Home PC reform gives one million Swedes their first computer

It is not a brand new idea, since two Swedish labour unions have already offered their members to buy PCs at a discounted price. But this time, everybody who has a job can join in.

The idea is a suggestion from the IT Commission, to find a solution bringing more computers into regular people's homes. Minister of Communications, Ines Uusmann, is the one who convinces the Finance Department that this will work.

One million Swedes get their first home computer through the reform

For the first three years, the "Home PC reform" makes one million Swedes get their first computer. Altogether 850.000 computers are distributed over these years, and 71 percent of the people feel that their computer knowledge has been increased.

The cost to the tax payers is four billion SEK, but experts want people to think about this as an investment in the future rather than a cost.

Unfortunately, the system is taken advantage of, when some people realize that there is a way to bend the rules to buy a new flatscreen TV instead of a computer. When the Fredrik Reinfeldt government takes office in 2006 they decide to end the reform.

For a couple of years computers are taxed lower than regular, but from 2009 the reform is completely over, and the Home PC Reform is in the history books.