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Swedish word of the day: Marknadshyra

Today's word will take you a step closer to understanding Sweden's current political crisis.

Published: 22 June 2021 16:09 CEST

Swedish word of the day: Marknadshyra

Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Marknadshyra can be split into marknad (‘market’) and hyra (‘rent’).

Like in English, a marknad can be both a venue for buying and selling goods, or it can refer more generally to the market in an economic sense, for example arbetsmarknad (labour market) or marknadskrafter (market forces).

So marknadshyra means market rent: the system of setting rental prices based on the market, rather than keeping them regulated under a system of rent caps.

It’s a major talking point right now, due to an agreement the governing Social Democrats (reluctantly) made with the conservative Centre and Liberal parties to introduce market rents in Sweden. This would be a major shake-up to a rental market that is currently heavily regulated, but under proposals suggested following a government inquiry, it would only have applied to newly built apartments, constructed after 2022.

One of the planned changes is that location would play a bigger part in setting the price, so that housing in popular areas would go up in price. Rent would also rise each year in line with inflation.

As for why this move is so controversial, it’s because rent controls are a key pillar of Sweden’s social model. They were introduced by the Social Democrats after the Second World War and in theory they allow people on modest incomes to be able to live in city centres or wherever they choose.

The conservative parties that back the change say that market rents could stimulate the production of more housing, therefore solving the current housing shortage, but critics such as the Left Party and the Swedish Tenants’ Union (Hyresgästföreningen) say it will make renting more unaffordable, worsen protections for renters, and increase housing segregation.

Examples

Centerpartiet är för marknadshyror

The Centre Party is in favour of market rents

Marknadshyror kan betyda höjda hyror

Market rents could mean increased rental prices

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Swedish word of the day: thaimout

Thaimout is a play on the word “timeout”, which exists in Swedish, where it refers to a short break during a sports game, just like in English.

But “thaim” in this case refers to Thailand, specifically taking a timeout from school to go to Thailand.

This is a new word which you won’t find in any dictionaries, but you may have spotted it in Swedish newspapers in the past year.

Schools are increasingly cracking down on parents who take their child out of school during term time rather than during school holidays to go travelling – not exclusively to Thailand, but the country is a popular tourism destination among Swedish families, especially during the grey Swedish winter.

Are you allowed to do this? No and maybe a little bit yes. But mostly no.

Let us explain.

Sweden, like most countries, has compulsory schooling. In Swedish this is known as skolplikt – literally “school duty” – and applies from the year children turn six to the year they graduate from ninth grade (around the age of 15-16).

There are exceptions. If you plan to live abroad with your child for over a year, they lose their skolplikt. If you’re looking at taking a shorter, but still relatively long, break (say six to nine months) you can apply to the municipality to revoke the skolplikt. Note that when you return you have to reapply for a place in school for your child, and there’s no guarantee they’ll end up in the same class or even at the same school when they come back.

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If you’re only taking a mini-break, say a week, you have to ask the school’s principal for permission.

School policies vary with some being more lenient than others, but factors the principal could take into account are the length of the break, how important the break is, and whether they expect that the child will be able to keep up or catch up with their studies despite being off.

If you take your child out of school without permission, you could be fined.

Solna municipality recently took a family to court and demanded 50,000 kronor after they took their children to Thailand. The parents put their children in a school in Thailand that followed the Swedish curriculum, but the school board in Solna rejected their application.

Swedish media also reported on Facebook groups where parents share advice on taking a thaimout, and some parents admitted to ignoring rejected applications for time away from school and instead seeing the fine as part of the cost of the trip and paying up when they got home.

That sparked a major debate in Sweden about the benefits of foreign travel, the fact that many children today have roots in other countries, children’s right to uninterrupted schooling and some parents’ perceived middle-class entitlement to vacationing on the other side of the world.

Regardless of how the ongoing debate will end, thaimout has been given a solid spot in the Swedish lexicon.

Example sentences:

We’re taking a two-week thaimout this winter

Vi tar en två veckors thaimout nu i vinter

Doesn’t thaimout sound a bit like a Scanian saying “Thai food”?

Låter inte thaimout lite som en skånsk person som säger “Thai-mat”?

Villa, Volvo, Vovve: The Local’s Word Guide to Swedish Life, written by The Local’s journalists, is available to order. Head to lysforlag.com/vvv to read more about it. It is also possible to buy your copy from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Bokus or Adlibris.

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