大批新移民的到来和多年的忽略让改革迫在眉睫
2015年底，欧洲移民危机达到了顶峰，每当有外来者来到瑞典时，高度不安的情绪也会在瑞典铺展开来。虽然大部分瑞典居民在去年开心的接收了163,000名到瑞典的寻求庇护者，但是其他居民并不都是都持这种欢迎态度。在位于瑞典南部马尔摩，一座拥有大量移民的城市，当地一个收银员非常的生气。“他们来这里就是享受福利和好处的，”他说，之前他还让外来者“滚出去”。这样的语言以前是瑞典极右翼民主党所独有的，这是为了利用这次危机来提高支持度的。从那以后，瑞典政府一直让瑞典的制度来适应外来的情况：给数以万计的难民提供居住之所，还有消除右翼的情绪。什么在改变呢？
瑞典人无疑对他们的福利国的待遇感到自豪。这个“斯堪的纳维亚模式”结合了高税收，集体协议工资的模式，并拥有非常开放的经济。这就带来了非常好的生活标准，高工资和大批量的女性就业率（男女都享有产假）。瑞典这种声誉让其他地方的左翼政治家非常的嫉妒：伯尼·桑德斯认为瑞典以及他的邻国丹麦是“社会民主”的典型例子。但是这种制度一直都处于需要改革的状态。像欧洲大部分地区，瑞典也有老龄化的问题。建房不足的问题让斯德哥尔摩和瑞典其他城市的房价大涨。高薪让多数没有技术的工人，包括瑞典人和其他国家的人，成为劳动市场的边缘人。
在2015年，中左派联合政府对大量涌入的外来难民采取的第一个反应就是关闭与丹麦的边界。这被视为一项极端的措施：副总理亚萨.朗生在一次记者招待会上宣布这个举措的时候哭了。从那以后瑞典也在福利支出方面做出了调整。之前，寻求庇护失败的人收到了一笔每月1,200瑞典克朗（即140美元）的月收入和居住保障；这个在去年被作废了，在五月三十一日，该政府为限制移民的产假问题进行了投票：之前难民可以得到全额的带薪产假（每个育有八岁小孩有480的产假）。现在他们只有在育有一岁小孩的前提下才能获得该带薪产假。大的家庭该好处还会被进一步限制。
但是，这些调整并不能解决瑞典人整合新居民所面临的最大问题：它严格的劳动市场。很多难民都没有能够帮助他们找到工作的技术和关系。在本地瑞典人和外国籍的瑞典人之间，雇佣方面其中存在一个最大的分歧。这个分歧对福利国家带来的损失是，很少外国籍瑞典人缴税，但是也有一些瑞典人讨厌他们的新邻居，并逐渐对国家失去信心，像马尔摩那个愤世嫉俗的收银员。如果瑞典还要保持独树一帜的地位，即拥有高的生活标准和他们对难民那么慷慨的态度，那需要更多的改变。
How immigration is changing the Swedish welfare state
An influx of new arrivals and years of neglect have made reform more urgent
TENSIONS were running high when your correspondent visited Sweden at the height of Europe’s migrant crisis, in late 2015. Although most Swedes happily accepted the 163,000 asylum-seekers who arrived in their country that year, others were far less welcoming. In Malmo, a heavily immigrant city in the south, one cashier in a local shop was particularly angry. “They are just here for welfare and benefits,” he said, before telling your correspondent to “get out”. Such language was once the preserve of politicians from the far-right Sweden Democrats party, which has capitalised on the crisis to boost its support. Since then the government has been trying to adapt the Swedish welfare state to suit the times: both to accommodate hundreds of thousands of refugees and to try to diminish such right-wing sentiment. What is changing?
Swedes are rightly proud of their welfare state. The “Scandinavian model” combines high taxes, collective bargaining and a fairly open economy. The result is excellent living standards, high wages and impressive rates of female labour-force participation (parental leave is generous for both sexes). Its reputation has leftist politicians elsewhere filled with envy: Bernie Sanders has cited Sweden, and its neighbour Denmark, as his ideal of “social democracy”. Yet the system has long been in need of reform. Like much of Europe, Sweden has an ageing workforce. Decades of under-construction has sent house prices soaring in Stockholm and other cities. High wages leave many unskilled workers, both Swedish and foreign-born, on the fringes of the labour market.
The first response by the centre-left coalition government to the overwhelming influx of refugees in 2015 was to close the border with Denmark. This was seen as an extreme measure: the deputy prime minister, Asa Romson, cried when announcing the move at a press conference. Since then it has also tried to tweak welfare spending. Previously, failed asylum-seekers received a monthly cash benefit of around 1,200 SEK ($140) and housing; this was scrapped last year. On May 31st the government voted to limit paid parental leave for immigrants: previously, refugees could claim the full amount of paid leave (480 days per child under the age of eight). Now they can only do so if the child is under one year old. For big families the benefits will be limited further.
These tweaks, however, do not tackle the biggest problem Sweden faces in integrating new arrivals: its rigid labour market. Many refugees do not have the skills or connections to enter the workforce. Sweden has one of the largest gaps in employment between native and foreign-born workers. This damages the welfare state not only because fewer foreign-born workers pay taxes, but also because some Swedes, like the cynical cashier in Malmo, resent their new neighbours and lose trust in the state. If Sweden is to remain exceptional—for its high living standards and
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