Underage teenagers buying alcohol from dealers on social media

According to a new study by the Swedish Council for Information on Alcohol and Other Drugs (CAN), more than one in ten 16-17 year olds in Sweden have bought alcohol via social media, with the practice most common in Sweden’s larger cities.

“They choose a place to meet or get it delivered to their homes,” Jonas Packalén, police inspector in Södertälje told newswire TT.

Those who turn to social media dealers to buy alcohol are usually under 18. They are unable to buy alcohol legally, as bars and restaurants will not serve those under the age of 18, and state alcohol monopoly Systembolaget will not sell to under 20s.

“If you buy alcohol in this way there are no small quantities – you’ll be leaving with a crate of beer (around 24 cans) or a litre of spirits,” Anna Raninen, alcohol researcher for Systembolaget, told TT.

According to the survey, 28 percent of young people have been offered the opportunity to buy alcohol on social media. 12 percent of 16-17 year olds have bought alcohol via dealer accounts on Instagram or Snapchat, either alone or with others. Almost half (47 percent) of 16-17 year olds stated that it was easy to get hold of alcohol.

Swedish vocabulary: langare – dealer

Government expected to propose shorter queues for free schools

Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Schools Minister Lina Axelsson Kihlblom held a press conference this morning discussing changes to funding and queuing systems for free schools.

The reasoning behind the proposal to change school queue systems is an investigation from 2020 which recommended removing the queue system entirely and replacing it with a lottery or a quota system for attractive schools, as well as a common application system for all schools, TT reports.

Those in favour of the proposal argue that putting a child in a school queue years before they are due to start – maybe even at birth – disadvantages families who move as well as those who are born later on in the year.

In addition to this, a change to school funding is was proposed, with more money going to state-run schools. This is motivated by the argument that state-run schools need more funding to reflect that they have more responsibilities than free schools – such as the need to be able to guarantee that there will always be enough places for those wishing to attend their schools.

Swedish vocabulary: köa – to queue

Property prices continue to rise

Despite an interest rate freeze and stock market dips, prices for bostadsrätter – usually apartments or terraced houses – continued to rise in January, SVT reports.

The increase was greatest in central Stockholm, where an apartment now costs almost 114,000 kronor per square metre, according to Svensk Mäklarstatistik, who collect statistics from estate agents across Sweden.

“It’s almost impossible for a young person to buy a studio apartment in Stockholm,” Hans Flink from Svensk Mäklarstatstik told SVT Aktuell.

Since the start of the pandemic, house prices in Sweden have increased by 28 percent, said Svensk Mäklarstatistik. Prices for bostadsrätter have increased by 14 percent, on average.

Data less than a month old shows that the trend is increasing, with prices for bostadsrätter increasing by one percent in January compared with the month before.

A long-term look at price developments on a yearly scale shows that house prices increased by 12-13 percent and bostadsrätter by 6-7 percent each month during the last year.

Swedish vocabulary: bostadspriser – property prices