Scope of Swedish youth policy

The national youth policy objective concerns all government decisions and actions concerning youth:

'All young people should have access to good living conditions, power to shape their own lives and influence over the development of the society.'

Parliament approved in 2014 the objective and the scope – that youth policy should be cross-sectoral and address issues such as education, employment, private economy, housing, health, power, culture and leisure.

All government decisions and actions that affect young people between 13 and 25 years of age ought to have a youth perspective. A youth perspective is based on human rights and states that young people are to be seen and treated as a diverse group of individuals with different backgrounds and different conditions. It also states that young people’s  independency is to be supported and that all youth should have the possibility of influence and participation.
 

It is important to note that in Sweden, municipalities have considerable autonomy on how youth policy is implemented. The national youth policy is compulsory for ministries and central government agencies, but only advisory at the local level.

Main themes

The priorities in the Swedish youth policy according to the Government Communication in March 2021 are the following:

• increasing young people’s mental health 
• giving access to meaningful leisure time activities for all young people
• involving all young people in societal issues
• young people’s social inclusion and entry into the labour market.