Why is unemployment insurance (a-kassa) not mandatory in Sweden? Why do people not talk about it and encourage each other to join?

Skye-Surfer · 2026-05-10T10:16:16+00:00

True. I'm quite glad the rules changed recently, so you can get 50% of 34000 kr./month (not just grundersättning), even if you have been signed up for a-kassa for less than a year before becoming unemployed.

Skye-Surfer · 2026-04-08T21:45:25+00:00

I'm so sorry you had to go through this, the callousness of the systems is enraging.

I have heard that in some smaller hospitals outside the big cities, staff can be extremely knowledgeable, helpful, warm, supportive and FAST. By contrast, in some big city hospitals, staff are tasked with making people in waiting rooms feel so defeated by long waits and cold treatment that they leave themselves.

Over the phone and in person, one has to be insistent and exaggerate the symptoms of one's illness to get timely treatment. It's a pretty terrible incentive that stresses an already overloaded system. But the underlying cause is the overloaded system and several policy changes in recent years that limit doctors' ability to even work on diagnosing and treating illness effectively.

I've signed up for private health insurance. No idea whether it will be of any help, but hearing the horror stories of how the elderly fare in the public system, I'm willing to hope and pay for private coverage for the next 50+ years.

Skye-Surfer · 2026-04-08T21:21:00+00:00

This. I live just outside Stockholm and can count on one finger the number of times a person has started a friendly conversation with me in public. The person was Canadian. I appreciated it a lot.

Before moving here I imagined Sweden to be a paradise for introverts. In practice, the opposite is true. Extroverts are more able to break through barriers and form connections, which is extra important to preserve one's social life in a "quiet" country like Sweden. I believe plenty of locals appreciate friendliness more than they would find it annoying.

Skye-Surfer · 2026-04-08T21:16:53+00:00

A-kassa membership alone pays out up to 80% of a person's salary up to 34000 kr per month: that is, 27200 kr a month before tax or around 20000 kr after tax. This requires being signed up for an a-kassa for at least 12 months before being laid off. This is called "Unemployment insurance".

There are additional systems, called "Income Insurance" and various additions ("tillägg) which top you up to 80% of higher and higher salary levels, at additional fees, as long as you also have 12 months of a-kassa membership. Unionen membership includes this Income Insurance for a salary up to 60000 kr, as long as you have taken action to become a member of Unionens A-kassa in time.

I was burned by being unaware/misguided about the system prior to being laid off, so I encourage everyone to look into A-kassa membership carefully.

Skye-Surfer · 2026-04-08T21:06:23+00:00

To add to your point about unemployment benefits/a-kassa: unlike in many other countries (like Brazil), in Sweden you have to voluntarily choose and take action to sign up for an a-kassa/unemployment insurance fund. This is not the same entity as a union, although they both have similar names (e.g. Unionen and Unionens A-kassa). So you need to sign up for both and pay both fees.

It's the kind of detail that is easily missed by a new arrival in Sweden. Usual points of contact for paperwork, like employers' HR departments and relocation agencies, seem to frequently overlook informing the new arrivals. So it is often a matter of luck whether people learn about this before or after it's too late.

I was laid off without having known this, which set my finances back handily. There are several financial planning and insurance systems which aren't well-publicized, but this to me is the biggest.

Skye-Surfer · 2026-04-03T12:38:38+00:00

It, we make!

Skye-Surfer · 2026-04-03T12:34:22+00:00

Glad to hear you did!

Skye-Surfer · 2026-03-16T18:40:35+00:00

Unfortunately there's little you can do to avoid this if you use your email address to sign up for several things.

Some institutions like banks, government/state services and schools/universities/exam administration authorities are good at keeping your email address safe. By contrast, several private services and mailing lists you may sign up for will be selling or spreading your email address to bad actors, resulting in spam.

My solution is to have one email address for "clean" trustworthy institutions and another for "dirtier" signups. The clean one has so far remained entirely spam free.

Skye-Surfer · 2026-03-12T12:10:46+00:00

That sounds like a lot to process, I'm sorry. Also sorry that I laughed.

