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Lessons for the United States?

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THE HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF CHILD CARE POLICIES
IN SWEDEN: LESSONS FOR THE UNITED STATES?

BY

Cynthia B. Struthers

A THESIS
Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

Department of Sociology

1991

’7 ~ {5 i Z)

k)

(3;

ABSTRACT

THE HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF CHILD CARE POLICIES
IN SWEDEN: LESSONS FOR THE UNITED STATES?

BY

Cynthia B. Struthers

The historical and social development of child care policies in
Sweden are examined with the intent of developing a social policy agenda
for the United States. This is accomplished by examining the historical
and social foundation upon which current child care policies and programs
rest in Sweden. An analysis of the cultural context in which social
welfare programs developed is necessary to determine the relevance of the
Swedish "model" for other modern, industrialized countries.

Sweden and the United States can be compared based on their similar
patterns of labor force participation, changing family patterns, and the
level of industrialization achieved. However, these societies differ in
the historical foundation and goal of social welfare provision, What this
research suggests is that the Swedish welfare system is not a model of
social welfare provision but a unique case study that can merely inform

policy development in this country.

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I NTRODUCT I ON 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0
Overview of the United States' Policy . . . . .
Overview of Swedish Society and Social Policy .
Overview of Swedish Child Care Policies . . . .

METHOD OF ANALYSIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

ANALYSIS OF DOCUMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Constructing a Case Study of Swedish Society .
Level of Industrialization . . . . . . . . .

Transformation from Agrarian to Industrialized Society .

Characteristics of the Population . . . . . .
Interaction among Social Classes . . . . .
Size of Population . . . . . . . . . . . .

Cultural Resources and the Degree of Homogeneity in

a SOCi-ety O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

The Concentration of Institutions and People in Sweden .

The Interrelations and Dominance of Institutions in

Swedish Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Social Policy Development within th Cultural
and Social Context . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Economic Policy and Social Welfare Provision
Population Policy and Social Welfare Provision

Equality Between the Sexes and Social Policy Development

Critical Review of Existing Child Care Policy
FINDINGS OF THE ANALYSIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
FOOTNOTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

BIBLImRAPHY O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

iii

le‘

13

16

17
17
22
29
29
31

33
36

38
46
46
49
52
54
61
63
69

72

Labor Force Participation Rates of Wives, Husband Present,
by Age of Youngest Child under 6, March of Selected Years
1970-1986,

Marital Status of Women Who Head Households, in Eight

LIST OF TABLES

in the United States . . .

Industrialized Countries (in percentages)

Occupational Distribution of Workers in Ten Industrial

Countries, by Percentage in 1982 . .

Swedish Foreign Trade by Product Groups, 1982 .

Labor Force Participation Rates by Sex, 1960-1980, in Nine

Industrialized Countries . . . . . .

Percentage Distribution of Female Employment by Main Sector,

1975 and 1982, in Nine Industrialized Countries .

Percentage Unionized in Twelve Industrial Countries,

1977 or after . . . . . . . . . . . .

Part-Time Employment: Selected Labor Force Statistics,

1981,

in Nine Industrialized Countries

iv

18

19

20

21

41

56

1.

LIST OF FIGURES

Percentages of Working Population Employed in Farming,
Industry, Services, Trade and Communications,
1800-1980, in SWBGBD e e e o e o e e a e o o o e o o

INTRODUCTION

Child care, especially the care and supervision of children while
their parents work outside the home, is a pressing issue in the United
States. Recently, child care has become a more prevalent topic for the
discussion.of social policy initiatives in the United States, particularly
as members of the middle class have begun to feel the pinch of juggling
work and family life responsibilities (Hertz 1986; Yeiser 1987; Chapman
1987). In 1990, federal legislation sought to address some of the issues
facing working parents through the passage of an expanded child care bill
and the introduction of parental leave legislation.1 Yet, although
parental leave legislation was passed by congress, this legislation was
vetoed by the president. Congress's failure to override the veto on
parental leave legislation has suggested that federally directed efforts
in this area are not likely to be adopted in the near future.

Yet despite the failure of these pieces of legislation, the need to
balance work and family responsibilities requires increased attention at
this time. Significant changes have taken place in the labor force over
the last two decades that have forced the reexamination of social policy
in the area of family and child support in the United States. The changes
in the labor force, family, and work organization most salient to this
thesis stem from the increased numbers of women with children who are now
in the labor force (Fox and Hesse-Biber 1984). The increase in the number
of women entering the labor force has persisted regardless of the ages of

children in the household (Table 1). This is a marked contrast to past

Table 1.

o c Parti at io

es f Wives

Husb n

P esent

b A.e c>

Youngest Child under 6, garch of Selected Years 1970-1986, in the United

 

 

 

 

States.
I i
Labor Force Participation Rate I
Presence and Age of Child
1970 1975 1980 1985 1986

IWives, total 40.8 44.5 50.2 54.3 54.6

No children under 18 42.2 44.0 46.0 48.2 48.2

With children under 18 39.8 44.9 54.3

With children under 6, total 30.3 36.8 45.3

With children under 3, total 25.8 32.6 41.5

3 to 5 years total 36.9 42.2 51.7

With children age 2 years 30.5 37.1 48.1

With children under age 1 24.0 30.8 39.0
= — ===

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Alfred Kahn and Sheila 8. Kamerman, Child Care:

 

 

 

 

Facing the Hard

Choices (Dover, MA: Auburn Publishing House, 1987), p. 11.

3
patterns of women's labor force participation. Today, women with children
under the age of 3 are entering and staying in the labor force. In the
past, labor force participation was often delayed until after children
reached school age (Wilkie 1988; Spitze 1988).

The increased labor force participation of women has led to a
growing need for child care and additional family support in the areas of
health care and parental leaves. Families with two working adult members
must balance both work and family responsibilities, as must single-parent
families when the parent works outside the home.

The social support and child care needs of families vary
considerably due to the presence of dual-earners or single-parents in the
household. An increasing number of children face the possibility of
living with one parent for at least part of their childhood (Hewlett
1986). Rising divorce rates have increased women's need to work outside
the home and have led to reduced financial support of children, both
because of wage inequality and also reduced financial support of an absent
parent (Hewlett 1986). Furthermore, in the United States, single-parent
families where women are the heads of households are far more likely to be
living in poverty than families in which two parents are present (Ellwood
1988, Levy 1988). Therefore, the options for child care and the other
support of children might vary considerably given the socioeconomic
conditions in which children are found. For both working parents and
social policy makers, this varied set of socioeconomic conditions appears
to create a complex set of problems for which solutions must be sought.

The United States is not alone in facing these challenges. The above
mentioned changes in labor market participation rates of women are quite

similar to those experienced by other highly industrialized countries.

4

Likewise, increasing divorce rates and single-parent family patterns are
also common among industrialized nations (Table 2). Yet, governmental
responses to the needs of working parents and their children differ
greatly among these countries. Therefore, an analysis of social policy in
other countries can be illustrative of the types and kinds of support that
the United States could provide for its members. Since the social
institutions of work and family often conflict and place constraints upon
individuals, especially in households in which children are present,
social policy alternatives must be sought to help working parents balance
work and family responsibilities more effectively.

