Jargon busters

Social assistance is a benefit that you can get from your municipality if you cannot support yourself in another way. Financial support can be divided into livelihood support and support for living in general. Social assistance is made up of the national standard together with remuneration for reasonable costs for normal recurring expenses, the level of which varies throughout the country.

The national norm is the same for the whole country and covers the costs of some of the expenses you have in order to support yourself, such as costs for food, clothes and hygiene.

Forms you may need to fill in

No standard forms, every municipality have their own local form.

Know your rights

Sweden:

• Social Services Act (2001:453)

Who do you need to contact?

Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SKR) has contact details for all municipalities in Sweden.

Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare
SE-106 30 Stockholm
Sweden
Telephone: +46 752473000 (weekdays 8.00 am-5.00 pm)
E-mail: socialstyrelsen@socialstyrelsen.se
Website: www.socialstyrelsen.se