The share of children and youth in Uppsala has increased most in the municipality's weakest and strongest residential areas between 2017 and 2024, while decreasing in middle areas. The change is most pronounced among primary school children. Over 60 percent of areas have seen a decline in child share since 2017.
An analysis by SVT Nyheter Uppsala shows that Uppsala municipality's 132 residential areas, ranked by socioeconomic factors such as unemployment, income, education, and ill health, exhibit clear differences in child population trends.
Between 2017 and 2024, the share of children and youth (0–18 years) has increased in the weakest and strongest areas but decreased in middle ones. The trend is most pronounced among primary school children, growing most at the extremes.
In the lowest-ranked areas, over half of children live in households with low economic standards, compared to just 2 percent in the highest-ranked. Median income in affluent areas is 2.5 times higher than in deprived ones.
"Uppsala would benefit from sticking together better," says Erik Pelling (S), chair of the municipal executive board. "We know that inequality is bad for all of us."
SVT Uppsala has mapped the changes, identifying the densest and sparsest child populations by area.
