School & education
Erik Melin
Published 2026-06-14
LAGERSBERG, ESKILSTUNA. Here, unemployment rushed more than anywhere else in Sweden. Here, young people and children did not dare to go out.
Football became important in turning the tide.
– There is great community and joy here now, says Hanad Matan, 18.
Hardly any of the goal cages’ nets are intact.
The large eleven-man field’s artificial grass is green-grey and has visible damage in several places. Next to the pitch is a broken park bench that can no longer be sat on.
Despite the decline, the development here has gone in the right direction.
Here is Lagersberg i Eskilstuna and here also three young people are sitting on a wooden fence around a smaller soccer field, right next to the big one.
– Before, people didn’t want to be here, they didn’t dare and were worried about what might happen. Now there is a better community, says Hanad Matan, 18.
He is in his last year at Rekarnegymnasiet in Eskilstuna and, when this text is written, is about to graduate. In the summer, he has an offer to work at a leisure farm in the nearby area of Fröslunda.
– Finding a job, that’s number one. What it turns out to be doesn’t really matter, but preferably something where I enjoy and can develop. But I like association life because there I can help others.
Do you have a dream job?
– Before it was football players, but now it’s enough to start your own company a little later in life.
Friends Ameen Ghalib, 16, and 17-year-old William Ferra nod in agreement.
Want to run your own business
William has run a UF company during the second year of high school and he too can imagine becoming self-employed as an adult.
– After school, I might take a break and work. Parken Zoo employs many young people during the summers. In the longer term, owning your own company can be a good opportunity, says William Ferra.
Ameen Ghalib has two years left to graduate from a high school education with a focus on sales and service. But he already has many thoughts about his future career path.
– I would like to start my own business and sales. But also in shares, as a stockbroker. So first it will probably be a job, maybe in stock or something like that, and then study further to become a stockbroker.
Big and small questions
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There were two reasons why we went to Lagersberg in particular. In Statistics Norway’s latest statistics broken down by regional statistical areas, for the years 2020-2024, Lagersberg-Rågbergstorp particularly stood out. Partly through the third highest unemployment in the country, 31.9 percent. But also with the largest percentage increase in unemployment during the same period, with an increase of 17.19 percentage points.
“Much more vulnerable on the labor market”
There are no more up-to-date statistics for the smaller areas, but for Eskilstuna as a whole, according to the Employment Agency’s figures, unemployment has decreased marginally in two years, since June 2024.
From the municipality’s side, they work both directly against the young people but also with broader brushstrokes.
– We see very clearly the connection between educational background and position on the labor market. If you have difficulty passing school or learning the language, you are also much more vulnerable in the labor market, says Roza Sharif, who is unit manager of Jobbcentrum in Eskilstuna.
– When a parent goes to work, something happens in the whole family. It affects several generations. Having a job affects mental health, physical health, security and the children’s opportunities to succeed in school, she continues.
“We have made a bet”
Since December 2023, Lagersberg is no longer considered a vulnerable area. Adjacent Fröslunda, however, is still at risk according to the police. In Rågbergstorp, sandwiched between the two larger areas, warning signs were seen at the end of last year.
– There was a lack of leisure activities for the children. The police warned about recruitment in the area and it is often the younger children who are forgotten, even though the problems often start long before high school age, says Niklas Sporr, prevention social secretary in Eskilstuna municipality.
During the past year, he has worked preventively together with other actors to catch children and young people in the area.
– We have made an investment with activities during the holidays and invited associations to create positive contexts.
Back to Lagersberg’s IP. While we have been talking to Hanad, William and Ameen, curious youths have appeared, older and younger. Several small groups of children play soccer, some older guys come by and say hello. Further away, behind one of the 11-man goals, two younger girls in helmets are cycling next to a green bush.
William plays lyres to Ameen who is trying to succeed with a bicycle. He has put down his phone and wallet to be able to bet properly.
– Now I am he says.
This is how football contributes
Alberth Andersson, 25, stands in the middle of the pitch and looks at everyone who curiously approaches. He is the operations manager for Sport for Life Eskilstuna, an initiative that also exists throughout Sweden and which wants to help young people in school and into adulthood.
– Here in Eskilstuna, there are many young people who do not have it so easy and who may lack certain prerequisites to pass school and enter working life. We want to make a difference there, above all by giving them tools and by being good role models.
Together with colleague Emilia Nilsson, 23, they usually meet young people from Lagersberg, adjacent vulnerable Fröslunda and other areas to play football.
– It is not about organized teams but about spontaneous football. Everyone can join and it will be a meeting place where we have fun. We also make contact with the young people and hold homework for those who need it, says Alberth Andersson.
– Alberth is the one who keeps the football out on the field and I help out more on the side, if someone wants to talk or needs to be encouraged, says Emilia Nilsson.
They both highlight the adjacent Lagersberg School for having been an important part of the positive development. The school’s principal was praised last year by the police for his commitment to the area.
At the end of 2025, Sport for Life in Eskilstuna received a grant of SEK 3.9 million from state . The money is earmarked for the “Future” project, which will catch young people who are at risk of ending up in crime. “Future” is made together with schools, other sports associations and the Pentecostal church in Eskilstuna.
– The young people who participate in our activities collect points which they can then exchange for fun activities that we come up with. It could be a visit to Gröna lund or a trip to Gotland, for example, says Alberth Andersson.
– The important thing is that everyone is welcome. Love speaks all languages. It’s a quote I like and that I think fits. Many different languages are spoken here. But we show that we are serious and that we care. It is something that everyone can understand.
School the most important election issue
Unemployment is high, the football field is, to say the least, bumpy. In the fall there are elections. Hanad is the only one of the three who gets to vote, but they all have thoughts on what the important issues are.
– I want to make my voice heard and will vote. For me, school is one of the most important issues. It is where you prepare for life, says Hanad Matan.
Ameen wants initiatives such as Sport for life to receive more help from the state so that young people have more options to come up with things that are fun, so as not to be drawn into crime.
William had focused on unemployment.
What could be better here, what are you missing?
– The football pitch is too bad. There are holes in it and the nets in the goals are broken, says William.
Ameen hopes that even more areas are created for young people to get active and mentions in particular an adjacent yard that he doesn’t think is being used for anything in particular.
– A golf course would be good, I would like that.
The parties’ answers to three questions about unemployment and exclusion
