Blackladder

Just to keep those of you interested in a move to Sweden updated about the wondrous healthcare system that they never tire of telling us is the best in the world: my mother-in-law (90 years old) was sent home from hospital yesterday with pneumonia, to look after her partner (93) who is blind and suffers from advanced dementia. The social care officers came to visit her before she was admitted to hospital, and after a careful study of the situation, told her she could have two (2) hours help a week. Go figure.
Blackie

The Local

The problem with Sweden is that many people find it is very different to how it is sold.

It is very different in many ways to many other nations, which make it harder for Swedes to live outside of Sweden. Thats why whenever a constructive comment posed in a negative way is posted, it is automatically rejected and deferred by a Sweden.

For instance the issues relating to free healthcare in Sweden.
- It is not free.
- It is subsidised and requires top up payments whenever you use it or need to purchase medicine. This is not cheap, and if a British family with 2 children were to move to Sweden they would find that medicine is subsidised. So a family of 4 could need to spend over £1000 within a year before they would be covered for free medicine.

Vegetables and fruit.
Whoever said fresh fruits was nice in Sweden is having a laugh.
One area that could be greatly improved is the quality of fruit and veg.
But given that the leading supermarkets in Sweden make a bigger profit per size than anywhere else in Europe, it also highlights the lack of competition.

What I am saying is that Swedes have been brought up with ideologies that places the state before the people. Add this with a perception of Jante law which is predominant in the nordic countries and you essentially get a very petty and insecure nation. That have been bred to be fearful of nations outside of Sweden or view them as dangerous. Along with a sense of nationalism which is on par with other nations such as Israel.

Ask any Swede how they are perceived abroad, and they will immediately tell you the following.

Sweden has polar bears roaming the streets
Swedes are boring
Swedes have no sense of humour
etc.

Schooling.
Ask any Swede and they will tell you school is free.
What they won't tell you is that Sweden has some of the worst education in Europe, and are close to the bottom of the Pisa tables. What they won't tell you also is that the cost of living in Sweden is high, and employment is close to impossible for any short term immigrant. So this free education system has to paid for by loans, and Sweden has some of the highest personal debt in the world.

Sweden is selective with the truth, but very adapt in ensuring they are well promoted.
It can be an ok place, if you know what you are letting yourself in for.
But such is the high costs and lack of opportunities, it leads to most expats to abandon Sweden after their funds have dried up.

Just be very careful

Ugo51

And by short you mean...?


This, as far as I am concerned, is the single biggest deterrent that works against my wish to move to Sweden

The Local

By short term, it usually means at least 3 to 4 years.

This is the average amount of time required for a person to be considered fluent enough to be able to fully converse in the Swedish language.

But let me also shine a light on the current situation.
The current national employment office of Sweden (job centre), is having such a problem with finding work for its citizens. That it is actively sending them to Norway to find work. And often the remaining people take out loans to go back into education, as this is a safe alternative to cover their period of unemployment until the job situation changes (through personal debt loans)

Moses2013

Like anywhere, you always have to do your research. Lack of opportunities depends how you see life, because living somewhere rural away from the madness can be an opportunity for some. There are also plenty of other opportunities in Sweden, but it's not UK, so learn the language and adapt. I'm sure you can find plenty of good fruit & veg in Sweden. All you have to do is grow your own and if you have the space why not?

Ugo51

Fair enough.

This matches well with the fact that, apparently, for a non-Swedes is much more difficult to have a proper career progression, irrespective of how much he/she is fluent in Swedish.
I'm talking long term, > 10years.

Put in this ways it looks like that a foreigner faces the daunting scenario of having a hard time finding a job and even harder to keep it, let alone get a promotion.

The Local

Depending on where in the region you move to, generally you have to look at it as a "rest of your life" commitment. In terms of career progression, that will be a tough one as its not really part of the dynamics of employment. Unless you are a startup owner or leaving Sweden to pursue a career. More attention is spent on getting by, and shorter working hours. And unfortunately, when it comes to promotion as such. There are very strong beliefs that I too have witnessed, where such are given to persons not on their ability but their identity.

