Why Sweden Has Riots | Cato Institute

Johan Norberg explains why Sweden, with the lowest poverty rate (1.2%) in Europe, still experiences riots amongst disaffected, largely immigrant youth in parts of Stockholm:

……there is serious inequality in Sweden, but the divide is not so much between the rich and the poor as between those with jobs and those without. And frequently this is an ethnic divide. As the author Fredrik Segerfeldt points out in a new study, Sweden has the largest employment gap between natives and foreign-born of all the rich countries where data is available. Only 6.4 per cent of native Swedes are unemployed, but almost 16 per cent of the immigrants are…….. In Husby, where the riots started, 38 per cent of those under 26 neither study nor work.

So what’s to blame? The aspect of the Swedish social model that the government has not dared to touch: strong employment protection. By law, the last person to be hired must be the first person to be sacked. And if you employ someone longer than six months, the contract is automatically made permanent. A system intended to protect the workers has condemned the young to a succession of short-term contracts. Sweden’s high de facto minimum wage — around 70 per cent of the average wage — renders unemployed those whose skills are worth less than that. Sweden has the fewest low-wage, entry-level jobs in Europe. Just 2.5 per cent of Swedish jobs are on this level, compared to a European average of 17 per cent.

This highlights the paradox of strong labor laws intended to protect employment. They discourage permanent employment and create a two-tier society: those with permanent jobs and “permanent” casual-workers. High minimum wages, again do not guarantee that those with low skill-levels earn a decent wage. It guarantees that they will be unemployed and dependent on social welfare. Australia should take note.
Read more at Why Sweden Has Riots | Cato Institute.

6 Replies to “Why Sweden Has Riots | Cato Institute”

  1. Europe is beginning to understand that diversity sucks. Different cultures don’t assimilate nor should one culture have to submit to changing its mores simply because some social engineer thinks it is a good idea.

    1. Couldn’t agree with you more. Some cultures flock to european shores to make better money than they ever dreamt of in their home country. Plus the the aspirations of a passive jehad thru migrating to non muslim countries and continuing their religious work as prescribed by The Koran, is the major cause of not assimilating into European culture. France, Belgium, Sweden, etc…where ever there are riots or wars or in other words violent civil war…there is a muslim party involved that is stoking the flame.

    2. Europe’s downfall is the EU and its communist leadership and beauracry. The EU is intent on destroying national cultures.

  2. Germans came to the conclusion that ‘Muti Culti’ is dead and never worked. The problem is that the migrants from Middle East and North Africa come to Europe with rapist mentality of abusing the social system of the western civilization with no intention of working or contributing to the society and achievements of Europe.
    I Britain there is currently a thought of stopping immigration. This should be done by whole of Europe; from Greece to Ireland and from Scandinavia to Spain.
    Europe is at the point of destroying its values and believes by practicing tolerance that will lead to dusk of Western culture.
    Tolerance and multi-culturalism are the concepts that should be abandoned by the West.

  3. sounds to me like the baby boomer generation voting themselves a cushy job for life – at the expense of the next generation …. typical

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