<doc.id=0140.b1>
<title> Why Has the Amount of People Without a Driver's License Increased in Sweden? </title>
Various countries around the world have different laws and regulations about how and when a citizen can be a holder of a driver's license. In Sweden, the age of 18 has been effective for many years. A few decades ago it was a matter of course that a person's 18th birthday equaled a driver's license. However, something has changed in our society. Today there are many people a lot older that 18 who do not possess a driver's license. We become aware of this notable change when we realize that people in our surroundings cannot go on certain activities because they do not have a driver's license and they have to completely rely on the public transportation. Another obvious sign of this change is that people miss out on many jobs where a driver's license is required.

There are plenty of possible causes to this apparent change in our society. One that is very likely is the fact that today even more people live in the cities and the suburbs where the public transportation has developed tremendously during the last decades. In places like our major cities, Stockholm and Gothenburg, there are buses and trains available almost 24 hours a day. Children who grow up with this service might later feel that it is totally unnecessary for them to get a driver's license since they are used to depending on public transportation. Not only has the public transportation developed in and around the cities, it has also increased in the country and it is not that important for people to have a driver's license anymore.

Another cause of the recently decreasing number of holders of a driver's license in our country is that the driving education has been revised both theoretically and practically. Today it is very demanding and it takes a lot of time to prepare oneself for the two driving tests; one theoretical and one practical. People who are 18 years old in Sweden are either juniors or seniors in high school, depending on what time of the year they were born. No matter if they are juniors or seniors, school keeps them very busy, especially if they are on an academic program. Many students feel that they have neither the time, nor the energy to go to a driving school after the regular school day, since a driving school is just like a normal school where you have to take classes, do your homework, and study hard in order to pass the written exam. You also have to spend many hours on the roads in order to understand the language of traffic and pass the driving test. This takes a lot of time, time that people do not have or they have other priorities.

The main cause, however, for this visible change in our society, is easily found in people's wallets. Throughout the 90s the entire economy of Sweden has been under a lot of pressure. People do not have as much money as they used to, and at the same time everything has become more expensive. Some two years ago a value-added tax was put on the driving lessons which led to a remarkable advance in price. Unless their parents pay for it, there are many 18-year old Swedes who cannot afford to pay for an education at a driving school. Of course there are other alternatives to the driving schools, but no matter how you do it you need to drive a lot and gas is very expensive in this country. Only a decade ago more students had a summer job and in that way they were able to pay for a driver's license. Due to the unemployment it is more difficult to find a summer job these days which automatically means that also students have less money. As a result, fewer people in Sweden have a driver's license.

As we have seen there are several possible causes to the trend that less people in Sweden tend to get a driver's license. However, the causes mentioned above: more people in and around the cities, the effort that has to be made, and the economical issue, would probably together or alone, answer the question why the amount of people without a driver's license has increased in Sweden.
</doc>