Education in Sweden has during the 1990's gone through several radical changes. By introducing school vouchers, the number of independent schools has increased. This development has been especially quick in the City of Stockholm where in 1991 it was decided that all parents should have the right to choose a school. The groups of parents who tended to choose independent schools were either highly educated or immigrant parents, two groups that are frequent in the inner city areas of Stockholm. Another important part of the reform was to increase the power of parents by allowing their choice to steer supply and demand. In the reform, the school economy was delegated to the individual schools. This fact combined with the added power of parents choice, as well as the rapid change to more pedagogic alternatives led to the quick rise of independent schools in Stockholm.

It cannot be proven that social segregation has increased, either in public or in independent schools. However, it is too early to draw a final conclusion, as this is still an inner city phenomenon.