The emergence of youth policy in Sweden

Swedish youth policy – as a distinct and independent policy area – is a relatively new phenomenon, even though it has a history stretching a long way back in time.

Two of the most important areas for the emergence of modern youth policy are the formalisation of the school system and the organisation of leisure time and associative activities in the late 19th and early 20th century. For a long time it was these areas that made up policy for young people. The view that youth policy was mainly about issues to do with young people’s leisure and associative activities prevailed well into the 1960s.

Not until during the 1970s did a shift take place from a previously sectorised youth policy to a more holistic one. Present-day youth policy, which is based on the whole life situation of young people and touches on many different political sectors, only started taking shape some thirty years ago.

Developments in the United Nations have been an important influence on Swedish youth policy. In many ways the International Youth Year designated by the UN in 1985 was a starting point for broader and more active central government involvement in youth issues in Sweden. In 1986 a Minister for Youth Affairs was appointed for the first time, and in the 1990s and the early 2000s the government presented three youth policy bills setting out objectives and guidelines.

Covers all policy areas that affect young people
Today Swedish youth policy covers all policy areas that in any way affect the lives of young people. Both traditional youth areas such as leisure time and school and typical welfare issues such as employment, housing and health have a place in youth policy.

It is convenient to describe the emergence of youth policy in terms of several trends operating at the same time. At central government level the area for youth policy has followed the general development of all Swedish administrative policy. The Swedish government is working with results-based management, which means that the Riksdag and government do not just specify objectives and targets but also combine this with follow-ups of the results obtained.

At municipal level developments concerning youth policy issues have mainly consisted of various types of projects to develop the influence of young people in municipal politics and concerning cross-sectoral cooperation in municipalities. At both central government and municipal level there is a clear endeavour to apply a holistic perspective and a cross-sectoral approach.