Children face a wider income gap when parents receive disability support
Children whose parents receive disability-related support are far more likely to live in low-income households than children in families where neither parent nor child receives such support, new Swedish statistics show.
In 2024, 35.2% of children whose parent alone received support had a low economic standard, compared with 17.4% where neither did. The rate was 33.6% when both parent and child received support, and 18.6% when only the child did.
The Statistics Sweden analysis, released on Thursday, covers children aged up to 17 living at home and examines register data from 2019 to 2024.
Low economic standard means household income after taxes and transfers, adjusted for household size and composition, is below 60% of the national median. It measures relative income, rather than directly showing whether a family can afford essential costs.
The groups are identified through disability-related assistance recorded by municipalities, employment services, social insurance and education systems. They therefore do not include everyone with a disability.
SCB points to lower employment and more part-time work among disabled people as possible explanations. The comparison does not establish that receiving support causes lower income. Its clearest finding is the larger income gap associated with a parent’s support status, rather than the child’s alone.
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