|
(last updated January 2001)
|
Introduction and Overview (1,2,3)
Sweden has an explicit family policy which, historically,
has been focused on protecting children, redistributing income
so as to assure an adequate standard of living to all, compensating
for the economic costs of rearing children and giving people
the economic resources to have children when they so want,
promoting gender equity and facilitating the reconciliation
of work and family life. Although Swedish family policy emerged
out of concern with a low birthrate and pronatalist goals
in the 1930s, this has not been a characteristic since World
War II.
The key elements of Sweden's family policy are extensive
support both for early childhood education and care services
and for an extended paid parental leave. Sweden is among the
very few countries that spend about the same amount on child
care services as on family benefits; and Sweden's family policy,
like its social policy generally, stresses universalism as
a principal rather than targeting on the poor.
Sweden experienced a major economic crisis in the early/mid
1990s. Economic growth was negative for some years and real
GDP fell. Its unemployment rate "exploded" in the early 1990s
reaching a high of more than 8 percent, four times the rate
during the 1980s. The cost of unemployment benefits rose dramatically
and the budget deficit "boomed." Sweden leads Europe in population
aging and has recently announced a reform of its generous
old age pensions system. During these years when the economy
was under pressure and unemployment rose, the child poverty
rate increased from 6.0 percent in 1990 to 8.5 percent in
1994 and the poverty rate of lone mothers increased as well.
The Swedish economy has now recovered. Sweden's official
unemployment rate was 7.3 percent in 1998, slightly higher
than the OECD average, but this counts beneficiaries of its
extensive training and education programs as employed. Its
"real" unemployment rate would be closer to 10-11 percent
but it has had a long-standing response to unemployment that
includes a stress on "active' rather than "passive" labor
market policies (education and training programs rather than
unemployment benefits). The Swedes continue to link receipt
of social benefits to work, or preparation for work.
During the period of "hard times" in the mid 1990s, Sweden
reduced its child benefit from about $100 to $80 a month,
the first ever cut in the nominal value of these benefits.
The supplementary benefit provided to larger families with
three or four children was eliminated. Child support (advanced
maintenance) benefits and housing allowances were more constricted.
Of particular importance, Sweden reduced the rate at which
social benefits replaced wages but not the length of time
recipients could receive the benefits. The supply of child
care was sustained but quality declined somewhat. Parent fees
rose (from 15-20 percent of operating costs to 25 - 30 percent
in some municipalities. About 15 percent of the services were
privatized, about half of those now are for profit, operating
largely through contracts with local government.
Despite these cuts, school meals remained free and available
to all chidden during these years, Sweden's universal health
care was sustained; and expenditures on social assistance
and special assistance to refugees were doubled as a share
of GDP. Moreover, family benefits, which had declined from
4.6 percent of GDP in 1993 to 3.7 percent in 1997, began to
rise again in 1998.
According to Swedish policy scholars Joachim Palme and Irene
Wennemo , family benefits have been subject to "temporary
retrenchment rather than reform", but the cuts were modest
and there was no restructuring.(2) Sweden
experienced a combination of cuts in transfers (cash benefits),
increases in taxes (higher social security contributions),
rising unemployment, and declining wages. It is this fourfold
combination -- this quadruple whammy -- that hurt children
and their families most, not the cuts in benefits and services
alone, which were really quite modest. Indeed, policies and
programs for children and their families have clearly been
protected.
As of mid-1998 child allowances had returned to their nominal
high of a few years earlier (only slightly below the real
high) and were worth about 7.5 percent of average manufacturing
wages, the supplementary benefit for larger families was re-instated,
benefit replacement rates had been increased to 80 percent
of prior wages, the block grants to municipalities for social
services including child care were close to the high level
of the earlier 1990s, the budget was in surplus and the surplus
was projected to be even larger for next year.
In short, the Swedish welfare state may be less generous
today than a decade ago but child-related benefits and service
have been protected. Benefit replacement rates are generous.
Child allowances have returned to their nominal highs and
with very low inflation are close to their earlier real levels.
Single parent families have been protected. In a comparative
sense, the Scandinavian model remains extraordinarily generous,
indeed the most generous of all countries in the OECD, especially
to children and their families.
