Social welfare in Sweden is made up of several organizations and systems dealing with welfare. It is mostly funded by taxes, and executed by the public sector
on all levels of government as well as private organizations. It can be
separated into three parts falling under three different ministries.
Social welfare is the responsibility of the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs. Education is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education and Research. The labour market is the responsibility of the Ministry of Employment.
History
The modern Swedish welfare system was preceded by the poor relief organized by the Church of Sweden. This was formalized in the Beggar Law of 1642,
and became mandatory in the Civil Code of 1734, when each parish was required to have an almshouse.
This system was changed with the Poor Law of 1847,
when the first national poor care system separate from the church was
organized: a mandatory public poor care relief fund financed by the
public was established in each parish (after 1862 municipality),
managed by a public Board of directors for poor relief, and the church
was no longer directly involved (though the parish vicar were always to
be given a place in the board), transforming the poor care from the
church to the state. In the reformed Poor Law of 1871,
however, the criteria of whom was eligible to receive benefits was
severely restricted to include only orphans, the aged and the invalids,
and in parallel, the system was complemented by old customs such as rotegång, Child auction and fattigauktion. This system was in place until 1918.
During the 19th century private sick benefit societies were started, and in 1891 these became regulated and subsidized. The Liberal Party government passed the National Pension Act in 1913 to provide security for the aged and in 1934 the private unemployment societies were regulated and subsidized in a way similar to the sick benefit societies.
The Poor Care law of 1918
replaced the law of 1871, transformed the old fashion poor care law to a
more humane modern social welfare system and abolished a number of old
outdated customs, such as rotegång, Child auction and fattigauktion, and transformed the old poor houses to retirement homes. The final transformation of the old poor care system to a modern social welfare system was the Social Help Law of 1956 (Lagen (1956:2) om socialhjälp).
In 1961 the private sick benefit societies were replaced with county-level public insurance societies who also handled pensions.
The independent and mostly union-run unemployment benefit societies has
been more centrally regulated and levels are now regulated by the
government.
Social welfare
The Ministry of Health and Social Affairs is responsible for welfare. This is defined as financial security in the case of illness, old age and for the family; social services; health care;
promotion of health and children's rights; individual help for persons
with disabilities and coordination of the national disability policies.
Health care
Sweden's entire population has equal access to the public health care services. The Swedish health care system is publicly funded and run by the county councils.
The health care system in Sweden is financed primarily through taxes
levied by county councils and municipalities. The health care providers
of the public system are generally owned by the county councils,
although the managing of the hospitals is often done by private
companies after a public tender. During the last decade several county councils have started using a Fee-for-service system for primary health care under the name "VårdVal".
Dental care is not quite as subsidized as other health care, and the dentists decide on their own treatment prices.
Elderly care
Elderly care in Sweden is the responsibility of the local municipalities. There are both retirement homes as well as home care, with home care on the rise.
Social security
The Swedish social security is mainly handled by the Swedish Social Insurance Agency and encompasses many separate benefits. The major ones are:
- "Barnbidrag": Monetary support for children up to 16 (support also available for older students)
- "Föräldrapenning": Benefits to be able to be home from work to take care of their children for up to 480 days per child. It also includes special benefits to care about sick and disabled children.
- "Bostadsbidrag": Housing allowances for anyone who otherwise can't afford housing.
- "Sjukpenning", "Sjukersättning", "Aktivitetsersättning" and "Handikappersättning": Benefits if you are ill or disabled and can't work.
- "Arbetslöshetsersättning": Benefits for unemployed (time limited to 300 days, five days a week, which means 60 weeks)
- "Ålderspension", "Garantipension": Benefits for those who have retired.
- "Försörjningsstöd": Benefits for anyone (and their children) who otherwise can't get a reasonable standard of living. This is given out purely on a need-basis and handled by each municipality's social service.
Welfare fraud
In its 2017, police stated that welfare fraud was prevalent in vulnerable areas, where benefits administered by Swedish Public Employment Service and the Swedish Social Insurance Agency were targeted. Police had identified resident registry figures that had been manipulated: for instance, 2% of all apartments in Rinkeby had between 10 and 30 persons registered as residents, which led to an inflated number of people receiving welfare benefits.
Education
Education is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education and Research. Education responsibilities includes pre-school and child care for school children as well as adult education.
Labour market
The labour market policies fall under the responsibilities of the Ministry of Employment.
The responsibilities considered to be a part of the welfare system
includes unemployment benefits, activation benefits, employment
services, employment programs, job and development guarantees, starter
jobs, and the European Social Fund. Sweden has state-supported union
unemployment funds.
