Population, Economy, and Welfare in Sweden

Population, Economy, and Welfare in Sweden PDF Author: Tommy Bengtsson
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642851703
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 190

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Book Description
Tommy Bengtsson The Swedish welfare model of the 1960s and 1970s excited great interest among many other countries. Today it still is an ideal image for some but a warning for many others. The reason why opinion about the Swedish welfare model has changed is primarily Sweden's financial problems, which are associated with a badly financed and excessively large public sector. It is argued that the size of the budget deficit is a great problem in itself, but also, and perhaps more importantly, that the large public sector has negative effects on the entire economy since it lead to inefficient allocation of resources. A first step in order to solve these problems is to examine how they arose. The questions then are to what extent the large public sector which Sweden has today results from social entitlements which have come into existence since the 1960s, from the maturing of welfare systems decided upon earlier, from unfavourable demographic developments, or from economic stagnation, and how these factors are interlinked. What is quite clear is that Sweden has had very low economic growth during the 1970s and 1980s compared with the preceding period. But so have many other industrial countries, without their having in consequence found themselves in diffi culties as great as Sweden's. Therefore economic stagnation alone cannot explain Sweden's situation.

Population, Economy, and Welfare in Sweden

Population, Economy, and Welfare in Sweden PDF Author: Tommy Bengtsson
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642851703
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 190

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Book Description
Tommy Bengtsson The Swedish welfare model of the 1960s and 1970s excited great interest among many other countries. Today it still is an ideal image for some but a warning for many others. The reason why opinion about the Swedish welfare model has changed is primarily Sweden's financial problems, which are associated with a badly financed and excessively large public sector. It is argued that the size of the budget deficit is a great problem in itself, but also, and perhaps more importantly, that the large public sector has negative effects on the entire economy since it lead to inefficient allocation of resources. A first step in order to solve these problems is to examine how they arose. The questions then are to what extent the large public sector which Sweden has today results from social entitlements which have come into existence since the 1960s, from the maturing of welfare systems decided upon earlier, from unfavourable demographic developments, or from economic stagnation, and how these factors are interlinked. What is quite clear is that Sweden has had very low economic growth during the 1970s and 1980s compared with the preceding period. But so have many other industrial countries, without their having in consequence found themselves in diffi culties as great as Sweden's. Therefore economic stagnation alone cannot explain Sweden's situation.

Population, Economy, and Welfare in Sweden

Population, Economy, and Welfare in Sweden PDF Author: Professor of Demography and Economic History Tommy Bengtsson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783642851711
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
The Swedish welfare model has changed since the 1970s primarily due to Sweden's financial problems, which are associated with an excessively large public sector. Sweden has the highest proportion of old people in the world, the highest proportion of cohabiting couples, the highest proportion of children born outside wedlock, and the highest proportion of refugees in relation to population. This book deals with the development of the Swedish welfare system, its present stage and problems, analyses the causes, including economic and demographic effects, and shows solutions to the problems and what other countries can learn from the Swedish experience of the social welfare system.

Population Ageing - A Threat to the Welfare State?

Population Ageing - A Threat to the Welfare State? PDF Author: Tommy Bengtsson
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 364212612X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 137

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Book Description
Tommy Bengtsson Population ageing, the shift in age distribution towards older ages, is of immense global concern. It is taking place to a varying degree all over the world, more in Europe and some Asian countries, less on the African continent. The worldwide share of people aged 65 years and above is predicted to increase from 7. 5% in 2005 to 16. 1% in 2050 (UN 2007, p. 11). The corresponding ?gures for developed countries are 15. 5 and 26. 2% and for developing countries 5. 5 and 14. 6%. While population ageing has been going on for some time in the developed world, and will continue to do so, most of the change is yet to come for the developing world. The change in developing countries, however, is going to be much faster than it has been in the developed world. For example, while it took more than 100 years in France and more than 80 years in Sweden for the population group aged 65 and above to increase from 7 to 14% of the population, the same change in Japan took place over a 25-year period (UN 2007, p. 13). The scenario for the future is very similar for most developing countries, including highly populated countries like China, India and Brazil. While the start and the speed differ, the shift in age structure towards older ages is a worldwide phenomenon, stressing the signi?cance of the concept global ageing.

Sweden and the Revival of the Capitalist Welfare State

Sweden and the Revival of the Capitalist Welfare State PDF Author: Andreas Bergh
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1783473509
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 169

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Book Description
This book tackles a number of controversial questions regarding Swedenês economic and political development: «¾¾¾¾ How did Sweden become rich? «¾¾¾¾ How did Sweden become egalitarian? «¾¾¾¾ Why has Sweden since the early 1990s grown faster tha

The Welfare State in Transition

The Welfare State in Transition PDF Author: Richard B. Freeman
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226261859
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 490

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Book Description
Once heralded in the 1950s and 1960s as a model welfare state, Sweden is now in transition and in trouble since its economic plunge in the early 1990s. This volume presents ten essays that examine Sweden's economic problems from a U.S. perspective. Exploring such diverse topics as income equalization and efficiency, welfare and tax policy, wage determination and unemployment, and international competitiveness and growth, they consider how Sweden's welfare state succeeded in eliminating poverty and became a role model for other countries. They then reflect on Sweden's past economic problems, such as the increase in government spending and the fall in industrial productivity, warning of problems to come. Finally they review the consequences of the collapse of Sweden's economy in the early 1990s, exploring the implications of its efforts to reform its welfare state and reestablish a healthy economy. This volume will be of interest to policymakers and analysts, social scientists, and economists interested in welfare states.

