Standard of living down in immigrant areas in Sweden

The standard of living has gone down in areas heavily populated by immigrants, a new study suggests.

Disposable income in these areas in the 90s was seven percent lower than the rest of Sweden – this has now fallen to 34 percent lower, despite the fact that employment has increased more in the same areas than it has in the country overall.

“They’re often weak, insecure, on-and-off jobs, often part-time,” Lund University national economist Martin Nordin, who’s behind the study, told the TT newswire.

Swedish vocabulary: disposable income – disponibel inkomst

Another chance to see the Northern Lights in Sweden

If you’re in an area of Sweden where the sky is clear, keep your eye towards the northern horizon later tonight for a potential sighting of the Northern Lights.

The lights, also known as the Aurora Borealis, hit Sweden on Tuesday, but the sky was overcast in much of the country. The group Norrsken Sverige told TT there may be another opportunity on Wednesday, but as always an exact forecast is impossible.

Read more here about when to see the Northern Lights in your parts of Sweden.

Swedish vocabulary: Northern Lights – norrsken

Vaccinated in a non-EU country? You may now get a Swedish vaccine pass

Vaccination certificates for residents in Sweden who got vaccinated against Covid-19 in non-EU/EEA countries are available from February 1st in Stockholm, but only if you apply in person. The service will open in Malmö, Gothenburg and Luleå on March 1st.

It is only available to those with a registered address in Sweden and a digital mailbox. Read more HERE about vaccine passes and HERE about how to get a digital mailbox.

Swedish vocabulary: a digital mailbox – en digital brevlåda

Church of Sweden sacks cheating bishop

A bishop in Sweden has been sacked for having an affair, the first such dismissal since the Lutheran Church and Swedish state formally separated in 2000, officials said.

Thomas Petersson, bishop of the Visby diocese on the island of Gotland, was fired after he and seven clerics reported the extra-marital affair, which lasted several years, to the church’s disciplinary board.

The bishop “effective immediately no longer has the authority to serve as a bishop, priest or deacon in the Church of Sweden”, the disciplinary board said.

Swedish vocabulary: the disciplinary board – ansvarsnämnden