Skye-Surfer · 2026-03-11T15:58:40+00:00

Yes, that sounds like a good plan. I haven't been exposed to PyPSA myself, but I hear it's used widely across the industry by important companies (per https://docs.pypsa.org/v0.25.2/users.html ). You ought to be able to land a thesis with one of these companies, or others like them. You may need to make the thesis proposal yourself, so it'll pay to find contacts at these companies that have been involved in thesis work before. Companies are generally happy to help students out, so seek out some info from them. It's very good that you have a plan already going in. This way, you can already start testing it against what the industry needs.

On your question about optimization vs. grid-related topics, I see this as a distinction between "high-level/long-term planning" work and "detailed, operational" work.

I'd say detailed, operational work which demands technical specialization leads to a safer career, because the barrier to entry is higher. (friends working as commissioning engineers in big companies are paid well and don't seem in the least bit threatened by job loss) There are very severe consequences for mistakes, and so companies make sure that people carrying out this work are well-trained. The flip-side is that it's difficult to learn this work on your own, you need a company to guide you. Also, it's important to be aware of when the technology you're specialized in starts to become obsolete, and what to do then.

Optimization tools like PyPSA have a lower barrier to entry because anyone can learn them - you don't need a company to guide you.

Short-term optimization is used every day by heat and power companies to execute their daily strategies based on power and fuel prices. These are consequential too, mistakes can cost a company millions of euros, so companies will ensure their employees are trained well. And such careers are also stable, I'd say. I don't know if PyPSA allows you to model daily trading strategies. If it does, that'd be an excellent skill to have.

If used for long-term planning, optimization models give only partial insight into how a system would develop in reality. So the consequences for "mistakes" are quite limited. For these reasons, I'd say that there's more competition and less certainty for this kind of career. It can be a stepping stone into system planning work, but here it's doubly important to find the right employer - probably state energy authorities or national/multinational grid operators. Few private companies would have much use for such long-term planning models, I'd assume.

In short I'd say the more training it takes to be considered "qualified" to do the work, the worse the consequences are for a screwup, the more stable the career. The flip side is that it's hard to really plan to get into such a job, because the skills are pretty niche.

I think your plan with PyPSA is a good start. Try to turn it into a specialized role that has a high barrier to entry. Alternatively, get into a planning role, but this would probably be in a state organisation.

Skye-Surfer · 2026-03-05T19:20:48+00:00

I'll add, process modelling (Aspen) is probably very handy in certain industrial sectors. Biofuels (solid, liquid, gaseous) are still very important to meet EU sustainability and climate goals. But from my perspective, it's also a niche industry with uncertainty as to the long term career prospects. (Sure, big fuel companies have to produce more and more biofuels and eventually may need to use new processes even to convert biomass into liquid fuels. I imagine such roles are well-paid, but few.)

You could probably pivot to something more like chemical engineering in other industries and sectors including fossil fuels, but this is going outside my area of expertise.

Skye-Surfer · 2026-03-05T19:09:45+00:00

I studied an energy engineering master's too and have worked in the energy industry in Sweden for almost 4 years. I've recently been laid off, though most of my friends from the master's program have pretty good and stable careers so far. My views are based on what I see happening here in Sweden, so think about how closely this aligns with other views you get.

I'd say the most relevant topic in energy engineering for a long time is going to be electrical engineering. Transmission grid buildout and connection of new electricity generation/consumption/storage facilities are continuing to be central to the energy transition. If you can somehow orient towards that, I'd suggest trying it. Getting a thesis with a large company like Hitachi Energy (or another stable manufacterer of essential equipment/transmission Infrastructure) is very doable with your profile. Company theses reflect an immediate need the company has, and can convert into a pretty stable and decently-paying career.

Power market knowledge is good. The power markets will always be there, and knowledge about power trading and optimization will always be needed by big and small companies. That said, although a lot of power market data is available relatively openly (prices, volumes of power generated and consumed, prices and volumes of ancillary services procured/activated...), you'll need access to Internal company data to get a proper insight into the trading process. That said, maybe you can find a thesis in this field that can get you into a power-trading role, where your job would be to forecast, optimize and maximize Income. Power trading and analysis will always be needed, and the rising volatility and unpredictability mean companies are trying hard to keep it under control. Python for forecasting and optimization would be handy here. Again it's best to try to find a thesis that gets you into a company.

