Emelie Forsgren moved with her family to Burträsk from central Skellefteå in 2021. She and her husband work in Burträsk and were looking forward to reduced commuting time, so they could spend more time with their children Ellen, 5 years, and Livia, 11 months.
But it didn't turn out that way.
Instead, they get a driving time of around 50 minutes extra per route depending on the road conditions – and around SEK 5,000 in increased fuel costs.
Similar problems in other locations
Lack of places is not unique to the preschool in Burträsk.
Social change, the availability of premises and a lack of staff are reasons why families do not get a place at the preschool they wanted, according to Skellefteå municipality.
They follow the school law and offer preschool places as close to home as possible, but have no guidelines for how far that distance can be.
The municipality is making several investments to recruit more staff, including with its own training for childminders.
But it is not yet known within what time the municipality is expected to have solved the problems.
- It is very difficult to answer.
But we are working hard to change this, says Kerstin Steinvall, head of the preschool in Skellefteå.
Not decided yet
The Forsgren family has not yet decided what to do.
If they refuse the place in Bureå, they also lose their place in the queue for the preschool in Burträsk.
- We have started to think about whether we have to move and that I have to resign from my job, says Emelie.
It didn't turn out the way the Forsgren family imagined - see in the clip how the family is affected by the distance to the preschool.