We meet the deacon in her office in central Helsingborg. She testifies about meetings with many single parents who have not worked for several years and who see disappointment in their children's eyes on Christmas Eve.

The Swedish Church also testifies that Helsingborgs with organized finances already in the autumn contact them and wonder how they can best help before Christmas.

- We have contact with a great many families who live completely on the margin, they are alarming and surprisingly many. The press is extra big during Christmas and we can't help everyone, says deacon Anette Wiklund.

Passed on to the needy

But for three years, the Swedish Church, Freemasons and City Cooperation in Helsingborg have been collaborating on a campaign to donate money which is then passed on as a gift card to the most needy families in the city within the diaconal activities.

Few Skåne municipalities provide extra Christmas money for the needy. In 2017, SVT conducted a survey in which 21 of Skåne's 33 municipalities responded, but only three stated that they gave something extra for Christmas.

SVT Helsingborg yesterday revealed that the City of Helsingborg initially had the intention not to pay the aid to more than 800 households until after Christmas, but that they are now withdrawing from that decision.

No extra assistance

However, there is no extra contribution from the city this year.

- In Helsingborg, we do not pay extra assistance for Christmas gifts or for the increased costs families may have in connection with Christmas. The standard for financial assistance is designed to cover the costs a family has, based on a reasonable level of consumption, says Nadine Khalil, Head of Operations in the Labor Market Administration.