Youth unemployment is so high in some parts of Sweden that the EU Commission is now sending financial aid to help young people find work.
Swedish Radio News reports the Commission distributes emergency funds to crisis regions throughout the Union where youth unemployment surpasses 25 percent, which is the case for three regions in Sweden.
The regions that will receive aid are in northern Sweden and in the far south (Skåne/Blekinge). Other countries receiving the aid include Greece, Spain, Italy and Poland.
High youth unemployment rates enables the EU Commission to provide some SEK 780 million over the next two years to the three areas. In the end, the total sums comes to about more than a billion krona, since the regions and the Swedish government must add a third of the sum.
Jonathan Todd, a European Commission spokesman, told Swedish Radio that the high youth unemployment in Sweden needs to be lowered.
“The European Commission thinks that the current level of youth unemployment in Sweden is unacceptable. There are currently 150,000 young people in Sweden who want jobs but can not find anything,” he said.
Source: Radio Sweden
http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2054&artikel=5723480