It is not uncommon for immigrants to need to change their surname, in the hopes of getting a better chance to get picked for an interview.

Which sort of sums up the challenges that face Sweden today.

The Local

The discussion was based on employment and opportunity.
Moving to some rural area as you described, doesn't address the issues that have been mentioned. From healthcare to education etc.

But as per this reply, it only exemplifies many of qualms people experience.
Growing your own fruit and veg as you put it, is all very nice but in reality no one is going to move to Sweden with the intention of becoming a farmer. Given that the seasons are so harsh, summers are so short.

Thats why most fruit and veg are imported into Sweden.

Ugo51

Wow...
I didn't think it was so bad

Anyway it's a common problem in many parts of Europe. I have some friends and friends of friends who faced the same struggle in countries such as Germany or France.

It does depends on the job. In some areas it's in fact true the opposite and an immigrant (or should I say, a foreigner ) would have more chances to get the specific job than a native.

I wonder how much of this is true in the UK.
I probably don't see it because I'm living here and because I have a job that sort of belongs to the second category

Moses2013

There are plenty of opportunities in Sweden and all Swedes I know have good education, or have jobs. Unemployment exists everywhere, but there are options if you're willing to work. You also don't have to live in a city, as forestry and farming also exists. Depending where you are in Sweden it's not constantly cold and dark, so plenty of opportunities to grow your own fruit and veg. I have friends who grow their own (apples, pears etc.) and great quality. Go to any supermarket and you'll find flowers and veg from Holland (not the hottest place on earth). You can also grow other fruit in green houses.

Annabel12

When it comes to opportunities I can only say it depends - having my own small business I have to say it's much easier to start up and run, there's plenty of help available, it was also quite easy to get a small loan. Market is empty so there's no need to look for a niche, you just do whatever and you win customers with good service (which is a rare thing here). I was able to open and run my salon speaking zero Swedish, now with the language it's even better. You gotta be determined to get through formal side of things but then it gets easier.
If you look for employment I wish you good luck - my husband is an electronic assembler which is apparently looked after prof but he never got to interview despite of sending hundreds of applications, also to Norway. Now he learns Swedish and we hope this will help otherwise I don't know what he'll do - he'll probably have to take some shit job way below his skills. At the moment he works on flexi basis as a cover in factory which is not good enough (but serves him right - it was his bloody idea to move here pahaha!).
To sum up - it's defo better to run a business. The market is not as saturated as in UK and consumers have more spare money.
When it comes to fruit and veg I recommend Lidl's - they're surely not healthy but at least they're fresh! In the season we shop at local organic farm as I have no time to grow my own.

EdwardWII

Sweden is a lovely and the top 3 country in the world during the may, june, july and august (others are Norway and Finland). This is the time when sun shines and people are happy. Other times it is NO NO.

Stay in the warm brother.

I been living in Sweden, Norway and Finland for way too long.

Ugo51

At least you have 4 months of good weather.
Or better, at least you have a variation throughout the year. Here in Scotland is the same day after day, an endless autuminish weather that ends up driving you crazy.

Zoey

My friends was in Stockholm for a while, and he told me that fresh air and clean water from the tap are something that he loved the most. These might be some positive things for you!
I'm also contemplating the idea of moving there, but the worst thing for me is no sun for days. I love sunny weather, so I'm wondering how I would manage without seeing sun for days.

The Local

In regards to the water, the Eu has criticised it for it pollutants.
Enclosed is an article by Swedish Radio, which loosely covers the issue.

Scientists: greater protection for groundwater - Radio Sweden | Sveriges Radio

I don't know if anyone remembers, but 30,000 were taken ill in one area of sweden due to the water "quality".

Local council acquitted over mass stomach bug - Radio Sweden | Sveriges Radio