This chapter shows how welfare works in Sweden. You will learn how it is paid for, and what the state, the regions and kommunerna (the municipalities) are responsible for.
What is welfare?
Sweden is a welfare society. Everyone who lives here should have basic security, both economic and social. Everyone should be able to get healthcare and education. Someone who becomes ill or loses their job should be able to get money to live on.
The state, the regions and kommunerna are together called the public sector. To provide good welfare, they need enough money. Taxes make up a large part of that money. With taxes, we pay together for things like roads, schools and healthcare.
How the taxes work
Both working people and companies pay tax. More jobs and more trade therefore bring more money to welfare. Private companies can also run parts of the welfare system. Even so, the money still comes from taxes.
Someone who is employed pays income tax. The tax is deducted from wages and goes to the state, the region and kommunen (the municipality). Someone who buys goods and services also pays moms (value-added tax).
Someone with employees also pays employer's contributions. This is a fee to the state, on top of wages. The state uses the money for things like pensions and sickness insurance.
What the state pays for
The state pays for pensions, meaning money for people who grow older and stop working. The state pension is called the general pension. The state also pays for sickness insurance. This can provide sickness benefit if someone is too ill to work.
The state also pays for parental insurance, unemployment insurance, study support and child allowance. Parental insurance provides a parental allowance for when you stay home with your child. Unemployment insurance can give money to someone who becomes unemployed. Study support, for example student aid, is money for people who study. Families get child allowance for their children.
Higher education and research at universities and other higher education institutions are also paid for by the state. Higher education means studies after upper secondary school.
The regions and healthcare
Sweden is divided into 21 regions. Residents in each region pay tax to the region. The regions must make sure everyone can get healthcare. They run hospitals and health centres, and pay for them.
Most healthcare is run by the public sector, meaning by the regions themselves. A smaller part is run by private care providers. Even that care is paid for with tax money.
Primary care is the care you usually turn to first, for example at a health centre. Antenatal clinics (for pregnant women) and child health centres (for young children) are also part of primary care. Operations and other advanced treatment are done at hospitals, for example emergency hospitals, county hospitals and university hospitals. The regions also provide psychiatric care (for mental illness), rehabilitation (training after illness or injury) and dental care.
The kommun's responsibilities
Each kommun decides for itself how high its tax rate will be. Kommunen also decides how the money is used. Schools and education are kommunen's responsibility. Older people and people who are ill and need support in everyday life should also get help from kommunen.
Kommunen is responsible for childcare: preschool for young children, and after-school centres for schoolchildren before and after school. Compulsory school is for children aged 6 to 16, and it exists in every kommun. Kommuner also run upper secondary schools and municipal adult education (komvux) for adults.
Many older people need help with cleaning, cooking, laundry, shopping and personal hygiene. Kommunens support for older people is called elderly care. The law requires kommunen to offer it. Thanks to care and services in the home, many older people can go on living there. For someone who cannot stay at home, there are care homes for the elderly.
The social services
Every kommun has social services. These must give support and protection to people who need them. You can, for example, get advice, care, treatment, services, money or other help.
The social services can help families who do not have enough money. They can also help homeless people, meaning people who have no home of their own. Support also exists for substance abuse, for example of alcohol or drugs. The same applies to someone who faces threats or violence. This can include violence in close relationships, for example from a partner or a family member.
People with a disability can also get support from the social services. A disability can mean difficulty seeing, hearing, moving or learning. You can also get advice and help to start working or studying.
Who does what?
Responsibility for welfare is therefore shared between the state, the regions and kommunerna. The state pays for pensions and child allowance, for example. The regions are responsible for healthcare. Kommunerna handle, among other things, schools, elderly care and the social services. The goal is for everyone to feel secure, whatever their age or life situation.