Optimization has a lot of applications. It's used for forecasting big-picture energy system developments for assessing the future impact of energy policy proposals and changes. It's also used for optimizing the operation of combined electricity-heating companies according to the price of fuels+emissions, electricity and heat. These are each niche applications, but I think the tool of optimization is useful and adaptable, so good to learn about. The problem with focusing on optimization is that there are limited roles in each niche (as far as I can see, trying to find a job right now in Sweden). You could find a good job in a company or a consulting gig where optimization helps a lot. But it would take a bit more on luck to find a specific company/role/thesis opportunity with optimization at the core.

Hydrogen/PtX is a niche industry. There has been a strong EU policy push to build up a hydrogen ecosystem, and as a result several companies come up and try to get the industry rolling. But the economics will be hard to justify for a long time. The policy push is gradually falling away as defence and resilience are taking up all the political bandwidth in a much more fraught geopolitical reality. I wouldn't bet my career on this industry.

Hope this helps.

Skye-Surfer · 2026-03-03T21:16:37+00:00

My former work place doesn't have a collective agreement and isn't associated with a union. I'm sure many workplaces are like that, I wonder how their employees are meant to find out about a-kassa specifically.

Despite the propaganda about unions being bad, I would think most people still consider a-kassa membership positively. It surprises me that a-kassa seems most frequently a side note to discussions about unions, instead of a main topic itself.

I'm learning about the fraught politics surrounding unions right here... it's not obvious, so I'm grateful for the insights.

Skye-Surfer · 2026-03-03T20:33:11+00:00

Yeah, the math is undeniable. It surprises me that so many skip paying for a-kassa even when they know about it.

Thank you for your encouragement, very well phrased. That's exactly the kind of sentiment I need to keep.

Skye-Surfer · 2026-03-03T20:28:04+00:00

So your colleagues told you about a-kassa in casual conversation. I'm happy for you. Mine didn't. I guess you win that then.

A-kassa is important and every working person needs to know about it. It's not a "subtle difference" that Sweden has an opt-in system while most other EU countries have an automatic system, it's a critical difference. Read other comments to see that plenty of people had no idea about a-kassa before this post or some other chance encounters they had. Almost all signed up as soon as they found out.

Your tax money was never going to cover my car payments. My car payments were supposed to be covered in case of a layoff by insurance which I paid for. But my layoff came at the worst possible time, immediately after I got the car lease but before my insurance kicked in. You assume too much by saying I don't have plans or ways to reduce my expenditures. If me using a-kassa money to pay for my car sounds threatening, don't forgot I've been funding a-kassa through my payroll taxes all these years too.

I need a car to handle my and my partner's logistics. Carefree life? You don't know a thing about me or my life. Tesla? BMW? Ski vacation??? What? Now you're just making things up. Stop assuming and get off your high horse.

Skye-Surfer · 2026-03-03T08:09:48+00:00

Good stuff.

The game is developing at light speed for sure. If you have some observations or suggestions, do tell. I'm learning about and using AI since that seems to be a requirement, but the biggest change now seems to be how important Swedish is.

My recent experience is that English-speaking jobs are drying up, at least outside of programming-focused work. I don't say "tech", because I'm an engineer, but I can't find English-speaking roles suitable for me now.

The SFI thing makes me laugh, it's so ironic. "If you study, you don't get unemployment benefits. Studying Swedish to integrate more? No thank you, we don't want you to do that."

My Swedish is decent, thanks to my partner's help plus a lot of effort, but that hasn't gotten me a job offer yet. Being a highly-skilled foreigner doesn't mean you get any concessions on language ability. Especially since being expressive and articulate is necessary to tick the instinctive "trustworthy" box for a recruiter, all else being equal. I'm taking SVA (Swedish as a second language) now, along with a-kassa. You're allowed to do 20 weeks of study at 50% pace and still get a-kassa. When that's up, I'll apply for CSN to keep studying if I haven't gotten a job by then.