Return to Top
|
Highlights
Click here to view or print country
highlights in pdf format.
|
Government Agencies
The major government agencies responsible for family policy
are the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, the National
Board of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Education and
Science and the National Agency for Education, the National
Social Insurance Board and regional and local offices. The
final governmental responsibility for children rests with
the locality (municipality). The local government is responsible
for early childhood education and care (ECEC), education,
dental care and medical checkups of children, leisure time
activities for children and youth. ECEC services previously
were administered by the National Welfare Board, but in 1996
were transferred to the Education Ministry.
|
Demographic and Other Social Trends
Sweden is ranked fourth in Europe in geographical size, following
Russia, France, and Spain but is among the small countries
in Europe, where population is concerned (8.8 million).(4)
Like all the advanced industrialized countries, Sweden has
experienced a decline in mortality, a decline in fertility,
a decrease in family size, a decline in marriage and a rise
in divorce; like some others, it has also experienced an increase
in immigration. In 1990, there were about one million families
with children constituting about 21 percent of households.
Fertility rates, which had risen to be one of the highest
in Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s (2.1) declined
to 1.5 in 1998, the lowest since Sweden started registering
birth statistics in the 18th century -- albeit not unusually
low for Europe generally. The conventional interpretation
is that the birth rate fell when the economy was in difficulty,
but will increase again as the economy returns to its earlier
pattern.
Sweden has had an internationally high rate of female labor
fore participation although most women work part-time; but
the rate decreased in the first half of the 1990s, with the
weakening of the economy. For example, among women with children
under age 7 (when compulsory school begins in Sweden), the
labor force participation rate declined from 85 percent in
1990 to 72 percent in 1994. The lower rate is explained by
increased unemployment among this group from one percent in
1990 to 9 percent in 1994. However, by 1998 the rate had increased
to 78 percent (and 87 percent for those with children aged
7-10). Sweden also has an exceptionally high rate of out-of
-wedlock births. In 1995, 53 percent of children were born
out-of-wedlock; however, 90 percent of these were born to
two biological parents living together. What is involved is
an increasing tendency toward cohabitation without marriage
as an acceptable societal norm. About 80 percent of children
live with their biological parents; about 15 percent live
with a lone parent (overwhelmingly their mother).
About 7 children per 1,000 are taken into custody by social
authorities every year. This figure has remained stable since
the 1980s. Among these children, 3/4 are placed in foster
family care and the remainder in institutions. The time which
children spend in foster homes varies; half spend less than
a year and 25 percent less that a month. The children in foster
care are most likely to be older adolescents.
Return to Top
|
Social Protection
Historically, Sweden has been the prototypical Scandinavian
country, following a distinctive and generous pattern of social
policy. The emergence of a Swedish model in the social policy
field is largely a postwar phenomenon. It started with the
introduction of universal old-age pensions and equally universal
child benefits. In the 1950s this was followed by the introduction
of earnings-related benefits in a universal framework. Social
Security benefits were further improved and extended in the
1960s and 1970s. The extension of the maternity leave and
benefit to a parental policy was part of this development,
as was the expansion of the public social services for the
elderly and then for children. These benefits and services
are financed by direct and indirect taxes and by contributions
from employers and employees. Sweden spends 34 percent of
GDP on social protection (down from a high of 38.6 percent
in 1993 and '94)
There are several distinctive features of the Swedish model.
One, is the strong emphasis on universal rather than targeted
and means-tested social policies. Sweden is one of the two
countries (along with Denmark) with the lowest degree of income
inequality. Social assistance exists in Sweden and is locally
administered, but it is a not a major component of social
protection. A second distinctive feature is the stress on
labor market policy and the strong link between labor market
and social policies. A third is the emphasis on "active" rather
than "passive" labor market policies focusing on education
and training of the unemployed, rather than unemployment benefits.
And a fourth is a stress on gender equity.
In the late 1990s, Sweden's child poverty rate (using the
relative definition of less than 50 percent of median income)
at 2.6 percent was the lowest of 23 countries while Sweden
ranked 12th in per capita GNP. (This was at a time when the
U.S. child poverty rate ranked 22nd in that same list, and
its per capita GNP ranked second.).(5)
For more information on the social security systems, labour
market regulations, collective bargaining, social and family
policies, see the International
Reform Monitor.
Return to Top
|
Child, Youth and Family Policy Regimes
Maternity, Paternity, Parental,
and Family Leaves
Paid, job-protected maternity, paternity, and parental, leaves
constitute a significant component of ECEC policy (see below)
and family policy, too.(6) This policy
of paid leaves following childbirth (or adoption) has major
consequences for infant and toddler ECEC programs, affecting
the age at which out-of-home care may be needed. The Swedish
Parent Insurance benefit is the international exemplar. It
was established in 1974 and amended several times subsequently.
It is a universal social insurance benefit, to which all parents
are entitled when giving birth or adopting a child. The insurance
covers a right to leave from work with a job guarantee and
a right to financial support during the leave; the benefit
is included in taxable income.
