Evidence-based policy making needs to be supported by quality data – to identify priorities, target solutions and monitor impact. Data on youth outcomes should be granular and made available at all levels of government, including regional and municipal governments which frequently have important responsibilities for education, housing and social protection as well as culture, sport and recreation. To strengthen evidence-based policy making, Swedish municipalities have banded together to create the LUPP (a local follow-up of youth policy) survey tool, now managed by the Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society and administered locally.
LUPP youth survey (Local Follow-up of Youth Policy) – Sweden
Abstract
The LUPP tool was launched in 2003 in consultation with local governments and has since spread across Sweden, becoming a critical policy design tool for the central government’s Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society and subnational governments alike. The survey provides policy makers with insights into young people’s lived experiences to inform the design and delivery of youth-oriented public services. Survey questions span across multiple topics including the local conditions for a good quality of life, opportunities for young people to influence these conditions, their sense of security, stress, thoughts about the future and other aspects including leisure, school, health and education. Since its inception, over 175 of Sweden’s 290 municipalities – covering more than 60% of the Swedish population – have implemented the survey. It is primarily delivered to two age cohorts: upper high-school (aged ~17-18) and lower high-school (aged ~14-15). Municipalities generally conduct the survey every 2-3 years to monitor progress. The data is analysed by academic researchers and policy makers who put it into policy use. For example, several municipalities directly engage with schools to present survey results, showing how they inform their local Agenda 2030 policies and asking students for feedback. Other municipalities have used the results to tackle issues that came to light through the survey such as sense of safety and stress, with working groups being established to find solutions with schools, local government and civil society. While the privacy of young respondents is protected, the Agency also hosts a digital portal (Lupportalen) where researchers and policy makers can access data and conduct comparative analysis within and across regions and municipalities. At the national level, youth policy monitoring and evaluation includes indicators across multiple dimensions. The web portal ungidag.se presents up-to-date official statistics on young people’s conditions provided by Statistics Sweden, government agencies and the Swedish Sports Confederation (Riksidrottsförbundet) with 60 indicators covering education and learning, physical and mental health, economic and social vulnerability, influence and representation, work and housing, culture and leisure. The data is used to evaluate implemented youth policy and to update or formulate new policy proposals and assignments for government agencies. The combination of the bottom-up picture provided by LUPP and the comprehensive snapshot covered in ungidag.se equip policy makers with an evidence base for youth policy that can be both spatially targeted and national in scope.
An independent review of the programme was published in 2019 covering the 2015-18 period. Overwhelmingly, surveyed municipalities and regions have put the tool to use, with 81% having used the tool to make comparisons over time and 70% indicating that it has directly resulted in changes to how youth policy is conducted locally. The survey has also been widely disseminated within communities, with the evaluation showing a large portion of municipalities/regions having shared the results with politicians (92%), administrations (81%), teachers (78%), young people (75%) and associations (17%). It has also helped to tackle youth policy collaboratively, with 64% of municipalities/regions noting that the LUPP tool has led to cross-sector collaboration in addressing youth issues in their area.
Further reading
Myndigheten för ungdomsoch civilsamhällesfragor (2019), LUPP Follow-up 2015-2018; Myndigheten för ungdomsoch civilsamhällesfragor (s.d.) Ungdomsenkäten LUPP.
This practice also supports the implementation of provision II.1, IV.3 and IV.5 of the OECD Recommendation on Creating Better Opportunities for Young People.
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