The Government and the Working Group on Pensions would like to see a more inclusive and age-independent Swedish labour market. The Government therefore decided on 16 August 2018 to appoint a delegation for the promotion of older labour to combat age discrimination and find ways to make better use of older people’s experience and skills. The delegation has submitted its final report on 30 November 2020.

For this, we need to achieve a more age-independent view of working life over the course of an entire working life and combat the problems of prejudices against older people and age discrimination. To contribute to a development in which use is made of the labour force regardless of age and to ensure that more older people remain in working life, the Working Group on Pensions has agreed to establish a delegation for older labour.
The delegation will:
- work on issues concerning older people’s opportunities in working life, the view of older people in the labour market, prejudices against older people, the importance of a longer working life for society and for people’s total pensions, and the demographic change in society;
- bring together various relevant actors in society (such as researchers, opinion-makers, pensioner organisations, the social partners and relevant government agencies) to discuss these issues, provide inspiration and propose measures; and
- compile and disseminate existing national and international knowledge and research, as well as initiate new reports.
The delegation has been named the Delegation for senior labour.
Read the full committee terms of reference.
About the delegation
The delegation will comprise five members, six ambassadors, a special adviser and a secretariat.
Anna Hedborg
Chair
Anna Hedborg has a long history in Swedish state administration, primarily in the area of welfare and social insurance. Anna has also been Minister for Social Security and Director-General of the National Social Insurance Board. In addition, Anna worked as a researcher at the Swedish Trade Union Confederation in the 1970s. She has also played an active role in the Working Group on Pensions and is one of the people who developed the new pensions system that was presented in in 1998.

Eva Vingård
Member
Eva Vingård is professor emeritus in occupational and environmental medicine at Uppsala University and has previously worked as professor in personal injury prevention at Karolinska Institutet.

Håkan Svärdman
Member
Håkan Svärdman is a political scientist and head of social policy at Forena, the trade union for insurance and finance.

Ingemar Eriksson
Member
Ingemar Eriksson is a social scientist and has worked for more than 20 years as a director at the Ministry of Finance and Director-General for Finance at the Delegation of Sweden to the OECD and the Swedish Embassy in Washington. Ingemar was also Inquiry Chair of the Retirement Age Inquiry that analysed obstacles and opportunities for older people to work for longer and presented proposals for changes to pension rules, etc.

Ingmar Skoog
Member
Ingmar Skoog is professor of psychiatry at the Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology at the University of Gothenburg and has spent many years researching older people’s mental health. Ingmar is also head of AgeCap – the Centre for Ageing and Health – which is a cross-disciplinary research centre attached to Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg.

Ambassadors
Barbro Westerholm
Barbro Westerholm (Liberal Party) is the oldest member of the Riksdag (the Swedish Parliament) and has worked there since 1988, with the exception of 1999–2006. Barbro is a doctor and researcher who obtained her doctorate from Karolinska Institutet in 1965.

Björn von Sydow
Björn von Sydow has a doctorate in political science and led the Defence Commission that recently submitted its report to the Government. Björn has worked as a politician (Social Democratic Party) for most of his life and has been Speaker of the Riksdag, Minister for Defence, Vice Minister for Trade and a member of the Riksdag until 2018.

Cristina Husmark Pehrsson
Cristina Husmark Pehrsson is a qualified nurse and has worked as a member of the Riksdag for the Moderate Party for many years. During the period 2006–2010, Cristina was Minister for Social Security and Minister for Nordic Cooperation.

John Mellkvist
John Mellkvist works as a PR consultant and futurist at Mindmakers PR. In a short time, he has become a strong voice on age issues and has received a great deal of attention for his work on reducing ageism and age discrimination.

Marianne Rundström
Marianne Rundström is a journalist, presenter, speaker and moderator. Marianne previously worked for many years at Swedish Television and Swedish Radio. In 2016 she published the book ‘Passé – the involuntary pensioners’.

Marita Ljung
Marita Ljung has worked in the banking world for over 30 years and spent four years as State Secretary at the Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications (Centre Party) in 2010–2014.

Special adviser
Stefan Oscarsson
Stefan Oscarsson works as Senior Adviser at the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs and is an expert on pension issues. Stefan is also secretary of the Working Group on Pensions.

Contact
Feel free to contact the delegation:
s.seniorarbetskraft@regeringskansliet.se
Post Address
Regeringskansliet
Delegationen för senior arbetskraft, S 2018:10
Kv. Garnisonen
S-103 33 Stockholm
Sweden
Uppdrag
Regeringen och Pensionsgruppen vill se en mer inkluderande och åldersoberoende svensk arbetsmarknad.
Publikationer
Delegationen har under den tid arbetet pågick tagit fram och publicerat ett antal kortare skrifter som berört senior arbetskraft på olika sätt.
Länkar
Här har delegationen publicerat såväl Artiklar & Krönikor som Video & Podcasts som är relaterade till senior arbetskraft.