Dear Sweden people, I am from Hungary, we have a quite populist government with propaganda media, probably you’ve heard about it already.
So currently there is a campaign in the state media about how much worse the situation is in every EU country compared to Hungary. One story they are referring to, to prove how bad the situation is in Sweden is this one: https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/Lljqbq/elrakningen-gjorde-carmen-51-hemlos
Could you please summarize the story for me in English (maybe Google Translate misses something) and give some generic point about the reality in Sweden, how many people really became homeless because of the bills nowadays, how bad the situation really is in your country?
Our state media says that she worked hard during her life to get her own house and now she can’t afford it any more because of the high electricity bill. Google translates seems to say to me that she is a student (she does not work at 51?) and the house wasn’t hers to start with.
I assume the state media propaganda here is not true and it would be good to be able to point out some authentic opinion to brainwashed people I know.
~~But if our state media is true and the situation in Sweden is really that bad it would also be good to know.~~ Turned out she really isn’t working but studying, google translate was correct, our propaganda media is again feeding us half truths.
Thanks!
6 comments
A student that gets paid to study at university can’t afford to own her own house since electricity prices gone up , so she now lives with a friend.
I wonder in how many countries people that study and don’t work get payed enough to love in their own house.
Not many countries actually pay people to study
Are they saying that many swedes are homeless here because of the power bills?
People are unhappy, it will maybe even make some people use their savings to make ends meet. But homelessness from it is not something that is a plague on society.
The article you link to is not a normal 51 year old. She went back to studies and lives off student aid, to study cultural heritage housing renovation. It didnt work out for her with the “fixed income” she has and the power hungry house she was renting during these high electricity costs.
Continental europe is the reason we have high electricity costs, we export power down there and get the same price level on our electricity markets. We have been exporting about 30-35 TWh the last 12 months, and our yearly usage is around 140 TWh.
She was renting a house for 3000 kr. She was studying (you can study at any age in sweden) and received some money from the goverment, as everyone does in sweden if they want to. I think (im not def not sure) that she had a job before and wanted to become more skilled within that business of work and thats why shes studying.
Prices have gone up, sure. But we actually do get paid decent wages and have our backs covered in most situations. Sweden has become an easy target for all these right yard dictators lately cause most people know about Sweden. And most have a good image of Sweden, wealth security ect. So if “it’s bad for Sweden” then they get a get out of jail card. We for sure got our issues and challenges ahead(alot thanks to other eu members) but it pales compared to most eu countries, and most definitely pales in comparison to Hungary’s challenges. Best of wishes and you know fuck Orban 😮
As you can see on [this chart](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1267500/eu-monthly-wholesale-electricity-price-country/), while electricity prices have been going up in Sweden (just like it has in the rest of Europe), our electricity was almost half as expensive as the Hungarian electricity last month, and Sweden’s prices was far below Hungary’s all of last year.
She would also have been able to get social security payouts and probably been allowed to keep living in the house. But for that she needs to quit her studies and be atleast available to work. She choose to continue her studies and live like this instead.
Good for her, but bad example if anyone want to claim we are in some kind of emergency.
There are people that are worse of. Some genuine, some that are just hit with a dose of reality and have to skip the yearly skiing trip. But there is always social security, so if you are sick/available to work and don’t have issues with drugs etc you will in general not be out on the streets. The rent will be paid for you, if you can’t. You might have to live in a hostel, but that has more to do with lack of housing, and the bill will still be paid for you.