Families with children should have more free time to spend together. Parental leave payments and child benefits should be increased for low-income families.
Conditions for children, teachers, and school staff should be improved.
Education should be free of charge.
Housing is for the people – not for investors.
The key elements of public services are strong social, welfare, mental health, and healthcare services rooted in community values, access to secure housing, equal access to education, as well as a standard of living which allows all people to lead healthy and safe lives.
Child-Friendly Society
- Children should lead lives free from violence, racism, class inequality and misogyny. There is a need for increased support, especially in schools, through adequate staffing, improved facilities, and clear actions, tools, and resources to ensure such rights.
- We should work systematically to combat child poverty. We need to improve the situation of low-income families by continuing to strengthen the child benefit system, with a special focus on aid for single parents.
- Let’s complete the bridge between parental leave and preschool with a well-timed plan in cooperation with municipalities. Reductions in the lowest parental leave payments should be abolished while at the same time parental leave benefits should be increased.
- Waiting lists for services for children should be eliminated, ensuring that neither economic status nor place of residence hinder children’s access to the services they need. Treatment options for children facing complex challenges must be significantly strengthened.
- Time with loved ones is one of the foundations of well-being. Let’s continue to work toward a shortened workweek for all in order to improve the work-life balance.
Accessible Education
- We must take all possible measures to combat class divisions in the schooling system. Let’s ensure free education at all levels and equal access to learning. We will gradually integrate the preschool level into the national education system.
- Teachers’ work and dedication need to be appropriately recognized and valued. Support for teachers must be improved, including better Icelandic language education for immigrant children, ensuring they have dignified working conditions, with equal pay for certified teachers matching that of the general job market.
- Diverse university programs such as various vocational and continuing education pathways in secondary schools need to be supported and strengthened, especially in the arts. Students should have the option to study remotely from anywhere in the country.
- Fundamental research needs to be strengthened, as it is the foundation of innovation and knowledge. Strong and well-funded universities play a key role in this, and funding needs to be increased to reach the Nordic average for higher education.
- All students have the right to learn their native language. This includes children whose first language is sign language and children of foreign backgrounds.
Dignified Living Standards – Fair Revenue Policy
- Let’s ensure strong public services accessible to all, regardless of location or income, and guarantee the right of the public to a healthy environment and living conditions. The Left-Green Movement opposes privatisation of the infrastructure and public services.
- We need to strengthen the public healthcare system, reduce waiting lists, and expand mental health services.
- The Left-Green Movement rejects austerity as a strategy to combat inflation. A coordinated effort among the government, Central Bank, and municipalities is needed to eliminate systemic inflationary pressures.
- Economic policy should reduce inequality, and public revenue should be collected fairly to promote social cohesion, ensuring that those with greater wealth and income contribute more. The income for elderly people and those on disability pensions should never be allowed to fall below the minimum wage.
- The capital gains tax should be progressive, with higher rates for substantial wealth while maintaining lower rates on moderate savings.
- Tax enforcement must be significantly increased, as tax evasion is estimated at around 100 billion ISK annually.
- Those granted access to utilise the country’s resources should contribute a larger share of the profits to public funds. Transparency in ownership within the fishing industry should be strengthened, alongside an increase in fishing fees for large-scale operators.
- The Left-Green Movement advocates increasing the grant portion of student loans, exploring the feasibility of interest-free student loans, and the potential for loans to be nulled upon retirement or if individuals transition to disability pensions.
Secure Housing and Living Conditions
- Housing should be for the people, not for investors. Tax exemptions on the sale of additional properties should be narrowed to benefit regular, everyday people, not investors. Further restrictions should be placed on short-term rentals (such as Airbnb).
- It is essential to address the impact of high-interest rate policies on the public, including through targeted interest support, a revised housing savings plan, expanded development of rental housing with increased start-up funding, as well as rent controls.
- A genuine social ownership housing system should be established in collaboration with the state, municipalities, and labour unions, with a significant increase in housing availability nationwide. The state should also expand its role in supporting infrastructure alongside municipalities’ increased land allocation.
- The shared equity loan system needs to be reviewed in order to ensure that it meets its objectives, allowing low-income individuals, including those on disability pensions, the opportunity to own homes.
- Reforms should be made to regional development and employment systems to ensure coastal fishing rights are fairly distributed across all the regions. A new agricultural support system must be made effective for farmers, with increased grants for investment and new entrants.
- Funding for the national transportation plan should be increased to accelerate urgent projects, finance the tunnel construction plan, and uphold the capital region transportation agreement.
- Access to healthcare and medications must be ensured to all local communities. Primary healthcare services need strengthening nationwide to provide essential healthcare equally to all the residents.
- Efforts to enhance services for the elderly should continue, integrating healthcare and social services through the “Good to Age” initiative.
- Electricity security for households should be guaranteed to protect families from excessive electricity price increases.
Diverse Society
- Diversity is a strength of any society, and Icelandic society should welcome everyone who comes here with open arms, regardless of their origin or reasons for staying. Efforts should focus on purposeful inclusion,integration and empowerment for marginalised groups.
- All immigrants should have access to free Icelandic language education, provided during work hours without loss of income.
- The organisation and practices of the Directorate of Immigration need to be reformed to fully comply with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and other international human rights agreements.
- Everyone should enjoy full rights in society, regardless of how they identify.
- A clear legal and punitive framework should be established to address hate speech and hate crimes against LGBTQ+ individuals, immigrants, people with disabilities, women, and other groups.
- Culture and the arts should be accessible to all, with barriers removed to ensure everyone can participate in and enjoy a variety of cultural experiences.
Let’s ensure that all children and young people have opportunities to thrive, that everyone has dignified living conditions, and that all families have safe and secure housing.