The policy provides for 14 weeks of maternity leave (including
up to 7 weeks before birth) and two weeks of paternity leave
after childbirth. Parental leave follows for up to 18 months,
of which at least one month must be taken by the father (or
lost). The first year of leave is paid at 80 percent of wages
up to a ceiling (and 100 percent for civil servants) another
three months at a low flat rate, and the final three months
are unpaid, but still job-protected. (a non-working mother
is entitled to the minimum flat rate benefit). (Employers
often "top off" the first four months, thus covering
100 % of salary for these months). The parental leave can
be prorated (to cover 25 percent, 50 percent, or 100 percent
of time off from work) or shared by mother and father. All
eligible mothers take advantage of the leave. More than 75
percent of eligible fathers took some part of the leave in
1994, but this amounted to only 11.4 percent of all parental
leave taken. Nonetheless, on average, fathers were on leave
for 44 days (Swedish Information Service, 1996). Employers
must be given at least six months notice by employees regarding
taking the leave.
Working parents may take up to 60 days a year paid leave
to care for an ill child, (or the illness of their child's
caregiver) depending on the seriousness of the condition (Family
Leave). Working grandparents may do the same.
Return to Top
|
Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC)
Early childhood education and care in Sweden has been given
high priority for nearly three decades and is one of the cornerstones
of Swedish family policy.(6,7)
Policies extending the supply of care and promoting high
quality have been strongly supported by the Parliament and
by the public at large. According to a recent report,(8)
Swedish childcare has two objectives (1) to make it possible
for parents to combine employment or studies with family life,
and (2) to support and encourage children's development and
learning and help them grow up under conditions that are conducive
to their well -being. Since the early 1970s, when the dual
goals were officially laid down with the launching of a large-scale
public childcare program, the program has been viewed as including
both care and education. In recent years, the educational
policy aspects became increasingly important and in July 1996
responsibility for public childcare was transferred from the
Ministry of Health and Social Affairs to the Ministry of Education
and Science.
Swedish ECEC programs are designed to meet children's needs
for early education, socialization, and opportunities for
enhanced development as well as care. They cover the normal
work day and year, are publicly funded, delivered through
a free-standing autonomous system of centers and family day
care homes, and serve all children under compulsory school
age who have working mothers or mothers who are full time
students. (The government is increasingly stressing the need
for access to subsidized care regardless of parental employment
status.) The programs were developed initially as a service
for the children of poor, working, single mothers. However,
with the rise in female labor force participation rates in
the 1960s and 1970s, and the high current rates for mothers
of preschool-aged children (75-85 percent), they are increasingly
serving almost all children. The programs charge income-related
fees usually equal to less than 10 percent of average wages
and these fees cover about 20 percent of operating costs.
The government has established a policy of guaranteeing a
place for any child whose parents wish them enrolled, from
the age of one year. (Sweden's parental leave lasts for 18
months and infant care is largely parental care.) The government
has announced its intention of establishing a uniform natural
maximum ECEC fee. It is up to the municipalities to implement
this.
Swedish (and Danish) ECEC programs constitute the highest
quality of out-of-home care and education available anywhere.
. Centers are held to the same standards of quality, and charge
the same fees to parents, regardless of whether they are public,
private non-profit or for-profit. Standards concerning group
size, staff:child ratios, and caregiver qualifications are
high, rigorously set and enforced, and are based on extensive
research. Staff salaries are comparable to average wages in
other occupations. Staff turnover is low (about 10 percent
a year). Even though staff: child ratios were lowered as a
consequence of recent cuts in public spending on child care
in Sweden, they still remain higher than in other countries.
The programs are universal and serve all children under age
7, with priority for children with working mothers, lone mothers,
from immigrant or low-income families, or who have a disability.
All children aged 1-11 with working parents or parents who
are students, are guaranteed a place in good quality care.
By 2001 children of unemployed parents will be guaranteed
a place as well, albeit for part of the day. Coverage rates
for 1-5 year olds in center care or in supervised family day
care are about 75 percent and slightly lower for school aged
children in after-school (leisure time) care.
Family day care (called "child minding" in much of Europe)
is still regarded as secondary to group care programs in Sweden
but seen also as responding to some parents' preferences and
some children's needs. Family day care providers are trained
personnel who receive good salaries and benefits and are selected,
guided, supervised and made ever more qualified by assigned
and qualified supervision.
Return to Top
|
Family Allowances
Child Allowances are a cash benefit provided to families
residing in Sweden based on the presence and age of the child(ren).
