Main challenges to social inclusion

The transition from school to work is the main challenge to social inclusion of young people. Even though unemployment rates decreased after the pandemic, in 2024 there has been an increase in unemployment among young people. There are also groups of young people who face major difficulties entering the labour market. In 2024 Sweden had an unemployment rate of 17.3 percent compared to the EU average of 11.4 for young people between 15-29 years old (une_rt_a, Eurostat). Comparatively, Sweden had among the lowest percentage of young people who is not in education, employment or training (NEETs) in the EU, 6.3 percent compared to the EU average of 11.1 (sdg_08_20, Eurostat).

Young immigrants, those with an immigrant background, young people with disabilities or those who have been in institutional care are over-represented among young people who have not completed secondary education. They are therefore at the greatest risk of encountering problems when trying to integrate into society and the labour market.

Swedish upper secondary schools provide education free of charge to all pupils who have completed compulsory schooling. One of the main contemporary challenges is the increasing number of students who do not complete compulsory school and are therefore not eligible for a national upper secondary school programme. According to the Swedish National Agency for Education the proportion rose form14.4% in 2020 to 16.3% in 2024. 

Young people not eligible for a national upper secondary school programme are offered places on introductory programmes. The introductory programmes enable students to obtain necessary grades for eligibility. Therefore almost every young person (about 98%) starts upper secondary education, although many drop out or take a break in their studies. Of the students who started upper secondary school in 2020 83% had obtained a diploma or a study certificate by 2024 (ungidag.se, Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society).

Developments during the past years have been marked by increasing differentiation within the educational system. Today there is a significant socio-economic, ethnic and performance based segregation in schools, at both primary and secondary levels. Students who live in socially deprived areas have a worse starting point in their transition from school to work compared with students in more affluent areas, according to studies by government agencies (Swedish National Agency for Education, 2018; Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society (MUCF) 2025).

Another issue is that young people in minority groups face prejudice, exclusion and discrimination (Living History Forum 2026; MUCF 2023; MUCF 2021). Another challenge for social inclusion is young people suffering from honour-based violence and oppression, which particularly limits girls and young LGBTI people (Swedish Gender Equality Agency; MUCF 2024). 

In 2015, Sweden was the largest recipient of asylum seekers per capita in the EU – 16.5 per 1,000 inhabitants. According to the Swedish Migration Agency (2025), about 40 percent of the 162,877 asylum seekers who arrived in Sweden in 2015 were children and young people of school age. Up to the age of 18, young asylum seekers have the right to education, either in pre-school, compulsory school or an introductory programme in upper secondary school. The number of unaccompanied minors rose sharply in 2015, but has since then dropped down to 497 in 2024 according to the Swedish Migration Agency. About 20,000 of the 35,000 unaccompanied minors who arrived in in 2015 are still living in Sweden and most of them, about 80 percent, have employment according to Statistics Sweden (2023).

Main concepts

The Swedish Government has initiated a number of comprehensive programmes and actions, where the target group consists of young people in a more vulnerable position, such as young people who neither work nor study, young people with a migrant or ethnic minority background, young LGBTI people, children with disabilities and newly arrived young people.