DEBATT, the article was published in UNT 22/10-2020. Read the article at unt.se (behind paywall) here
Give job-seeking students a reasonable opportunity to complete their studies and at the same time look for a job. Higher education must be encouraged. Therefore, we want to see the unemployment insurance fund modernized in such a way that those who have completed post-secondary studies will have the chance to apply for a job for which they have been trained for a few months and with a basic allowance, writes TCO together with SFS in UNT.
To ease the transition between higher education and work, students should be covered by unemployment insurance. This would provide an incentive for more people to apply for higher education, which is necessary for the transition in the labor market.
Most students want to start working immediately after graduation. For many, this means that the last semester will be very tiring, since the often demanding work of completing a thesis must be combined with job searching. This burden creates neither the conditions for a good end to their studies nor a good start to their professional life. In order for students to be able to focus on completing their education, and then finding a job that corresponds to their education, they need margins in their job search. The best way to create margins is by offering temporary income protection for those students who do not find work immediately after graduation.
Introducing a student condition in unemployment insurance helps more people seek higher education. It also increases the likelihood of getting a job for which they have trained, which benefits both the individual and the economy. A new set of regulations could be based on the previous student condition, which was removed in 2007, but made even more precise. The previous student condition also included young people who had completed upper secondary education, but for that group the unemployment benefit did not mean that they got more qualified jobs. However, it is more important that graduates from post-secondary level have time to look for qualified jobs.
A student condition can be designed in different ways. TCO and SFS jointly propose that a degree from a post-secondary education program eligible for study grants (university or vocational college), or a vocational program from a folk high school, qualifies for the right to a maximum basic amount of currently SEK 365 per day. This should apply to applicants who do not meet the work condition. The condition should be based on checking job applicants within the framework of the insurance's control function, but with the right for the applicant to limit their search area to work in the industry for which they have been trained.
It is proposed that the compensation period be limited based on what can be assumed to be a reasonable time to look for work. The previous student condition was limited to three months, which could also be a starting point in the future. In a normal year without a corona pandemic, three out of four students have permanent employment three months after graduation. For every fourth student, it therefore takes longer to find permanent employment, and before that they are either unemployed or have temporary jobs. We believe that more people would have found a permanent, qualified job faster if they could focus more on their job search.
A well-functioning unemployment insurance system is a central part of the ability to adapt to the labor market. A shortcoming in today's legislation is that too few people can qualify for compensation. The purpose of the proposed student condition is to give young people who have completed their studies the opportunity to establish themselves in the labor market. When society invests in education, students also need to be given the conditions and time to find a job where they can get as much benefit from the education as possible. From a socio-economic perspective, it is a loss when people who have invested in education take a job that is far from the skills they have acquired. It is therefore worth giving people improved opportunities to apply for a job where their education will really be useful.
Therese Svanström, Chair of TCO
Linn Svärd, Vice President of SFS