Sweden's Christian Democrats pledge doubled child benefits, tax cuts
Sweden's governing Christian Democrats are targeting middle-class voters with a costly child benefit expansion and tax relief, signaling a strategic economic shift for the right-wing bloc ahead of the 2026 election.
At the Almedalen political conference, Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch outlined the Christian Democrats' 2026 election platform. The party, which holds 19 parliament seats and controls key portfolios including business and industry, is making middle-class affordability its central theme. Busch said her aim is to shift the right-wing bloc toward the political centre to close the gap on the opposition.
Central to the platform is a plan to almost double the monthly child benefit from 1,250 kronor to 2,000 kronor per child. Busch argued this forms part of a broader goal to bring the ideal of "villa, Volvo, vovve" (detached house, Volvo, and dog) within reach of more families. Alongside this, the party is backing a new income tax rebate for families with children.
On taxation, the party is explicitly breaking from traditional right-wing priorities. Busch stressed that the next government should not seek to cut taxes for high earners. Instead, the Christian Democrats want to raise the threshold at which people start paying state income tax, providing direct relief to middle earners.
The platform calls for the earned income tax rebate to be doubled for over 55s, new immigrants and the long-term unemployed. The party argues these targeted cuts will encourage people to move from welfare to work and deliver a stronger stimulus to the broader economy than across-the-board reductions.
For the energy sector and industrial consumers, the party is maintaining its push to build new nuclear power stations and extend the lifetimes of existing plants. While it supports wind and solar in principle, it wants to retain the municipal veto, ensuring new projects proceed "with respect for local democracy".
In healthcare, the party continues to advocate for the state to assume responsibility for delivery from regional governments, a structural reform currently under parliamentary investigation. To tackle waiting lists, it proposes a national exchange service allowing regional authorities to buy spare capacity from one another and subsidies to increase hospital bed numbers.
Busch has also signaled a potential post-election realignment, indicating openness to cross-bloc cooperation with the centre-left Social Democrats. However, she emphasised she is actively campaigning for a second term for Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson under the slogan "Tro på Sverige".