The first and current law was enacted in 1947, and applies
to Swedish residents with one or more children under age 16
(or 20 if a student, 23 if attending a special school for
the mentally retarded. Child allowance was payable at the
rate of 750 SEK a month (about $100) in 1998.(2)
It is a universal, non-means-tested benefit. A special benefit
for large families -- with three or more children -- and linked
to child allowance, was eliminated in 1996 but re-instated
subsequently. An extended child allowance is payable for children
over 16 still attending compulsory school. The benefit is
excluded from taxable income. A special child allowance is
payable to children of widows, widowers, and other single
parents.
|
Child and Family Tax Benefits
Since the tax unit for income tax purposes is the individual,
there are no special tax concessions for families in the Swedish
system. The philosophy grows out of the gender equity policy.
Swedish employees pay substantially less in the way of payroll
taxes than in other countries, but the government and employers
contribute more. Companies pay "employer taxes", sometimes
earmarked for certain social services, and a Swede working
full-time pays an average of 30-40 percent in direct taxes
on income. In addition Sweden has an indirect 23 percent state
sales tax (a VAT or Value Added Tax) on goods and services.
|
Child Support
Child maintenance or support is expected to be paid by the
non-custodial parent whether the parents are unmarried, separated,
or divorced. Parents can make an agreement regarding the amount
of the maintenance but in the case of disputes the court decides.
Each child is entitled to a certain minimum amount which is
guaranteed by the government. In cases where the non-custodial
parent is not able to pay at least the minimum, the government
pays it. Child support/maintenance can be advanced by the
Public Social Insurance office and the amount paid is then
reclaimed from the parent who has to pay maintenance. The
child support benefit (guaranteeing a minimal level of support
to children in single-parent families) was reformed, in the
latter part of the 1990s in an effort at getting non-custodial
parents to provide more in the way of support. The reform
linked the court-ordered support awards more closely to the
non-custodial parent's income and eliminated the indexing
of the minimum support benefit.
|
Other Child Conditioned
Income Transfers
A widow or widower is entitled to a universal survivor's
pension payable for 6 months or as long as she/he is living
with a child under age 12. Half-orphans up to the age of 18
(20 if a student) are entitled to 25 percent of the pension
and 50 percent if a full orphan. An orphan is also entitled
to 30 percent of the earnings-related survivor pension.
Social Assistance is a means-tested cash benefit available
to those in need of a safety net. Couples with children constitute
around 15 percent of recipient households and lone mothers
around 25 percent (in 1995). (Single individuals are the largest
group and constitute about 60 percent of the caseload.) About
1/3 of all lone mothers claimed assistance in 1995, primarily
because of unemployment. Social assistance is intended to
be an aid for persons in temporary financial need, but in
recent years the period of dependence on assistance has increased
especially among lone mothers, young unemployed, and refugees,
and there is some discussion in Sweden about this.
Return to Top
|
Child and Adolescent Health
The health status of Swedish children is excellent. Infant
mortality rates are low, childhood mortality due to illness
is low, the mortality rates of children due to accidents is
among the lowest in the world, teen out-of-wedlock pregnancy
and abortion rates are very low. Nonetheless, there are some
concerns: About 18 percent of girls and 15 percent of boys
smoke every day and alcohol use appears to be increasing among
youth. There is also concern about rising rates of asthma
and allergies.
There is free health care for pregnant mothers and children
under school age in the municipalities in the form of "maternal
care centers" and "child care centers". The care is mostly
preventive. One obligatory check-up for all children is the
4-year examination. The results suggest that there are significant
differences in the health and development of children by socio-economic
status.
Since 1998 families with children, regardless of income,
no longer have to pay fees for health care services. Since
the 1970s the municipalities have established special health
centers for adolescent boys and girls focused on the prevention
of poor health, providing information about sex, and preventing
teenage pregnancies and sexual diseases. Children can use
these centers at any age, and can obtain counseling services
as well, especially during times of crises (parents' divorce,
child abuse) All tests are free. Access to contraceptives
is available to all, free of charge. And the general rule
is that children are granted secrecy, even from their parents
or authorities, unless the child is in need of protection.
All children are entitled to school health care free of charge,
again with a stress on preventive health care and to help
with information, advice, and provision of contraceptives.
Return to Top
|
Housing Benefits
Housing allowance is a means-tested benefit, the only such
benefit apart from social assistance. In contrast to the general
trend towards devolution, in 1994 the national government
took over the responsibility for housing allowance from the
localities. Families with children as well as spouses and
single persons are entitled to housing allowance, if they
are Swedish residents. It exists in two main forms:
- the income tested housing allowance that varies according
to age , income, housing cost, and the number of children;
- rent payments, which are fully covered for social assistance
claimants with a supplement to the housing allowance.