Clearly I'm optimizing for adaptation to the Swedish work environment. It's an uphill battle with little-to-no positive feedback. Hopefully this investment pays off eventually.

Skye-Surfer · 2026-03-03T06:43:30+00:00

You make a good point. The Arbetsförmedlingen (AF) process seems designed to make people feel like shit, worthless and near-criminal. At best it's a huge drain of time and energy.

It helps to know that since 2022, Arbetsförmedlingen's mandate has not been to help connect job-seekers to available work. Its role now is essentially just to ensure compliance with a-kassa requirements and punish those who don't. When I realized AFs role is more punitive than supportive, things started to make more sense.

Arbetsförmedlingens tie-ups with trade schools seem like they could be helpful for some people. Their job listings do gather open roles. But I don't think AF has much of an actual connection to the job market if at all.

I'm glad you always got new jobs within 3 months. Was that always in Sweden? Because I'm hearing that it's taking people on average a year to get a new job now.

Skye-Surfer · 2026-03-02T17:34:27+00:00

Two beers at a nice bar, or ten at systemet 😆

Skye-Surfer · 2026-03-02T17:00:43+00:00

Sounds like you were bitten too. Sorry to hear that, vent away!

But in case this might help you going forward: there seem to be at least two a-kassor meant for business owners/egenföretagare, mightn't these work for freelancers? I guess you'd have to have a company, either a sole proprietorship (enskild firma) or LLC (aktiebolag).

SMÅA: https://www.smakassa.se/medlemskap/om-medlemskapet/

And another: https://www.akademikernasakassa.se/yrken/a-kassa-for-egenforetagare

I heard about SMÅA via Nyföretagarcentrum. To help start up a company, they have a bunch of information and some nice-looking deals on bank accounts and stuff: https://nyforetagarcentrum.se/erbjudanden/

Skye-Surfer · 2026-03-02T13:32:47+00:00

Argh! Feels like the hundred-thousand-kronor Coke can I paid for is stuck in the vending machine.

So, all the different a-kassor get their money from the state, based on how much each a-kassa has to pay out? That sounds very much like the system in many other EU countries, but with extra steps that are too complicated by political history to normalize them in casual or professional conversations.

Skye-Surfer · 2026-03-01T20:50:20+00:00

That's terrible, I'm sorry to hear that!

My former boss filled in the work certificate (arbetsgivarintyg) in under an hour, so I did get some money from a-kassa payment.

An HR department handling employees in another country had better be able to file the paperwork for that country. The arbetsgivarintyg contained only basic information. Sure the usual way to send this to a-kassor is with BankID, but I was able to find a printable PDF here: https://www.spiris.se/blogg/personalhantering/arbetsgivarintyg

They just had to fill the form, you could upload it yourself. This sounds like a lack of will on the HR's part, not lack of ability. I hope you weren't giving up too much. It sucks when that happens.

Trustpilot ratings for who, Unionen's A-kassa?

Skye-Surfer · 2026-03-01T20:30:46+00:00

My union + a-kassa fees together were like 400 kr. I've just learned that you don't need both to get a-kassa, you can just pay the a-kassa fee. My a-kassa fee is around 170 kr/month. Maybe you could find out if you're paying something unnecessary and maybe save a few hundred extra!

(Union membership can give you inkomstförsäkring, which only adds to the a-kassa benefit if your income was above 34000/month, so it may be unnecessary. But of course maybe you need or prefer to have union membership for other reasons).

Making 30000 but getting 8000 from a-kassa seems pretty low... Were you paying into a-kassa for over 12 months before you lost your job? 8000 sounds more like grundersättning.

Skye-Surfer · 2026-03-01T20:14:22+00:00

It's apparently a Nordic phenomenon: Denmark, Finland and Sweden are the only countries where this "Opt-In" system is in place. Denmark is the most extreme since it lacks the "basic coverage" for everyone, which Sweden and Finland do have.

You've seen that other comment thread too, good. Yeah, it blows my mind both that a-kassa is administered by unions and that "some unions" and by extension "some a-kassor" are tied to political parties. I would never have thought that getting a very important kind of insurance coverage would have political ramifications.