Previous social science research on child care has often focused on
the developmental effects of public care on the child. Other research on
child care has focused on the effects of maternal separation on the child
when placed in a public environment. This type of research often fails to
recognize the social changes that have necessitated women's increased
labor force participation and hence, the reality of the need for child
care outside the home. The sociological grounding of this research makes
it clear that parents must work outside the home for a number of reasons.
And, once engaged in paid employment, parents must also arrange for the
care of dependent children. Indeed, what is most salient to this analysis
is ‘the recognition ‘that.*work. and family' responsibilities cannot be
examined in isolation from one another because they overlap and often
conflict in contemporary United States society.

Since the focus of this research will be in the area of child care
policy, some preliminary definitions are useful. For the purposes of this

research, child care is defined as the social support and care of children

 

 

 

 

 

Table 2.
' 1 St t of n Wh d u eh 1ds Indu t 'al ed
Countries (in percentages).
1====s=======L
Country Year Widowed Divorced Separated
Austria (1984) 7 43 9
Britain (1985) 8 42 25
Finland (1977) 29 50 4
France (1982) 31 39 15
Italy (1981) 41 7 40
Sweden (1985) 4 31 4
West Germany (1985) 18 46 16
United States (1985) 7 42 22
(1970) 20 33 40
flaw

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Sheila B. Kamerman and Alfred J. Kahn, ”What Europe Does for

Single-Parent Families," The Public Interest 93: p. 72.

6
generally. It may include the public care of children in centers or
within the child's home, while parents work outside the home. Yet, child
care must also be considered to be a part of a broad range of policies
that provide working parents with more flexibility in working
arrangements, such as, parental leaves after the birth of a child, job
guarantees, and days off to care for children during periods of illness.
These examples are not meant to be exhaustive of the possibilities for the
social support of children, but they reflect a sample of the kinds of

policies described in the child care literature.

Overview of the United States' Policy

According to Lubeck and Garrett (1988), “of all the nations in the
world, only five lack a family policy: South Africa, New Guinea, South
Korea, the Sudan, and the United States,” (p. 31). The absence of a
national family policy in the United States persists during a time when
the federal government struggles with child care and work and family
related issues. Since the United States lacks a comprehensive family
policy or federal guidelines for the development of a universal child care
network, an analysis of programs and policies developed elsewhere might
provide insight and direction for programs in this country.

Broad criticisms of the United States however must be tempered with
the recognition that at least some foundations of a social welfare system
do exist in this country. Though the United States is often criticized
for not providing comprehensive social support to its citizens, there are
several programs and policies that have been implemented to specifically
address the needs of individuals, families, and children. Hodges (1987),
for example, illustrates that families in the United States have sought

government intervention to address a myriad of basic needs in the areas of

7
medical care, welfare, and unemployment insurance when families could no
longer meet their members' basic needs. These programs were first
developed during the Roosevelt Administration in response to massive
unemployment during the Great Depression. Though massive unemployment led
to social policy development in the past, it is the increased labor force
participation rates of women that is stimulating the call for social
support at this time. It is the linkage of the economic necessity of
working, the need for the care and support of children and the relative
lack of comprehensive social programs for providing this support that
create the need for research on policy alternatives in this area.

When the support of working members of this society and their
children are considered, health care, job security, and child care are all
seen as interrelated concerns. Researchers, such as Lubeck and Garrett,
recognize that child care services are currently being expanded in this
country, but herein an additional concern arises. What continues to
differentiate the United States from other countries in the provision of
child care and other social supports for working parents, is that ”no
national child-care policy exists to guide its formation" (Lubeck and
Garrett 1988 p. 31). Thus, one objective of this study is to determine
what can be done to more adequately balance work and family obligations,
and what could facilitate the formation of child care and family related
policy in this country. This will be accomplished by analyzing the

development of social policy and child care policy in Sweden.

Overview of Swedish Society and Social Policy
At this juncture it is essential to make clear assumptions inherent
in this analysis. Much of this researcher's interest in this subject is

generated by a frustration with how the demands of paid employment and the

8

necessity of working outside the home have led to makeshift arrangements
in the care and support of children in the United States. In the absence
of other social support for the care of children in this country, parents
are left to find the best possible individual solutions to their child
care needs. If parents must work outside the home to provide for their
family's basic needs, their children especially young children, must
receive care and supervision. The costs to the society of not providing
adequate supervision and care while parents work is beyond the parameters
of this analysis. Yet, what is clear is that with the increased number of
working women in this country, child care is an issue that must be
confronted.

An analysis of social policy development in Sweden can illustrate
what has been done to address the needs of Swedish citizens for basic
support and also particularly the need for child care when parents work
outside the home. The social welfare system in Sweden has often been
elevated to the status of a ”model"; therefore, it is seen as providing
directions for policy in the United States in order to address the needs
of both working parents and children.

Sweden is considered to be one of the industrialized countries with
a highly developed social support network, What becomes clear is that the
historical development of the social welfare system in Sweden must be
analyzed so that the context of the child care system can be understood.
This thesis will illustrate that the social welfare system in Sweden not
only provides a comprehensive general support system, but also provides an
infrastructure upon which social policies have been implemented which
actively help working parents accommodate the demands of both work and

family life. It is expected that by critically examining child care and

9
social support for'working parents in Sweden, some directions for a policy
agenda in this country will become apparent. The question that this
research addresses is whether the child care system in Sweden is a "model"
upon which social policy in the United States can be developed, and if so,
in what ways.

If Sweden is truly a "model,” the United States could simply adopt
similar programs to address the needs of working parents and their
children. However, the assumption of the ”model” status of Swedish
policies must be critically analyzed, and this is the underlying objective

of this thesis.

Overview of Swedish Child Care Policies

In Sweden, specific policies to aid employed parents and provide
care for children include a variety of components. One aspect is parental
leaves in which either parent is allowed up to twelve months of leave to
provide for a child during his/her first year. These leaves can be taken
by one or both parents, during which time they receive ninety percent of
their working wages. Additionally, parents are allowed to cut back their
working hours (e.g., from eight to six hours per day) without
compensation, while their children are age 8 or under. These programs and
policies have been implemented through joint negotiations with employers,
unions, and the government.

Sick leaves are available t0*working parents in addition to parental
leaves. Working parents are allowed leave time to care for an ill child.
These sick leaves allow for 60 days of paid leave per year per child (The
Swedish Institute 1984b). In addition, nationally sponsored child care
programs allow for the care of sick children within their own homes by a

”licensed child-minder" while their parents work. Sick leaves are

10
available while the child is currently in public day care and while
children are of school age.

Since women continue to enter and participate in the labor force
when very young children are present, child care is needed once parental
leaves are exhausted. Compulsory school attendance does not begin until
children are seven years of age in Sweden, leaving almost six years that
children require care before entering the school system. Types of
facilities vary based upon the ages of the children needing care. Pre-
schools assume two forms, "day nurseries" and ”part-time" groups, though
both of these may be situated in the same facilities. Day nurseries
provide four or more hours of care per day and provide care for children
from six months and older. There is a shortage of spaces in day nurseries
for very young children (six months to a year), and there are waiting
lists for placement. However, since parental leaves through the first
year of a child's life allow for care at home most children do not begin
attending public child care centers until they are (older than six months.
Part-time groups are available for children between the ages of four to
six. There is a policy mandate that all six year olds are to have spaces
in part-time groups. Part-time groups become a pre-school environment
with programs that are geared to facilitate»a child's transition to public
school when they are seven. Part-time groups provide care for children
for three hours a day over a five day week.