It is a tax-free benefit and plays an important role in the
incomes of modest and low income families. In the mid-1990s
it was reduced somewhat, eligibility criteria were more sharply
targeted on low-income families, and it was made more restrictive.
There is concern that the reform will have negative consequences
for families with children and thus it is being closely monitored.
Return to Top
|
School-Aged Children: Policies
and Programs
Sweden is among the few countries with national data regarding
coverage of school-aged children in such programs in Sweden.
About 70 percent of school-aged children are enrolled in after-school
programs ("leisure time centers"); these are often linked
with preschool programs, and involve income-related fees.
|
Youth
The National Board for Youth Affairs is responsible for youth
policies having to do with employment, education, housing,
recreation, and social matters. The major developments in
youth policy have to do with:
- health services and the special efforts made to provide
services related to sexual activity and contraception; and
- the active labor market policy and the efforts made to
provide training and education for youth out of school and
unemployed.
Sweden was one of the fourteen countries participating
in the OECD thematic review, From Initial
Education to Working Life - Making Transitions Work .
For more detail on the transition to working life in Sweden,
see OECD's background
report on Sweden.
Click here to view in pdf format a table on
the Ages at which children are legally
entitled to carry out a series of acts in the European
Union. See Youth Policies section
for definition of terms used.
|
Reconciliation of Work and Family
Life
The general culture in Sweden stresses the importance of
maintaining a balance between work and family life. Government
policies support this, in particular the extensive system
of subsidized early childhood education and care, and the
extensive and generous parental leave policies including post
childbirth, post adoption, and sick-child policies. Employers
must adapt to these policies and apparently have done so.
Return to Top
|
References
European Family Observatory, Developments in National Family
Policies, 1995. Brussels, Belgium: European Commission, DG
V, 1996.
European Family Observatory, Developments in National Family
Policies, 1996. Brussels, Belgium: European Commission, DG
V, 1997
Greve, Bent. Economic Support to Families with Children:
A Comparison of Five Welfare States. Roskilde, Denmark: Roskilde
University, 1999.
Gunnarsson, Lars et al. Early Childhood Education and Care
Policy in Sweden. Background Report Prepared for OECD, Paris,
France,1999.
Liljestrom, Rita. "Sweden", in Sheila B. Kamerman and Alfred
J. Kan, eds. Family Policy:Government and Families in Fourteen
Countries. New York: Columbia University Press. 1978.
OECD, Initial
Education to Working Life - Making Transitions Work.
Paris: OECD Publications, 2000.
Palme, Joachim and Irene Wennemo, Swedish Social Security
in the 1990s: Reform and Retrenchment. Stockholm, Sweden:
The Cabinet Office and Ministries, 1998.
Swedish Institute, Fact Sheets on Sweden, "Child Care in
Sweden", October 1999.
Ingrid Lindskog, S. LJungdahl, et al.at the Ministry of Education
and Science in Sweden, Thematic
Review of the Transition from Initial Education to Working
Life: Sweden Background Report (OECD with permission
from the Ministry of Education and Science in Sweden: 1998).
|
Notes
- Bent Greve, Economic Support to Families with Children:
A Comparison of Five Welfare Staes. Roskilde, Denmark: Roskilde
University, 1999.
- Joachim Palme and Irene Wennemo, Swedish Social Security
in the 1990s: Reform and Retrenchment. Stockhom, Sweden:
Printing Office of Cabinet and Ministers, 1998.
- European Family Observatory, 1995. Developments in National
Family Policies 1995.
- OECD In Figures.
- Unicef, Child Poverty in Rich Nations. Florence, Italy:
Innocenti Center, 2000.
- Lars Gunnarsson et al. Early Childhood Education and Care
Policy in Sweden. Background Report Prepared for OECD, 1999.
- Sheila B. Kamerman, "Early Childhood Education and Care:
An Overview of Developments in the OECD Countries", Paris,
France: OECD, 1998.
- Lars Gunnarsson et al. Early Childhood Education and Care
Policy in Sweden. Background Report Prepared for OECD, 1999.
P. 9
Return to Top
|
Contacts
Washington Embassy
Embassy of Sweden
1501 M. St., NW, #900
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 467-2600
Fax: (202) 467-2699
Ministry
Mr. Soren Kindlund
Deputy Assistant Under-Secretary
Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, Social Department
30-32 Regerinungsgatan
103 33 Stockholm
Phone: 00 46 8 103 633
Fax: 00 46 8 405 33 60
Email: soren.kindlund@social.ministry.se
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