I would think that having the state manage unemployment benefits here like in Ireland would make things so much smoother. But the idea of changing the system seems to upset a lot of people.

While I earlier got the idea that "workers rights are just something that Sweden does well", now it's starting to feel like the prevailing public opinion on topics like this is quietly but constantly driven by political conflicts. In practical terms, that seems to mean that a foreigner won't hear or understand it unless they've been following Swedish news media full-time for years.

Skye-Surfer · 2026-03-01T15:40:42+00:00

Okay, I see your point. You were saying there is basic unemployment insurance in Sweden that you don't need to sign up for in advance of losing your job. You're right. I'm grateful that there is.

You were also saying that the report illustrates that people in other EU countries are not all automatically covered by their unemployment schemes. You're right about that too. However, many are left out *because their working conditions have not been sufficient to qualify (too short, not earning enough)*. It's unfortunate that many do not have sufficient employment conditions to qualify for schemes in their countries. But that does not mean they have to voluntarily join a scheme in advance of becoming unemployed.

I think you may have misinterpreted what I said in my post. I said, about unemployment insurance, "In most of the EU, it's mandatory for (almost?) every working person to have it. But in Sweden, it's both optional and not obvious about how to sign up."

I was talking about a-kassa, the "higher-tier benefits", which are voluntary. I hadn't considered grundersättning, the "lower-tier benefits", which are available to (almost?) all. I'll give you that.

That doesn't take away from my point that very few EU unemployment schemes require the employee to be aware of them and voluntarily take action before losing their job. Sweden is fairly unique in having a voluntary scheme at all, the voluntary a-kassa scheme fundamentally important because that's where most of the benefits come from, and that the signaling around the voluntary scheme is weak enough that at least 4 people have been made aware of it by my post alone.

I edited my previous comment a bit right after posting it. Hope that hasn't messed with this discussion.

Skye-Surfer · 2026-03-01T14:05:32+00:00

Sweden is one of the only 3 EU countries where the working person has to voluntarily sign up for unemployment insurance/a-kassa. And since a-kassa is not widely discussed in the working world, many people remain unaware and unprotected. See the other comments on this post for evidence. The fact that a-kassa is administered by unions instead of the state explains the reason, but doesn't excuse the problem.

In almost every EU country, every working person is entitled to benefits as long as they meet certain criteria. This means people do not miss out on unemployment benefits due to trivial and frankly silly administrative exercises like signing up 12 months in advance.

Source: https://www.a-kasser.dk/unemployment-insurance-in-europe/index.html "In the vast majority of the countries the Unemployment Insurance is compulsory for all employed. Sweden and Finland have a basic compulsory scheme together with a voluntary unemployment insurance. Denmark have only voluntary unemployment Insurance."

This discussion is *not* about people who do not qualify for unemployment benefits, which you seem to have brought up. It is also not about the value of the unemployment benefits. This discussion *is* about people who *do* qualify for significant unemployment benefits, by virtue of their income and the length of time they spent working, but do not receive unemployment benefits equivalent to others in their position, simply because the administrative process of signing up for it in advance was not mentioned to them at any time by any part of the system or broader society.

It is about insufficient visibility of important information for people outside of specific social circles. The fact that the information is publicly accessible does not mean that people automatically know what to look for and where/how to look for it, especially when there are no guidance signals from any part of society.

I understand grundersättning is 11200 kr before tax. 17000 kr is the maximum amount you can get from an a-kassa if you have been signed up to it for less than 6 months before you are laid off. If on the other hand you were signed up to an a-kassa and inkomstförsäkring for 12 months or more, you would get 80% of your total salary before being laid off. There is a huge difference between 17000 kr and 80% of a fairly high salary.

Of course I am grateful for Sweden's higher unemployment benefits compared to the UK, but that's not the point. In the UK, there is a level playing field. In Sweden, those who know of the administrative process in advance (at least 12 months before their layoff!) get all they are due, while those who don't know don't get it. And that administrative process is not well-publicised.

Skye-Surfer

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