Poor economy is increasingly common cause of poverty

In Eskilstuna, staff at the City Mission notice the same new poverty problem as in the rest of the country.

- I feel that vulnerability has increased. We distribute food bags to about 70 households a week, to homes where there are many times children. Many who seek support from us have only financial problems, although there are of course cases where other problems have led to poverty, says Tomas Lindroos, director of Eskilstuna City Mission.

Poverty has become new and is found everywhere in today's Sweden, elderly people who do not get the pension to suffice, single parents, young people who have just started working and moved to their own housing.

- It can hit anyone, usually it's about getting into a life crisis. Divorce, for example, can be mothers who have worked part-time and suddenly become single and do not get the economy together, says Karin Timm Östlund.

According to the City Mission, between 1-4 percent of Sweden's population cannot afford to eat saturated.

- In the past you might have come to us because you wanted a golden edge on life, today people come here because they are hungry.

At the City Mission, you find yourself seeing more and more people falling between the chairs and outside the welfare system in Sweden.

- The standards for livelihood support have not changed in 20 years, the whole system has slipped by without regard to the increased living costs, says Tomas Lindroos.

Can't everyone manage on the support that is offered in Sweden?

- We wish it were so, but that's not the reality we face, says Karin Timm Östlund.