Reader calls for Sweden to publish the cost of failed integration

Sweden should follow Denmark’s example and openly report how much poor immigrant integration costs taxpayers each year, argues Malmö resident Thomas Ekvall in a Dagens Nyheter reader submission.

Ekvall writes that Denmark publishes the costs of inadequate integration, while Sweden does not. If the Danish figures were adjusted to Swedish conditions, he says, the cost would amount to about 23,000 kronor per taxpayer annually.

He acknowledges that the estimate cannot be exact because conditions differ in several areas, even though the Danish and Swedish welfare systems are similar enough to provide a reasonable indication of the scale. Some taxpayers, he writes, may believe the money could be better spent, while others might prefer lower taxes.

Ahead of the election, Ekvall wants the Swedish government to disclose the cost of poor integration involving hundreds of thousands of immigrants. He also calls on every political party to explain which concrete measures it would take to reduce those costs. Dagens Nyheter notes that the text is a reader submission and that the writer is responsible for its opinions.