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1. Governance

2. Main actors

3. Consultation of young people

4. Policy monitoring and evaluation

Governance

Swedish youth policy – that includes guidelines and actions for social inclusion of all young people - is based on the fundamental human rights, in accordance with Swedish legislation and with those international conventions that the Swedish Government has ratified.

The government guidelines for youth policy are not limited to government decisions and actions, but should be taken into account in all public activities involving young people. They are not mandatory for municipalities and regions, due to the extensive municipal autonomy in Sweden. 

Top-level authority responsible for social inclusion of young people

The Ministry of Health and Social Affairs (Socialdepartementet) is in charge of youth policy. The Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society (MUCF) works to ensure that the objectives of youth policy are achieved. Various government agencies share the responsibility for social inclusion of young people, each within their sectoral responsibilities. More information can be found in section 1.4, Youth policy decision-making.

Main actors

Ministries

The Ministry of Health and Social Affairs (Socialdepartementet) is in charge of healthcare, youth policy, and care for people with social difficulties, including persons with disabilities and the elderly.  

The Ministry of Employment (Arbetsmarknadsdepartementet) is responsible for the labour market, labour law and work envireonment. Labour market policy includes measures to get young people into work, to improve the matching of jobseekers with job vacancies, labour market policy programmes, unemployment insurance and the European Social Fund. The ministry is also responsible for coordinating the introduction of newly arrived immigrants, as well as for the work of advancing gender equality and human rights at national level. Moreover, the ministry is responsible for efforts to combat racism and discrimination, and for strengthening the rights of LGBTI people.

Government agencies

The National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) is a government agency under the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, with a wide range of activities and duties within the fields of social services, health and medical services and patient safety. The board works to ensure that people’s need for health and social care is met throughout their lives. Where resources are limited, they should be used for those who need them most.

The Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan) is a government agency under the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, responsible for benefits, compensation and allowances for families with children, as well as people with disabilities or illnesses, including activity compensation for young adults aged between 19 and 29 years (aktivitetsersättning).

The Swedish Public Employment Service (Arbetsförmedlingen) is a government agency under the Ministry of Employment, responsible for matching jobseekers with employers, with special priority given to jobseekers facing particular difficulties in finding employment . The Public Employment Service’s tasks also include vocational rehabilitation, in collaboration with the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan). 

The Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society (Myndigheten for ungdoms- och civilsamhällesfrågor, MUCF) is a government agency under the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs. The agency is responsible for monitoring youth policy. The agency also coordinate and support local authorities regarding young people who neither work nor study and support local efforts for inclusion.

The Ombudsman for Children (Barnombudsmannen) is a government agency under the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, tasked with representing children regarding their rights and interests. The Ombudsman for Children monitors how the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is complied with in society and pushes for its implementation in Sweden's municipalities, regions and government agencies. The Ombudsman for Children has legal powers to request information and to summon parties to talks but has no regulatory powers and may not interfere in individual cases.

The Living History Forum (Forum för levande historia) is a government agency under the Ministry of Culture, tasked with serving as a national forum for promoting democracy, tolerance and human rights using the Holocaust as its starting point. 

The Equality Ombudsman (DO) is a government agency under the Ministry of Employment, responsible for combating discrimination on grounds of sex, transgender identity or expression, ethnic origin, religion or other belief, disability, sexual orientation or age. The Equality Ombudsman examines complaints concerning discrimination and harassment, and assesses how employers, higher education institutions and schools work to prevent discrimination. 

Main non-public actors taking part in the implementation of social inclusion of young people

The National Federation of Youth Centres and Settlements (Fritidsforum) is a civil society organisation formed in 1937 in Sweden. Fritidsforum member organisations run non-profit venues, community centers (hemgårdar) for all ages and youth centres. Fritidsforum works to develop the quality of open recreational activities by building networks and providing training for its members and for the actors involved in the area.

General distribution of responsibilites

Sweden has 290 municipalities with local governments as well as 21 regions with regional governments. Local authorities have a considerable degree of autonomy and independent powers of taxation. Many decisions that concern young people are taken at municipal level and some at regional level. 

The municipalities are responsible for youth policy issues such as schools, employment and training, social care and services, youth work, culture and leisure. Regions are responsible for health care. Therefore, government agencies mainly have a supporting, coordinating or evaluating role in most policy areas regarding social inclusion of young people. This means policy and initiatives may differ between municipalities and regions. However, there is national regulation regarding health care, education, social services as well as social insurence to guarantee equal service regardless of which municipality the young person lives in. The government may also provide targeted state grants to promote social inclusion initatives.

Cross-sectoral cooperation

All government decisions are taken jointly. Additionally, an institutionalised mechanism, the Joint preparation procedure (Gemensam beredning) is a common process for all government ministries. 

The Joint preparation procedure means that government affairs that fall within the remit of several ministries should be prepared in consultation with other ministers concerned. This also applies within a ministry when a case involves more than one minister.

Related to youth policy, the Joint preparation procedure takes place relatively often because of the cross-sectoral character of youth policy.

National coordination for young people who neither work nor study

A national coordinator for young people who neither work nor study (Samordnare för unga som varken arbetar eller studerar) was appointed for the period 2015-2018. A national coordinator is a person appointed by the government who operates outside ordinary government structures in order to coordinate and implement government policy. The national coordinator or young people who neither work nor study was tasked with promoting cooperation between authorities, municipalities, county councils and organisations at national, regional and local level. During the assignment, the coordinator has had close cooperation with selected municipalities, met with most other municipalities, collaborated and conducted dialogue with authorities, national organisations, government investigations, and besides that, a number of companies and actors in civil society and in public education. The coordinator submitted its final report "Our joint responsibility - for young people who neither work nor study" (SOU 2018:11 Vårt gemensamma ansvar – för unga som varken arbetar eller studerar) to the Government in February 2018. 

Since 2016 the Agency for Youth and Civil Society (MUCF) is responsible for spreading knowledge to key actors about collaboration and support to young people who neither work nor study (Appropriation directions for the Agency for Youth and Civil Society 2018). In 2025, the government gave the agency increased responsibility as a national resource, as well as a state grant for municipalities and regions who coordinate their efforts with government agencies, civil society or cooperations (MUCF 2025). 

Financial Coordination of Rehabilitation Measures

The Act on Financial Coordination of Rehabilitation Measures (Lag 2003:1210 om finansiell samordning av rehabiliteringsinsatser​) entered into force in 2004. The law allows the Swedish Public Employment Service (Arbetsförmedlingen), the Swedish Social Insurance Office (Försäkringskassan), municipalities and regions to form Coordination agencies (Samordningsförbund) and to allocate their resources at the local level in order to finance activities to support individuals in need of coordinated services from two or more of the organisations involved. See 4.4 Inclusive programmes for young people for more information.