In addition to public centers, there are family day nurseries.
Municipalities hire "child-minders" who provide care for children in the
child-minder's home. Up to four children may be cared for in a child-

minder's home. As has been previously mentioned, under government

ll
auspices, child-minders also provide care for sick children in the child's
home.

Older children between the ages of seven and ten are cared for in
"leisure time centers” (fritidg). Leisure time centers provide before and
after school care in addition to care during school vacations. Leisure
time centers may also provide care for children up to the age of twelve.
Wolfe found that according to a 1980 study, "...approximately sixteen
percent of Swedish and Danish children relied on such after-school
centers,...by 1984 that figure had risen to 30%" (1989b, p. 136). Within
the leisure time centers there is an emphasis upon recreational
activities.

In addition to child care facilities, and the before and after
school care for children of working parents, there are a number of other
programs that seek.t0rmeet the developmental needs of children. Parks and
playgrounds, open pro-schools, and toy-lending libraries all fall under
the auspices of public child care in Sweden. "Open pre-schools" are pre-
schools in which parents and children are able to attend and participate
in the programs offered, In.most of the literature regarding public child
care, day care is not seen as a replacement for parental care but as a
dependable form of care to facilitate work in the paid labor force. The
official position is that parental involvement is both sought and seen as
necessary to develop programs that meet the needs of children. However,
the amount of involvement parents have or seek.while their children are in
child care programs is an area in which future research is required.

It is also necessary to note that the child care system in Sweden is
limited in two areas. Though developed to facilitate the employment of

parents and the balancing of family responsibilities, most child care is

12

available only during daytime hours and "public child care programs still
only meet a fraction of the demand" (The Swedish Institute 1984c, p. 1).
According to research conducted in the 1980s, Wolfe found that
"...nineteen percent of children who qualified for public day care
couldn't obtain it" (1989b, p. 138). Literature about child care prior to
1985 concentrated on child day care, and identified normal working hours
as falling between 6:30-6:45 a.m. and 6:00-6:30 p.m. (The Swedish
Institute 1984b). This emphasis on the "gay” in ”child day care" appears
to be an important distinction. .Additional measures are needed to address
shiftwork and non-daytime hours of working parents and the availability of
child care arrangements to meet needs beyond "regular" work hours. Yet,
the implications of this are unambiguous; parents who work during non-
daytime hours still must find care for their children, and large numbers
of children remain without access to public child care.

Those child care programs which are available are developed to
provide a ”good, secure growth environment" and to provide men and women
equal opportunities to combine gainful employment with family life" (The
Swedish Institute 1984b, p. 1). Child care is the responsibility of the
municipal governments, and is financed through local taxes, parents' fees
and state subsidie?// These programs were originally developed under the
Social Services Act of 1982, and supervision of programs is under the
auspices of the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen).
Since the major goals of the program are to ensure a ”safe and secure
environment" for the children and facilitate their parents' work in the
paid labor force, most public day care facilities are located in local

neighborhoods.

METHOD OF ANALYSIS

The method that will be utilized in this analysis is a macro-level
examination of social policy in Sweden in order to reveal possible
directions for constructing and implementing social policy in the United
States. This research relies solely on the use of documents in carrying
out this analysis. These documents range from official government
publications, to articles from scholarly journals and newspapers. There
is a rather heavy reliance on publications from The Swedish Institute for
both historical and general background materials on Sweden.

.A macro-level approach has been adopted for this analysis for a
number of reasons. It is impossible to try to describe social welfare and
child care policies in Sweden without an understanding of this society's
historical development. It appears also that some understanding of the
distinctive nature of Swedish society must be developed to illustrate how
far programs and policies have come to address the basic needs of
residents in that country. It is necessary to grapple with the nature of
Swedish society to illuminate whether the social policies generated there
can be illustrative of directions in which the United States might seek
to develop future social programs. What this means is that an
understanding of the historical and social context in which social welfare
and child care policies developed in Sweden must be examined more fully.
It is not enough to merely describe the child care programs that exist in
Sweden but to critically examine the social foundations upon which these

programs and policies rest.

13

14

In 1970, Richard Tomasson wrote, Sweden: Prototype of Modern
Society. In it he raised many issues that will be re-examined in this
analysis. Tomasson (1970) sought to develop a means through which nation-
states could be compared one to another, with the goal of evaluating how
Sweden compared with other societies. In so doing he identified a number
of characteristics of nation-states upon which macro-level comparisons
could be based. Tomasson (1970) provides six features of nation-states
which he calls "infravariables". For Tomasson (1970), these
infravariables provide the foundation for comparative studies of
societies.

The infravariables Tomasson developed for macro-level comparisons of
societies, are:

l. The level of industrialization a country has achieved.

.2. The transformation of a society from agrarian to industrialized.

3. The demographic characteristics of the population.

4. The degree of homogeneity present within a society.2

5. The spatial distribution and influence of the capital to the
provinces.

6. The interrelations and dominance of central institutions in a
society.

These infravariables will be used in two ways in this analysis.
First, these infravariables provide the basis for a descriptive analysis
of Swedish society. Since one purpose of this analysis is to examine the
assumption of Sweden as a ”model,” a descriptive analysis of the society
is necessary. This will be done by developing a case study that examines
Swedish society given the context of its social structure and
institutions. Secondly, these infravariables will be used to illustrate

in what ways the United States and Sweden can be compared as modern,

15
industrialized nations, and to determine in what ways these societies
differ from one another.
The case study developed within this analysis will therefore, focus
on the characteristics of Swedish society, the economic and population
policies developed within this social context, and the ideologies and

goals upon which the social welfare system in Sweden rests.

ANALYSIS OF DOCUMENTS

Social policy and social welfare as they are understood in a
capitalist society are fairly recent developments both in the United
States and Sweden.3 Though there is some disagreement as to when social
welfare began in Sweden, it can be illustrated that the impetus for social
policy development in Sweden is different from other countries. Though
researchers such as Scott (1982) have been critical of the Swedish
government and its slowness to respond to the social needs of the
population, an extensive social welfare system has been developed in
Sweden that attempts to meet the needs of both children and society. The
foundation for the existing social support system in Sweden requires some
consideration.

Child care and the care and support of children as full members of
Swedish society are part of both economic and population policies adopted
in that country. In addition, there are characteristics of Swedish
society that must be discussed so that the social support system can be
understood within the context of the society. This discussion will center
first on those characteristics of Swedish society that allow Sweden to be
compared with other western, industrialized countries. This section will
be followed by a discussion of the substance of the economic and
population policies developed in Sweden and the ideological emphasis
placed upon different aspects of social policy developed since the early

19008 .

