Moderates want to scrap preschool and after-school fees

Sweden's Moderates want to abolish all fees for preschool and after-school care, a SEK 10 billion-a-year election promise that would move the cost from parents to the state.

The party says an ordinary family with two children could keep up to SEK 2,100 more each month. SVT reports that M proposes financing the reform through less bureaucracy, reduced benefit fraud and redirected foreign aid. No detailed budget allocation has been published.

Under current 2026 caps, households can pay up to SEK 1,547 monthly for the first preschool child and SEK 1,031 for the second. Fees are income-linked. All municipalities use the national maximum-fee system, and the state added SEK 1 billion this year to lower charges from July.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson presented the promise on Tuesday. He argued that it would make paid work more rewarding, especially for single parents, foreign-born women and lower earners. Those effects are the party's claims, not published impact estimates.

The Social Democrats separately promised on 18 August to make after-school care available to every younger pupil regardless of parental employment. They did not publish a direct response to the Moderate fee proposal before this article was released.

The Moderates say the abolition is part of a wider pledge to leave an ordinary two-child family SEK 5,000 better off each month during the next parliamentary term. Voters have not yet received the full costed platform or an implementation date.

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