Standard
of Living
For much of the latter 29th century Sweden's
standard of living was perhaps the highest in the world. Cars were affordable
for most families, and in 1990 there were 31 doctors for each 10,000 of
population, a very high rate; more important, access to health care was
universal. The prosperity may be attributed to a long period of neutrality,
innovative and efficient industry, and a social consensus among business,
labor, and government. Taxation policies from the early 1930's helped eliminate
extremes of poverty and wealth. Average income in each of Sweden's 24 counties
(with the unavoidable exception of Stockholm) diverged only barely from
the national average. A nobility still exists, but it has no priviledges,
and top political figures walk and bicycle on the capital's streets. Yet
Swedish society is not an egalitarian one, and new taxation policies in
the 1990's allowed a small number of people who own most of the nation's
resources to retain a larger portion of the wealth.
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Ways
of Life
Most urban dwellers live in apartments of
four or more rooms in modern, centrally heated buildings. Rents in them
are negotiated between tenant and landlord organizations. Many urban families
own summer homes in the country.
Swedish dress and social customs tend to
be formal, though less so among the younger generation. Most entertaining
is done in the home. Food preparation is not as elaborate as in southern
Europe, and fresh vegetables and salads are not prominent in the diet.
Alcoholic beverages are popular, but consumption has declined since rationing
ended in 1955.
Despite Sweden's reputation for sexual freedom,
its sexual mores probably differ little from those elsewhere in northern
Europe. But sex is treated more frankly, sex instruction is given in all
schools, and the teenage pregnancy rate is very low. The marriage rate
was about seven per thousand from 1950 to 1967. It declined to less than
five per thousand between World War 2 and the late 1960's, but then began
to rise; it was 29 in 1991. Sweden has liberal divorce laws, and its divorce
rate, which was more than one divorce for every 2 marriages in the 1970's
and 1980's, is high by European standards. The average family is small,
with one or two children. Illegitimacy bears little social stigma. One
half of all children are born out of wedlock.
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Religious
Life and Institutions
Regular church attendance is rare in Sweden.
But most children are baptised and confirmed, and mst marriages take place
in church. Also, few Swedes have taken advantage of the right granted in
1951 to withdraw from the state church, into which they are born. The king,
who must be a Lutheran, is officially head of the church, and the minister
of educationis also minister for ecclesiastical affairs. Religious policy
is decided by the Riksdag and by a church assembly with a lay majority.
The archbishop of Uppsala is primate of Sweden, but he has no authority
outside his own diocese. Parishioners elect their pastors, who are paid
from the revenues of church lands and from a special tax fund. Pastors
also act as public registrars. Women have been accepted into the ministry
of the state church since 1958.
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Labor
Movement
Almost 90% of industrial workers belong
to unions affiliated with the Landsorganisationen (LO), or Trade Union
Confederation. Its membership in 1992 was 2.2 million people. The Central
Organization of Salaried Employees (TCO) and the Central Organization of
Swedish Professional Workers (SACO), which represents employees holding
university degrees, bargain for about three quarters of white-collar workers.
Employers are organized in the Swedish Employers' Confederation (SAF).
Labor relations are governed by agreements reached in 1938 between the
LO and the SAF. The basic wage pattern was determined through nationwide
bargaining among unions, employers, and government. This system of "wage
solidarity" successfully prevented significant industrial conflict for
more than 40 years. However, under conditions of domestic inflation and
contracting exportb markets, it failed in May 1980 to avert the most serious
labor conflict in Sweden's history, when one fourth of all workers went
on strike or were locked out. Further strikes and lockouts in 1988 and
1990 also seriously affected labor-management relations. In 1991 the government
moved to end centralized wage bargaining and the government's role in wage
negotiations. The labor movement has funded study circles, cooperative
housing, and other services for members' benefit.
In 1972 the government gave Swedish unions
the right to name directors to the boards of all corporations with more
than 100 employees. A codetermined law, enacted in 1977, allowed unions
to share in most management decisions.
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Popular
Movements
The two major national organizations in
Sweden are the cooperative and temperate movements, which perform important
roles in the country's educational, economic, and cultural life. The cooperative
movement, made up of producer and consumer cooperatives, grew rapidly in
the 1930's. Its activities were widely publicized at that time by Marquis
Childs in "Sweden, the Middle Way". Since then the cooperative movement
has continued to grow. The Cooperative Union (KF) had about 2,000,000 members
in 1992. The various temperance societies also play an important role in
Swedish life but are becoming less important than they were in the past.
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Position
of Women
There is strong pressure in Sweden to break
down barriers between traditional male and female occupations. A larger
proportion of women between the ages of 20 and 65 work outside the home
than in most other industrial nations---82% in 1990, compared with about
62% in the rest of Scandinavia. However, the economic life of the country
is still largely male-dominated, and most working women hold relatively
low-paying jobs. Average wages for women in all fields were about 68% of
those for men in both 1980 and 1990. Women have had the right to vote since
1921. There were 141 women in the Riksdag in 1995.
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Social
Welfare
Sweden was long regarded as a model welfare
state, and even after cutbacks in the early 1990's its welfare coverage
was probably the world's most extensive. At the age of 65 every Swede is
entitled to a basic state pension. These pensions are adjusted to reflect
changes in the cost of living. A supplementary, employer-financed pension
program began in 1960 and by 1981 had been extended to cover all retired
workers. The two plans together are intended to provide a pension equal
to about two thirds of the retiree's average earnings during his 15 highest-paid
years. Widows, the blind, and the disabled also recieve pensions.
In 1974 a general unemployment insurance
system was instituted by the state. Previously, unemployment insurance,
although heavily subsidized by the state, was administered by the labor
unions. In addition to direct payments to the unemployed, Sweden puts its
main effort into retraining, employment agencies, and public service employment.
Employers must ensure their employees against
injury on the job. General health insurance has been compulsory since 1955.
A patient may choose a personal doctor and must pay the fees, but almost
all payment is covered by insurance. Patients who miss work are also paid,
usually about 80% of their salary after the first day missed. Most hospitals
are run by the state or by county councils, and treatment is free, unless
it is in a private ward. A parent who stops work because of the birth of
a child gets about 80% of ordinary income for 18 months afterward.
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