16

17
Constructing a Case Study of Swedish Society
Level of Industrialization

The first infravariable that Tomasson (1970) suggests is necessary
to consider'when comparing nation-states is the level of industrialization
that a country achieves. The level of industrialization in Sweden is high
enough for it to appear among the elite of industrialized nations (Table
3). The nature of industry in Sweden varies across manufacturing types
which gives Sweden a diverse industrial base. Though traditional
industries such as timber and ship building are experiencing declines, as
a whole, Swedish industry has sought to diversify to provide for internal
consumption but also to obtain a level of production that allows Sweden to
remain competitive with other countries (Table 4).

In addition to considering how the industrial configuration is
similar in Sweden and other countries, the characteristics of labor force
participation are also salient, to this analysis. The labor force
participation rates for men and women are quite similar for the United
States and Sweden (Table 5). In 1980, the labor force participation rate
for Swedish men was 78.4 percent; the rate for U.S. men was 76.3 percent.
The labor force participation rate for Swedish women was 64.6 percent in
1980, while the rate for women in the United States was 54.5 percent.
Though the overall labor force participation rate for women in the United
States is less than the level for Swedish women, the overall pattern is
similar. It shows that since the 19603, women in both countries have been
entering the labor force in increasing numbers (Steinberg and Cook 1988).
Likewise, the percentages of women working in major employment sectors
appear to be quite similar in both Sweden and the United States (Table 6).

The point here is to recognize that not only is the level of

18
Table 3.
0 9: ion Dist Auto: - -_ _ T- out -. ou b

Percentage in 1982.

 

 

 

============fi============================
Services Manufac- Mining, Agricul-
turing Construction ture
U.S. 69.2% 20.4% 6.8% 3.6%
Canada 69.3 18.2 7.2 5.3
Australia 64.8 ('81) 19.6 ('81) 9.0 ('81) 6.5 ('81)
Japan 56.0 24.7 9.8 9.4
France 57.1 ('81) 25.1 ('81) 9.3 ('81) 8.6 ('81)
German (F.R.) 52.7 33.7 ('81) 8.1 5.5
Great Britain 62.4 ('81) 26.7 ('81) 8.1 ('81) 2.8 ('81)
Italy 50.4 25.9 11.3 12.4
Netherlands 64.3 ('81) 20.9 ('81) 8.9 ('81) 5.9 ('81)
Sweden 64.9 22.5 6.9 5.6

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Ramona L. Ford, Work, Organization, and Power. (Boston, MA:

Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1988), p. 44.

19

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 4.
Swed s ore n rade b Product Grou 982.
ail-Ia
Exports % Imports %
SEX SEX mill.
mill.
Foodstuffs 4,896 2.9 12,060 7.0
Raw materials and fuels 26,541 15.8 49,202 28.4
Wood products 7,038 4.2 1,242 0.7
Pulp 6,442 3.8 312 0.2
Ores 2,772 1.6 2,142 1.2
Fuels 8,996 5.4 42,491 24.5
Chemical products 9,684 5.8 15,344 8.8
Semi-manufactures 37,688 22.4 22,267 12.8
Paper and board 16,143 9.6 1,732 1.0
Textile yarn and
fabrics 2,178 1.3 4,501 2.6
Iron and steel 10,865 6.5 6,695 3.9
Non-ferrous metals 3,393 2.0 3,896 2.4
Engineering products 76,583 45.6 52,657 30.4
Metal manufactures 6,060 3.6 4,461 2.6
Power-generating
equipment 4,551 2.7 3,769 2.2
Machinery for
special industries 8,238 4.9 5,075 2.9
Metal-working
machinery 1,749 1.0 1,474 0.9
Other non-e1.
machinery
and equipment 11,979 7.1 8,163 4.7
Office machines and
EDP equipment 3,527 2.1 5,010 2.9
Telecommunications
equipment, radios,
TV sets, tape
recorders
and the like 6,651 4.0 3,363 1.9
Road vehicles 22,259 13.2 11,333 6.5
Other transportation
equipment 4,504 2.7 1,272 0.7
Other manufactured goods 12,583 7.5 21,994 12.7
Furniture 2,510 1.5 1,404 0.8
Clothing 1,322 0.8 6,812 3.9
Scientific instruments 2,512 1.5 2,826 1.6
Arms and ammunition 1,175 0.7 767 0.4
TOTAL 167,975 173,525 I
H E
Source: The Swedish Institute, ”Fact Sheets on Sweden: Sweden's Foreign
Trade," (Stockholm, Sweden: October 1983), p. 2.

 

 

Table 5.

 

 

 

 

as 'o c: a e: 79.0—7 ,1: Igd s r - _e-
n r .
r
Labor force participation rates
‘ Country Year
Total Female Male
‘ Austria 1975 58.4 42.4 76.3 1
1979 30.5 54.0 ‘
p 1982 32.2 56.3
, Canada 1960 56.2 30.2 82.2
' 1968 57.8 37.1 78.7 1
1974 61.1 42.9 78.7
1979 -- 47.9 78.1
1983 -- 52.6 76.7
Denmark 1967 -- 49.1 86.0 I
' 1973 -- 54.2 80.5'
1976 -- 56.7 80.9 '
1979 -- 60.9 79.3
1983 -- 64.7 78.4 :
. Federal Republic 1960 60.0 41.2 82.7
' of Germany 1968 57.1 38.6 79.1
1976 53.2 37.7 72.1
1982 54.1 39.1 70.9
- France 1960 62.0 43.3 84.2
1968 58.8 41.4 78.5
1976 58.7 43.8 75.3 g
, 1982 55.6 42.4 69.8 g
7 Italy 1982 51.6 33.6 70.9 i
Sweden 1960 63.2 43.4 83.3 ;
1968 62.4 46.9 78.9
1976 65.3 55.2 75.8 i
1980 -- 64.6 78.4
E United Kingdom 1960 60.7 38.7 86.0 ‘
1968 60.2 40.8 81.7
1976 61.5 45.8 79.0
1982 59.1 44.5 75.0
, United States 1960 59.4 37.7 83.3
1968 59.6 41.6 80.1
1976 61.6 47.3 77.5
1985 -- 54.5 76.3
==

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Ann Helton Stromberg and Shirley Harkess, editors, Women Working:
Theories and Facts in Perspectives, Second Edition (Mountain View, CA:

Mayfield Publishing Company, 1988), pp. 308-309.

21

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 6.
r e ta s r ion 0 e a e 0 sin 8 ctor 975 d
9 i ne dust alized Cou r e .
Agriculture Industry Service “
Country 1975 1982 1975 1982 1975 1982 l
lAustria 15 12 27 24 57 64
Canada 3 3 15 14 81 83
Denmark 6 5 17 16 76 78
Federal Republic of
# Germany 10 8 31 30 59 62
France 8 7 25 22 66 72
Italy 18 13 28 27 53 60
Sweden 4 3 19 15 77 82
United Kingdom 1 1 25 20 73 79
IUnited States 2 2 18 17 80 81
= -

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: .Ann Helton Stromberg and Shirley Harkess, editors, Women Working:
Theories and Facts in Perspective, Second Edition (Mountain View, CA:

Mayfield Publishing Company, 1988), p. 311.

22
industrialization comparable for Sweden and other western nations, but
that labor force participation rates and work patterns are also similar

among these nations.