Reforming the Welfare State

Reforming the Welfare State PDF Author: Richard B. Freeman
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226261913
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
Over the course of the twentieth century, Sweden carried out one of the most ambitious experiments by a capitalist market economy in developing a large and active welfare state. Sweden's generous social programs and the economic equality they fostered became an example for other countries to emulate. Of late, Sweden has also been much discussed as a model of how to deal with financial and economic crisis, due to the country's recovery from a banking crisis in the mid-1990s. At that time economists heatedly debated whether the welfare state caused Sweden's crisis and should be reformed—a debate with clear parallels to current concerns over capitalism. Bringing together leading economists, Reforming the Welfare State examines Sweden's policies in response to the mid-1990s crisis and the implications for the subsequent recovery. Among the issues investigated are the way changes in the labor market, tax and benefit policies, local government policy, industrial structure, and international trade affected Sweden's recovery. The way that Sweden addressed its economic challenges provides valuable insight into the viability of large welfare states, and more broadly, into the way modern economies deal with crisis.

Population Ageing - A Threat to the Welfare State?

Population Ageing - A Threat to the Welfare State? PDF Author: Tommy Bengtsson
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9783642126130
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 123

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Book Description
Tommy Bengtsson Population ageing, the shift in age distribution towards older ages, is of immense global concern. It is taking place to a varying degree all over the world, more in Europe and some Asian countries, less on the African continent. The worldwide share of people aged 65 years and above is predicted to increase from 7. 5% in 2005 to 16. 1% in 2050 (UN 2007, p. 11). The corresponding ?gures for developed countries are 15. 5 and 26. 2% and for developing countries 5. 5 and 14. 6%. While population ageing has been going on for some time in the developed world, and will continue to do so, most of the change is yet to come for the developing world. The change in developing countries, however, is going to be much faster than it has been in the developed world. For example, while it took more than 100 years in France and more than 80 years in Sweden for the population group aged 65 and above to increase from 7 to 14% of the population, the same change in Japan took place over a 25-year period (UN 2007, p. 13). The scenario for the future is very similar for most developing countries, including highly populated countries like China, India and Brazil. While the start and the speed differ, the shift in age structure towards older ages is a worldwide phenomenon, stressing the signi?cance of the concept global ageing.

The Transformation of the Swedish Welfare System

The Transformation of the Swedish Welfare System PDF Author: Ali Hajighasemi
Publisher: Sodertorns Hogskola
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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Book Description
What has happened to the once famous Swedish model? Since the economic crisis in the 1990s, prophecies of the imminent demise of the universal welfare state have been common. Cutbacks in social benefits and mass unemployment seem to confirm these prophesies. The author - a citizen of Sweden, with a Ph.D. from Durham University, UK and a native of Iran - thinks differently. In this study he explores the role of social movements, demographic, economic and socio-cultural conditions, institutional change and "globalization" in the transformation of the Swedish welfare state. Several programs were indeed recalibrated, and a policy of cost containment came to dominate social policy-making, independent of whether the government was center-left or center-right. Although the favorable conditions in the decades after WWII no longer obtain, the downsizing of the welfare programs has basically followed an egalitarian and universal logic. There are cracks in the wall, but the Nordic welfare states have thus far survived and have shown themselves more resilient than most other social organizations in crisis. Social scientists and politicians alike will find this book highly relevant for their work.

The Welfare State in Sweden

The Welfare State in Sweden PDF Author: Dorothy Wilson
Publisher: Heinemann Educational Publishers
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
Monograph on the welfare state in Sweden, including a comparison of social security provisions with selected EC countries and the USA - gives historical introduction, describes social protection, social cost and financing of old age benefits, health services and family benefits, discusses relations with employment policy and social assistance vs comprehensive population coverage, and attempts evaluation of social policy impact on welfare and income redistribution. Bibliography pp. 159 to 165, graphs and statistical tables.

Demography, Economy and Welfare

Demography, Economy and Welfare PDF Author: Christer Lundh
Publisher: Coronet Books
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 508

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Book Description
Demography has a long tradition in the Nordic countries, following largely from the fact that good population statistics made their appearance in the region at an early stage. Since our modern data are also of high quality, the demographer is very well placed for source material. Today, demographic research widely defined is carried out at many different institutions and government agencies in the Nordic countries. Nordic demographers meet regularly at conferences arranged by the national demographic societies and the Nordic Demographic Society, and these conferences give a good overview of the current state of the art. The Tenth Nordic Demographic Symposium took place at Lund on 12-14 August, 1992. More than 60 papers were presented during the conference covering a wide range of subjects. Compared with earlier conferences, at Lund papers on the population in the Baltic states and other non-welfare countries were new subjects, and the number of papers on economic demography was larger than usual. The five parts of this anthology reflect the different subjects examined at the symposium: the demography of the welfare society; economic demography; historical demography; the demography of non-welfare societies; and demographic methods.