Thinking about Sweden - tell me the good and the bad pls!

[TheBlonde]

Sweden is looking like a vague possibility for us

I have said okay but I'm now wondering if I will hate it as I don't speak the language and have heard anecdotally that integration is hard

Any words of wisdom?

You can't stroll into the supermarket and buy wine...

Lots of sexy blonde men named Sven.

Less good, lots of sexy and naturally blonde women named Inga.

Shiny - I will be taking my own sexy blonde man!

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I live in Sweden now (Stockholm, but a wee bit out in archipelago)

What sort of the things do you want to know?

mumsinsweden.com is a fab resource and they are all exceptionally helpful

Sorry - also lostinsweden.com

and thelocal.se

Most Swedish "authority" websites have info in English, and certainly if you call them they will all speak English

For immigration you want: migrationsverket
For generally being here, your personnummer (you can't do ANYTHING without one), your tax etc you want skatteverket.

I worked for a Swedish company for 5 years and spent half my working time in an apartment in Stockhom.

Absolutely loved the place. Lots of open spaces, great food (but no good indian or chinese restaurants). Very healthy attitude towards education, equality, work-life balance and so on. Virtually everyone is fluent in English (even the bus drivers) and people seem to have a good outlook and attitude (no wags, no flaunting of wealth and so on). The weather I think is fabulous.

Downsides - cost of travel, cost of holidays and so on. If you don't like Ikea you will find most other furnishing options very old-fashioned. I saw signs of racism there (especially if you move away from Stockholm itself). Few shopping options, limited availabilty of international newspapers, and hotel costs are extremely high so make sure you have a spare room. and everywhere is DEAD in August - whole country shuts down for the month. Oh, and soft rock, everywhere. Think Roxette.

Thanks seasidemama and squiffy

DH & the kids have Swedish passports so not worried about the paperwork as DH can sort that

Do most mothers there work?

Isn't taxation very high? They do have fantastic state benefits, but they have to be paid for...

The school holidays are much earlier than ours; the kids go back about the 2nd week of August? We had a holiday on Öland in August, lovely beaches and fantastic weather but as soon as term started the summer places (like the swimming pool) started closing down, which was a bit sad.

Another one in Stockholm here (hello seasidemama!).

For - Very low childcare costs
Fantastic attitude towards environment
So child friendly
Hot summers
Snowy winters

Against - The Swedes can appear to be cold and are very private people, until you eventually get to know them (does take a bit of work though). Then they are really lovely. As with moving to any new place you will have to make new friends all over again, but there are plenty of opportunities to do it. It's down to how much effort you put in, though granted it can be a little tiring at times.

Language can be a problem but as has already been pointed out, most people speak excellent English, and there are many ways of learning the language. Children will pick it up easily enough if put into Swedish schools.

We have been here 2 and a half years and
absolutely love it here. More than happy to answer any specific questions.

MrsMills - do you work? do most women with LOs work?

Wendy - not too worried about the tax, taxation in the UK is pretty high too

That's from here. SEK 440,000 = approx £35K at tourist rates.

Our Swedish friend, who worked as a computer operator - not a highly paid job! - reckoned he paid about 50% income tax. It is def much higher than ours.

I was thinking of NI too as that is a big deduction here now

I don't work, I'm doing an OU course, Swedish studies and hoping to help out at local school one day a week soon.

Most women do work, they go back when the child is about 1, so life can be a little lonely at times, unless you hang around with the expats, which isn't what I have chosen to do. SAHM are a rare, rare thing here. Generally both parents work here for 2 reasons, they cannot afford not to, and childcare isn't a problem. (this is on top of any personal desire to work obv)

Yes taxation is very high, but you get a lot value for money here, I suppose you get what you pay for.

I forgot to add - free bananas for children in supermarkets, got to be worth moving here for surely.

True, NI does make quite a difference to ours, but it's still not quite that high.

Ours is currently 11% (on top of 22%) between approx £4500 & £35000 & then 12% (on top of 40%) after that. Dunno what 08/09 rates are.

Interesting though that the "social security" component in Sweden is only 1%, but that their benefits are far higher than ours (from what I've heard).

Free bananas???

Free bananas for all children to eat whilst parents are shopping in the store.

Genuis stroke really, except DS2 doesn't like bananas.

Free bananas, Mrs Mills??? ICA, COOP, both?

I know a few SAHMS but most of those are either with very small children or in are expats.

Language hasn't been a problem for me (and I didn't speak a word when I arrived) - everyone (almost) speaks wonderful English and there is also the Swedish for Immigrants course run by the state to which you are entitled once you have you're living here etc.

Thanks both
It is very much pie in the sky at the moment

some more questiosn for those who are in Sweden...

how much is childcare?
when do the kids start school? do they do preschool first?
I assume private schools don't exist for the most part

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Hello TheBlonde
I have been living in Sweden for 7 months now with my husband and 3 school age kids. We have had our ups and downs since moving here but on balance I am glad we took the plunge. Our children all go to a private Steiner school which is paid for by the State. Class sizes range from 6 to 22 pupils! They have already picked up Swedish but we are still waiting for State Swedish lessons for ourselves. The one piece of advice I would give is don't think that you will be able to find work here. You really do need to speak Swedish in my experience. The teenagers here are generally polite, important as peer pressure is such a factor with older children.

Thanks for your message
I'm assuming that I won't work and will be home with the kids and taking Swedish classes

Where are you living?

We live in Växjö, a small city in Småland. I too am at home with the children, which is very unusual here. I am still on the waiting list for Swedish lessons which is a bit frustrating as it is difficult to integrate without some knowledge of the language. We love the countryside here, the marked seasons, the fairness of the society, the attitude to the environment and the fact that it is not overpopulated.

If you want to check out house prices, go on the hemnet site, although I would advise renting here first. We have rented out our house in England for 2 years and are renting here to see how it goes.

Good luck with your plans and keep us posted.

I have done 2 terms of Swedish evening classes but I'm pretty useless at languages so I'm stopping for now

If we go for it we will probably be in Stockholm
I've not been to Växjö, I've been south to Malmo, Trelleborg, then we've holidayed in Halmstad. Mostly we go to Boras to visit the family

Thanks for the hemnet site, I guess we would rent but most likely sell up in the UK first due to taxes etc
All a bit scary