Transformation from Agrgriag to Industrialized Society

The second infravariable that Tomasson develops is the
transformation of a society from agrarian to industrialized. Tomasson
feels that in Sweden, the transformation from agrarian toia.more urban and
industrialized society had less conflict than these transformations in
other European countries (1970 p. 4). Like Tomasson, Baldwin (1989)
considers the social transformation from agrarian to industrialized nation
to have been less violent than in much of the rest of Europe. Baldwin's
(1989) research also emphasizes that the differential development of
Sweden from agrarian to industrial nation dif{ergflbgggd_on_the.timing_of
this event when compared to other countries} Baldwin suggests that this
transformation occurred somewhat later in Sweden than in the rest of
Europe in that the agrarian production remained high for a more extended
period of time (Figure 1).

Scott (1982) likewise emphasizes that Sweden was slow to
industrialize when compared to other countries in Europe. Not only was
Swedish society slow to industrialize, but Scott also feels that Sweden
was relatively slow to develop social welfare policies that responded to
the needs of society brought on by the transformation to
industrialization. Though disagreement exists among researchers about
when Sweden began to address social problems, they do agree that once
begun, the development of the social welfare system and the transformation
to industrialized society emerged rapidly. The point that needs to be
stressed is that the transformation from agrarian to industrialized
society differed in Sweden from that of other countries in Europe and from

the United States, both in terms of goals and intensity.‘ Though less

23

 

8:

 

‘Or ---ftnmhg
«ceases ”‘3'", '

 

 

 

‘0 - --- 8%.. O... .00 .0/
a" 1
m-.. Trade and communlcsllon: ....«""" Id!
.00. .-. .- .-.‘
to h me n... ‘00"‘.‘.‘ I
‘announces“assesses“...9”...... ’0’. ”’
ensue-e.--“ee-—---=7J."-----"‘.e
o ns-s-s-s-s-s-ers-.-.‘. . A
3.00 . “50 “m “50 I900

Figure 1.
Percentages of Working Population Employed in Farming, Industry, Services,
Trade and Communications, 1800-1980, in Sweden.

Source: The Swedish Institute, "Fact Sheets on Sweden: The Swedish

Population," (Stockholm, Sweden: December 1984), p. 2.

violent than in other places, the resulting social disruption led to the
need for the development of a number of programs to address problems of
widespread unemployment and poverty. Thus, the social transformation of
Sweden from agrarian to industrialized is a significant difference that
requires further examination.

Baldwin (1989) illustrates that Sweden was slow to industrialize
when compared to Great Britain and the rest of western Europe, and
suggests that this allowed Sweden the option of adopting similar programs
or developing other approaches to social welfare. Baldwin feels that the
Scandinavian approach that was adopted differed considerably from the
programs and policies that were being developed elsewhere:

...8candinavian welfare policy was the fruit of the common

masses' political power,...it therefore incorporated a

solidarity of the entire community by including all citizens,
offering them egalitarian flat-rate benefits, and relying

24

heavily on tax financing to distribute burdens by ability to
shoulder them (Baldwin 1989 p. 6).

Baldwin contrasts this with the development of social policy that
addressed the needs for social support in other countries in which revolt
by the working classes was the impetus for the development of social
welfare support (e.g., France), or in those countries in which the elite
of society made concessions of social support to stem unrest among the
working classes (e.g., the United States). The provision of social
welfare became a means of social control under these circumstances. In
the United States this is often referred to as ”Mass Turmoil Theory" which
is illustrated in the work of Piven and Cloward (1971; 1987). Baldwin
suggests that in much of Europe (and the U.S.) social support was
historically used to preserve the "unjust order" and not change it. The
development of policies that focused primarily on the working class,
avoided*wide-ranging social equalization in.which.benefits varied based.on
placement in the hierarchy, and relied on unredistributive financing
through premiums (Baldwin 1989).

Because the Scandinavian countries sought to address the needs of
all citizens, attempted to redistribute resources across society, and
sought to provide social equalization as a goal of the social welfare
policy, the ground work was laid for social welfare policies that differed
significantly from those in other industrialized countries. For Baldwin,
the development of social welfare in Scandinavia sought to change the-
social order through the fundamental redistribution of resources across-
society coupled with tax reform that effected both urban and rural
residents. This provided all residents with at least minimal social
support. These strategies were to provide the basis for future welfare
policies.

Because more people remained in agricultural development longer in

Sweden in comparison to other countries, Baldwin feels this allowed time

25

for farmers and small producers to organize. And, just as
industrialization elsewhere resulted in a.movement to, and concentrations
of , the population in urban areas, urban residents were not the only
people experiencing social disruption. Increased concentrations of people
in urban areas intensified the need for basic goods and services, but
poverty was also widespread throughout the countryside. The need for
rudimentary social support became evident in the late 1880s, as did the
need for tax reform. Previous tax reform policies were, according to
Baldwin, ”archaically and unfairly apportioned" with the burden on the
countryside greater than upon non-rural areas (1989 p. 16).

Tax reform became the means through which revenues were raised to
address prevailing social ills. Though social problems appeared to be
more acute in the urban areas due to the absence of basic goods and
services, rural areas also experienced a high degree of social disruption
and poverty caused by the exodus of people from the farm to
industrializing areas. In Sweden, farmers and small producers developed
a political voice from the beginning of this social transformation from
agriculture to industry, and generally rallied around the issue of tax
reform. The fact that much of the Swedish population remained in
agriculture longer than in other countries appears to have had a
significant impact on both tax reform and the benefit structure that was
to develop in the society.

Baldwin's (1989) research illustrates that the increased need for
social services in urban areas led to far more comprehensive social
reforms in Swedish society because farmers and small producers in the
rural areas were organized, had access to representation in Parliament,
and would not accept a tax burden for social programs in which they were
excluded from the benefits. Since tax reforms during this period took
into account the needs and desires of both rural and urban residents,

support for the general population had a collective foundation upon which

26

to rest. Even in its earliest form, social welfare contributions and
benefits were linked to the amount an individual paid into the system, and
did not rely solely on contributions from employers or other sources.
Contributory programs are by far the most prevalent type of social support
programs in the United States, with the largest of these programs being
Social Security (OASDI) and unemployment insurance.

Baldwin's research illustrates two recurrent features of Swedish
society and social policy that will be discussed further. The first is
the high levgl of pglitical orggnizgtiog among the general population, and
political representation present in the society from the turn of the
century; and secondly, that even the earliest social mlicigs were
im 1e nt d to ddre 3 needs e all a rose th c . The
implications of this for child care and the support of children will
become apparent in later sections of this paper.

Just as Baldwin suggests that assistance was mediated between rural
and urban residents with«genera1 assistance across the population, Kjellin
(1980) illustrates early attempts by the Swedish government to mitigate
inequalities between men and women. Though Kjellin focuses on family law,
his research centers on the economic rights and responsibilities of men
and women in Swedish society. Beginning in 1925, there was a reform
movement which sought to abolish a man's exclusive control over property
and over property his wife may have owned prior to marriage. A man's
exclusive control over property’meant that any property that a woman owned
prior to marriage was appropriated by her husband once she married.
Changes in family law during this time allowed women to retain property
rights which provided women with some financial independence and ”freed"
them from total dependence upon a man. Because of these changes women who
lost a husband through death or abandonment, or who chose to remain
single, were able to provide for themselves because they were allowed

access to property.

