Two thirds of the people in Sweden relying long term on social benefits have a foreign background, while child poverty in the same group is becoming more and more serious, according to new reports. ”It is a real problem that poverty in Sweden has taken on an ethnic dimension,” said Björn Halleröd, sociology professor at Gothenburg University.

The report published in the paper revealed that 67 percent of those on long term benefits were born overseas, with unemployment being the main cause.

Meanwhile the charity Save the Children has also flagged the problem of child poverty in Sweden. In a recent survey carried out by the organisation, child poverty is markedly over-represented among those from a foreign background whose parents are unemployed.