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In recent days, Ukrainians who have received letters from Försäkringskassan about changes to payments for participants in etableringsprogrammet have contacted HUG. Why were the payments changed, who will now receive more, and what will happen to existing decisions?
Please note that this article provides general information. We cannot determine from a comment or message whether a particular person is entitled to a payment or how much they will receive. This requires reviewing the decisions from Försäkringskassan and Arbetsförmedlingen and knowing the circumstances of the individual case.
The main payment for participants in etableringsprogrammet, etableringsersättning, has been increased. At the same time, new applications for the child supplement etableringstillägg and housing compensation bostadsersättning are no longer accepted. The previous child supplement has been replaced by a new individual payment called barntillägg.
The maximum etableringsersättning for full-time participation after completion of the initial assessment, kartläggning, has increased from SEK 308 to SEK 335 per day.
During kartläggning and the preparation of an individual action plan, the payment remains unchanged at SEK 231 per full day.
If you have 22 payable days in a month and participate in the programme full-time, the increase will amount to SEK 594.
You apply for etableringsersättning in the following month. If you submit your application between the 1st and 7th of the month, the payment is usually made on the 26th of the same month.
The previous etableringstillägg was linked to the household and was paid to only one parent. The new barntillägg is linked to each programme participant individually.
The Government explained that the purpose of the changes is to increase the number of foreign-born women who participate in etableringsprogrammet, return to the programme after parental leave and eventually enter employment.
No separate additional funding was allocated for the reform. The existing budget was redistributed: etableringstillägg and bostadsersättning were abolished, while the main payment was increased and the new barntillägg was introduced.
This is therefore not a general increase for everyone. Some people will receive more, while others may lose part of their payments when their current decision on etableringstillägg or bostadsersättning expires.
Barntillägg amounts to:
The applicant must have legal custody of the child, meaning that they must be the child’s vårdnadshavare. If the child has already turned 18, the applicant must have been the child’s vårdnadshavare before the child reached adulthood.
The child must be under 20, be registered and living with the applicant, or regularly alternate their residence between both parents. The child must also not be financially self-supporting.
If both parents participate in etableringsprogrammet, each parent submits a separate application. Both parents may receive the payment for the same child if each meets all the requirements.
If the child has no other vårdnadshavare living in Sweden and the applicant does not live with the child’s other parent, the amount is doubled. In that case, the payment is SEK 800 for a child under 11 or SEK 1,500 for a child aged 11 to 19.
As long as someone in your household receives etableringstillägg or bostadsersättning under the previous rules, barntillägg will not be paid for the same period.
A separate application for barntillägg must be submitted every month. The application is submitted in the month following participation in the programme. If Försäkringskassan receives the application in October, the payment for September is expected to be made on 26 November.
After 1 September 2026, it is no longer possible to submit a new application for etableringstillägg or bostadsersättning. However, if the payment was granted before that date, the previous rules continue to apply during the period specified in the decision.
You should therefore check the end date stated in your own decision. Do not rely only on the general information letter about the changes.
If bostadsersättning was granted only until 31 August
HUG has also been contacted by people to whom Försäkringskassan granted bostadsersättning only until 31 August 2026, even though Arbetsförmedlingen's decision regarding their participation in etableringsprogrammet continues beyond that date.
Some people had previously received decisions covering several months or the entire referral period, but this time the end date was set specifically at 31 August.
The date of 31 August alone does not prove that Försäkringskassan made an error. There may have been other circumstances in the individual case that affected entitlement to the payment. However, the entry into force of the new rules on 1 September did not generally mean that all previously granted bostadsersättning had to end on 31 August.
The transitional provisions expressly state that the previous rules continue to apply to etableringstillägg and bostadsersättning granted before 1 September 2026.
Försäkringskassan also states in its own guidance that applications for these payments did not cover a predetermined period. Provided that all the requirements were met, the payment was granted for the period during which the person was assigned to etableringsprogrammet.
It may therefore be worth reviewing the decision if all the following conditions apply:
In our view, under these circumstances, there may be grounds to ask Försäkringskassan to reconsider the decision, known as begära omprövning.
We cannot say in advance how Försäkringskassan will assess an individual case or whether it will change its decision. However, if the time limit has not yet expired, this option may be worth considering.
The standard time limit for begäran om omprövning is two months from the date on which you received the decision. The applicable time limit and submission instructions are stated at the end of your decision. We have provided a sample request in our Telegram channel.
The sample must be completed with your personal details, the date of the decision, the case number and the date until which Arbetsförmedlingen assigned you to etableringsprogrammet. You should also attach the decisions from Försäkringskassan and Arbetsförmedlingen.
Whether you submit a request is entirely up to you. The sample provides general information. We cannot guarantee that Försäkringskassan will change its decision, as the outcome depends on the circumstances of the individual case.
The information is up to date as of 14 October 2026.
The Empower HUB project is implemented by HUG and its partners. It is co-funded by the European Union through the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF).
Author: Julia Dangoor
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