27

These measures to provide economic protection through guaranteed
property rights have had far reaching consequences for additional social
support. Women could own and retain property regardless of marital
status. Kjellin (1980) stresses that changes in family law were part of
an increased effort to achieve some type of equality between men and
women; the outcome of these changes in the law'were to allow'women to have
some measure of economic security. This was achieved through legislation
and had ramifications for society as a whole.

Economic security can also be extended through social welfare
programs that address the basic security needs of individuals and
families. Tax reform and the need for pensions were addressed during this
same period. In addition to changes in Family Law, during the 1920s and
1930s, the security needs of the Swedish.population.were addressed through
"general old age pensions" (Kjellin 1980 p. 129). General pensions and
tax reform illustrated early attempts by the government at a collective
approach to social support. This collective orientation is present not
only in Sweden but in other Nordic countries as well. This collective
orientation among the Nordic countries and‘within Sweden are, for Kjellin,
specific to these countries, and makes them distinct from other countries
in Europe and from the United States.

Certain points regarding the social transformation from agrarian to
industrialized and the patterns of social policy development must be
emphasized. First, research has illustrated that the process of
industrialization was less violent in Sweden than in other European
countries. Secondly, industrialization did not begin in Sweden until
considerably later than in other countries. According to the Swedish
Institute (1983s), though the shift to industrial began between 1880 and
World War I, it was not until the war broke out that industrialization was
”firmly rooted” (p. 1). The 19203 and 1930s provided a period of

continued industrial expansion with a slight decline during the 1930s,

28

though this was minimal when compared to what other countries experienced
during this period. While other countries suffered devastation during
World War II, Swedish industry remained intact and free from competition.
And finally, the number of people in agriculture and working as small
producers was greater because of later industrialization, and people
remained in agriculture in greater numbers for a period even after
industrialization was underway.

When social policy development is consideredwwithin this context, it
is apparent that legislation during this period reflected a‘willingness to
address the needs of all members of society and not just segments of the
society. Tax reform sought to distribute the burden of social welfare
costs across the society. Both rural and urban residents would share the
burden of social welfare programs, and.both.would share in the benefits of
these programs. Some measure of equality between rural and urban
residents would therefore be achieved. Changes in family law sought to
allow both men and women access to property, and to provide women with a
measure of economic security whether or not they married. Women were
thought to no longer be as dependent upon men for economic security once
their access to property was secured. Social policy development at this
time also sought to provide retired or disabled adults with economic
security through the development of a universal pension plan. WOrking
people and those unable to work due to old age or disability were
guaranteed a minimum standard of living. Similarly, future child care
legislation was to guarantee that the young would not be vulnerable to
social disruption due to the inability to work. Thus, during the social
transition from agrarian society to industrialized society, the
legislation of social welfare ;provisions across the population *was
implemented to provide all segments of society with minimum standards of

living.

29
t c 1 o

A third infravariable that Tomasson discusses is demographic
characteristics of the population of a country. Tomasson describes three
variables under this heading: the size of the population, the
"intermingling among classes”, and the cultural resources available within
a society. According to Tomasson, it was the characteristics of the
population that made Sweden most distinct from other countries, though
this distinctiveness was perhaps more true at the time Tomasson conducted
his research. As political and economic conditions around the world have
forced the migration of many and diverse peoples from their homelands,
Sweden has sought to absorb a number of these people into a previously
more isolated and homogeneous society. This has resulted in a social
transformation in Sweden in which the characteristics of the population

are being significantly changed.

Interaction among Sgcial Classes

The first aspect of a society's population that Tomasson considers
to be of importance is the amount of "intermingling" among classes in the
society. By this Tomasson appears to refer to the amount of interaction
and contact between classes in Swedish society. Sweden. cannot be
considered a ”classless" society, but throughout its history there have
been many examples of direct interaction between the different classes.
Early on, farmers experienced direct interaction‘with the Crown, and often
leased their land directly through this relationship. Farmers also
achieved a level of political organization that led to political
representation at the national level from the turn of the century. The
support of the Agrarian Party (now the Center Party) was often a crucial
component in coalition governments prior to the 1930s.

Not only have farmers been able to secure a voice in policies that

effect the whole of Sweden's society, but contacts among classes have been

30

achieved through membership in a State Church. The Lutheran Church has
traditionally been the State Church of Sweden. Though the Church's
influence has substantially declined with increased urbanization and
industrialization, membership numbers remain high even though attendance
has decreased, Ninety-five percent of the population still belongs to the
Church of Sweden, though only 5% of the population is thought to attend
services on a weekly basis (The Swedish Institute 1984a).

The role of a Church of Sweden, however, appears to play two
important functions in Swedish society, or did so traditionally. First,
the church is often a provider of social assistance such as food and
clothing during the times of social disruption, and though ill equipped to
alleviate these problems over a wide scale, churches do provide assistance
to local residents. Prior to 1914 the Lutheran Church appears to have
been the major provider of this type of assistance.

Secondly, the Church of Sweden, especially in a largely homogeneous
society (homogeneity will be discussed in a subsequent section of the
paper), provided the basis for a common identity regardless of rural or
urban residence. However this was certainly more true while Tomasson was
conducting his research. The presence of a State Church would appear to
reduce and prevent competition and divisions among classes and
denominations that exist in societies that are less homogeneous than
Sweden. That is, members of all classes remain integrated within one
church in Sweden, and are not devided by social class among a number of
different denominations.

The presence of a State Church reflects the early integration of
government and religion. The early form of government in Sweden was a
reigning monarchy. It was from among the nobility and the Church that a
civil service arose, and, as the form iof government changed, this
foundation remained. The linkage between the government and Church was

absolute until 1860 when it became possible to resign one's membership in

31

the Church.of Sweden (The Swedish Institute 1984a). Allegiance to another
church was required, even if membership was withdrawn from the Church of
Sweden, until 1951. After 1951, one could withdraw her or his membership
from the Church of Sweden without being required to establish membership
in another denomination. Though the Church has become increasingly
separate from the government, it is significant that at the parish level,
a church tax is still collected and required even of non-members. Non-
members pay 30% of the church tax, which represents the cost to the Church
of providing "civil" duties, such as keeping population records and
administering burial grounds (The Swedish Institute 1984a).

Though church attendance is new low among native Swedes, part of the
social transformation that is taking place in Sweden is the presence of
residents with far more diverse cultural backgrounds. With these diverse
cultural and ethnic backgrounds come other religious associations and
traditions. As Sweden becomes more culturally diverse, other religious
organizations and churches may gain increased influence. Though the
present role of the Church in Swedish society is somewhat ambiguous, in
the past the Church played an important role in the shaping of Swedish

society and social policy in that country.

