Summer holiday payment for families on income support could disappear as early as next year
Families living on income support may lose the extra summer payment their municipality gives them for their children, and the change could arrive as soon as next year. The sommarlovspeng is a small top-up granted on top of ordinary income support so that children in households with long-term financial hardship can do something during the school holidays. In Stockholm it is worth at most 592 kronor per year per child. Several other municipalities pay something similar, either for the summer break or at Christmas.
The reason it is disappearing is a government decision rather than a municipal one. Social insurance minister Anna Tenje of the Moderate Party argues the system should be more equivalent across the country, and that moving from benefits into work should pay off more than it does now. Stockholm's social affairs commissioner Alexander Ojanne of the Social Democrats takes the opposite view, saying the decision hits the most vulnerable households hardest.
The change sits inside the wider benefit reform that the Riksdag approved earlier this year, which narrows the room municipalities have to pay income support above the national standard rate, the riksnorm. Most of those rules take effect on 1 January 2027. The same reform limits income support for households with more than three children or school-age young people under 21 living at home, ties economic assistance to lawful residence in Sweden, and requires a medical certificate from anyone whose capacity to work is reduced by illness.
For families who currently receive the payment, the practical point is timing. The sommarlovspeng is normally granted once a year alongside the June payment, and in Stockholm it goes to households that have had income support for at least ten months out of twelve. If your municipality still offers it, this summer may be the last time it is paid at the current level, so it is worth asking your social services office directly what applies to your household for next year rather than assuming the payment will simply arrive again.