Size of the Population

Another characteristic of the population that Tomasson stresses is
the size of the population of a society relative to other countries. The
size of the population of Sweden remains relatively low for a country of
its land area in Europe. And, though Sweden has endured periods of
tremendous fluctuations in population, it has remained fairly stable over
time. The size of the country is roughly equivalent to the size of
California with a population of approximately 8.4 million in 1988.5 The
population of the United States at 2461million is considerably larger than

this and this difference may well be significant in a number of

32

dimensions.6 These differences will be discussed in more depth later in
this analysis.

For Tomasson, the size of the Swedish population, "...frees the
society. . .from international power and prestige considerations and perhaps
tends to focus political attention on domestic affairs,” (1970 p. 4).
Though again, this may have been more accurate during the period in which
Tomasson was originally conducting his research. Sweden's foreign policy
is best described as ”'non-participation in alliances in peacetime aiming
at neutrality in the event of war.‘ This means that Sweden is not a
member of any political or military alliance. In the event of war Sweden
will declare itself neutral" (The Swedish Institute 1985c, p. 1). Being
neutral during two World Wars prevented the massive destruction of Sweden
that other countries in Europe had to endure.

Sweden has a history of remaining free from conflicts in Europe, and
has appeared to place the needs of its people above involvement in
international struggles. Sweden is not, however, wholly separated from
the rest of the world; rather, it enjoys ties with other Nordic countries,
and is an active member of the United Nations as well as other
international agencies.7 It is through Sweden's membership in the United
Nations that political refugees are now entering Sweden in previously
unprecedented numbers.

In recent years, Sweden has sought to curtail and decrease
immigration into the country. Yet, regardless of policies to stem
immigration into the country, Sweden remains a "refugee designate” country
and has agreed to accept U.N. designated refugees. Refugees entering
Sweden under this agreement with the United Nations High Commission are
coming from more widely diverse and distant countries than ever before.
Recent refugees have come from Chile, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, and Lebanon.

Though this research does not suggest that Sweden has concentrated

more on domestic than international policy, Sweden has attempted to deal

33

with two issues, population growth and decline, and economic policy which
emphasized specific needs of Swedish society in isolation from
international considerations. That is, the Swedish government and people
have taken specific steps to address population and economic issues as a
society, in the hope of affecting fundamental changes within the society.
Though increased and varied industry has made Sweden competitive with
other nations, many of the country's industrial policies have been

developed to address specific domestic needs of the Swedish people.

Cu tural Resources and the e e e n a So et

Another characteristic of the population Tomasson discusses is the
number of cultural resources a country has available. This particular
characteristic of the population is more accurately addressed when the
degree of homogeneity present in a society is considered. Prior to and
continuing through the 1960s when Tomasson was conducting his research,
Sweden was a largely homogeneous society and relatively isolated from the
rest of Europe. The Samar are a small culturally distinct ethnic
minority, while native Swedes are by far the dominant ethnic group in

Sweden.8

For Tomasson the presence of only two culturally distinct and
separate ethnic groups provides little in the way of internal cultural
resources. The lack of a number of different cultural resources may well
have intensified a collective identity among members of the society. In
the relative absence of challenges to existing values, other cultural
tools, or divergent subcultures, Swedish society experienced an
intensified degree of homogeneity.

The degree of homogeneity remains a highly distinctive feature of
Swedish society; however, as mentioned before, a social transformation is
currently taking place. This transformation is a transition from a highly

homogeneous society to a more multi-cultural society. With the increased

presence of other ethnic and racial groups should come an increase in

34
cultural influences, though the form in which these influences might
manifest themselves is difficult to predict. Whether these diverse
cultural influences will serve to broaden the cultural resources and
awareness among the society, or serve»as a catalyst for polarization among
the native population and newer residents within the society remains to be
seen.

News of violence against immigrants and racial attacks have been on
the increase in Sweden and much is currently being written about racism in
Europe.9 Certainly the influx of many people of different cultures and
practices is often seen as a threat to the existing social order. Though
the official posture of the government is to provide assistance and social
welfare services to new residents with entitlement to the same rights and
protection as native Swedes, in practice this has been difficult to
achieve.

Existing programs have not been expanding fast enough and things
like permanent housing have been difficult to provide. Even if goods,
services, and programs were available immediately, societal values are far
slower to change than social programs. A degree of "cultural lag” must
certainly be a part of this transformation from homogeneous to multi-
cultural society.

What is certain is that the needs and desires of a far different
population than those native to Sweden will become evident in the
addressing of child care needs. Language barriers will have to be
bridged, and a sensitivity to other beliefs and practices will need to be
established. Special assistance is, however, provided to immigrant
children. For children whose home environment is largely dependent upon
another language, Sweden has sought to provide training both in the native
language and Swedish. This applies not only to new immigrant groups but
also to Samar and Finnish-speaking children (The Swedish Institute 1984c,

p. 4). In addition to ”home language" training, immigrant children are

35

given priority placements in municipal child care settings. Though
placement is provided based on the need for language training, priority
placements place additional strain on.a system that suffers from a chronic
shortage of spaces.

This is not to say that Sweden has never experienced an influx of
other peOple or other cultural influences. Previous patterns of
immigration must be compared to the current pattern. Past immigration
primarily stemmed from other Nordic countries (primarily Finland) in which
assimilation and integration was carried out with relative ease. The
current pattern is quite different. According to Kjell Oberg, changing
immigration patterns between 1971 and 1981 have led to even greater
changes in the demographic characteristics of Swedish society than merely
the countries of origin of new residents:

The changing pattern of immigration means, that of all foreign

citizens, Scandinavians decreased from 64 per cent in 1971 to

55 in 1981 and other Europeans from 30 to 27, while non-

Europeans increased from 6 to 18 per cent (1983 p. 3).

Other demographic characteristics of the Swedish population need
also to be considered. Immigrant families are more likely to be of
reproductive age than native Swedes. Among these new residents there
occur more births than deaths. The pattern for native Swedes is just the
opposite, birth rates are relatively low, while death rates are higher due
to the higher proportion of elderly among the native population (Oberg
1983). Overall immigration accounted for nearly 45% of the total
population increase during the period 1944-1980, and every fourth child
now born in Sweden is of foreign (non—Swedish) extraction (The Swedish
Institute 1984e, p. 3).

Frustration has been expressed by new residents and even among
immigrants that have been in Sweden for decades about the difficulty of
living among the native population (Daun 1990 and Kallifatides 1986). A

number of concerns have been illuminated by Daun (1990) that illustrate

36

the difficulties new residents feel in becoming a part of Swedish society.
Tension exists between assimilation to Swedish culture and the retention
of one's native culture. How successfully new residents can be integrated
into a previously more homogeneous society remains to be seen. This
forces the consideration of how well, or if, cultural differences can be
accommodated or tolerated within societies.

Although problems associated with this social transformation will
surely take years to be fully manifested, the stresses and strains that
may be exerted upon the social welfare system can be anticipated at least
partially. While it is difficult to assess even current events to their
fullest, the relatively recent transformation of Sweden from a homogeneous
to a multi-cultural society appears to have no parallel in the
industrialized west. Most societies in Western Europe, and certainly the
United States, have been less homogeneous and have longer histories as

multi-cultural societies than Sweden.1o

T e Concentratio of nstitut ons n so e Sw de

Another infravariable crucial to the understanding of nation—states
and societies is the ”elite and bureaucratic concentration” exhibited
within a society. Tomasson describes this as, "...the relations between
the center and the periphery, the capital and the provinces within the
society" (1970 p. 5). The national government of Sweden is concentrated
in Stockholm, while other institutions such as commerce, industry, and its
universities are spread throughout the country. There is more urban
concentration in the south than in the north of Sweden. Therefore,
population numbers vary considerably among municipalities. New residents
are more likely to be settled in urban areas than rural areas. The
presence of new residents also varies among municipalities, meaning that
some municipalities must absorb the cost of more new residents than

others. Usually new residents express a preference for urban residence

37

over rural residence, and to live in the south of Sweden rather than the
north. Since the population is already concentrated in this way, stresses
are increased upon the existing system.

In Sweden, the central government has been active in implementing
social policy by supporting municipal government and ”county" level
governments in fulfilling the mandates of the country's constitution.
Sweden is divided into 284 municipalities (Koeeuns) each with an elected
assembly (The Swedish Institute 1983c). Between the national and
municipal government is a county level of government (leggeeigg). There
are twenty-four county governments in Sweden, and their functions and the
functions of the municipal governments are integrated with those of the
national government. The municipal governments are responsible for
providing a number of basic services mandated by the national government,
and this includes child care programs and services. Other programs
administered by the municipal government provide both for "necessities and
facilities: housing...roads, sewerage and water supply, and basic
education, and public assistance, (and) child welfare" (The Swedish
Institute 1983c, p. 4). Though fees are assessed for a number of these
services, these services are provided by law and regulated by the national
government. The national government also provides subsidies for the
provision of these programs.

Clearly the uneven distribution of the population in Sweden and the
influx of new residents to the country places stress on the mmnicipal
governments. Those municipalities with a greater percentage of the
population require greater revenues and resources to meet the child care
needs of the population. Likewise the availability of jobs will be
different, given one's place of residence. The concentration of
government and social service institutions may be effected as the number

of residents increase and concentrations of people continue in urban

38

areas. Whether social services are experienced differently among the
population is an issue that requires more research.

In Sweden, programs have been developed to achieve more equal
distributions of people throughout the country. Incentives have been
developed to make less densely populated areas more attractive to
newcomers. Job training programs and new industries have been planned in
northern areas. With the increased number of dual-wage earner families,
some of these efforts to redistribute the population have been more
difficult to achieve. The presence of a nationally mandated set of
standards for services rendered would indicate that programs must be
comparable among municipalities.

The patterns of concentration and distribution of people are
certainly similar to the United States. People remain more densely
populated in urban than rural areas. New immigrants are more likely to
settle in urban than rural areas. And though industries are likely to
relocate in non-metropolitan areas, there are often not enough other job
opportunities to sustain dual-earner couples. One factor that makes the
United States distinctive from Sweden is that because the United States
lacks a comprehensive, national level social welfare program, programs and
social welfare policies vary among the 50 states. This pattern is very
apparent when social welfare benefits are compared between states and
between regions. Northern industrialized states are far more likely to
provide higher benefits than southern states, though considerable

variation may exist between states in each region.

The Integrelations end Dominance of Institutions in Swedish SeeieEy

The final infravariable Tomasson develops for comparing Swedish
society with other societies is the "pattern of interrelations and the
dominance of institutions" in ‘the societyu Through 'the literature

availabLe on Sweden, the interrelations of social institutions can be

39
delineated in a number of ways. And though it has been illustrated that
the influence of certain social institutions such as the church is
declining in Sweden, other institutions remain strong. A centralized
government has long been the dominant institution in Sweden. The
prominence of the government as a social institution in Swedish society
must be explored.

The central government was initially shaped by civil servants that
came out of the monarchy, the Lutheran Church, and the university system,
all of which were traditionally strong social institutions. In addition,
the individual behavior of Swedish citizens in acceptance of a strong
central government as a mitigating force in social life has been quite
strong.

The Swedish public tends to vote in large numbers. In Sweden's
parliamentary form of government, an individual votes for the party of
their choice and not for an individual. This would appear to allow for a
greater cohesiveness between what is voted for and.the platform and issues
that will be addressed in Parliament. Political parties and party
affiliations have been strong in Sweden, and voter turnouts have been
high. In 1982, voter turnout was 91.4% (The Swedish Institute 1985b).
High voter turnout appears to have remained high through much of the
19803. According to Asard, "...about ninety percent of the electorate now
vote in general elections..." (1987 p. 11). When voting behavior and
union membership are considered together, Swedish society appears to
exhibit a collective orientation to the formation of political
institutions and policies.

In addition, new immigrants are provided a voice in local elections
whether or not they choose to become citizens of Sweden. This provides
non—citizens a voice in central government planning, and it also gives
them a voice in the amount and types of services that are available to

them at the local level including education and child care services. In

40

them at the local level including education and child care services. In
a country like Sweden, collective organizations appear to be important
points of access to the political process and the resulting implementation
of programs and policies. Collective organization among new residents
could be very important to gain the provision of goods and services they
need in local areas. Since child care is provided at the local level,
this input may be quite important.

In addition to high participation rates in government elections and
politics, union membership is high in Sweden when compared to other
nations (Table 7). No other country in the industrialized west can boast
of such high union memberships. It is not just union membership that is
high in Sweden, there also exists a great deal of organization among
employers. In 1983, membership in the SAP (Swedish Employers'
Confederation), which is the primary employer organization in the private
sector, was 1.4 million members (The Swedish Institute 1983a). Among
labor unions, the LO (Swedish Trade Union Confederation) has over 2
million members, and the TCO (Central Organization of Salaried Employees)
has over one million members (The Swedish Institute 1983a).

The interconnectedness between labor unions and political parties
has been historically present in Sweden“ One example of this would be the
direct connection between the L0 and the Social Democrats (Asard 1987).
Since child care appears to be an issue confronted by parents when they
enter the labor market, this connection between the labor union and the
political system is an important factor to consider.

This integration between labor union activity and the political
process could be a crucial concern for future policies and agendas in
Sweden. Since unemployment is beginning to rise during this time of
increased immigration, concern needs to be voiced about access to labor
market opportunities, especially among new residents. Without access to

the labor market, a lack of representation could develop among new

41

 

 

 

 

Table 7.

e a e nionized n Twelve Indus r Co e 1977 o f .
I Country Percentage of Workers

Belgium 68%

Canada 31

Denmark 64

France 25

Germany 32

Italy 60

Japan 24

Netherlands 42

Norway 66

Sweden 80

United Kingdom 53

United States 19

.=.=..=....=t

 

 

Source: Ramona L. Ford, Work, Organization, and Power, (Boston, MA: Allyn

and Bacon, Inc., 1988), p. 219.

42

immigrant populations. How adequately the government and labor unions can
address the employment needs of new residents is an important
consideration for the future, given the importance of employment in
Swedish society. What appears to differentiate the development of social
welfare policies in Sweden is that collective measures appear not to
conflict with societal values. Indeed, collective and cooperative
measures are the goal of programs and policies in Sweden. This will be
illustrated more clearly in the next section of the paper, when economic
policy and pepulation policy are discussed.

A number of conclusions can thus far be developed based on this
analysis of Tomasson's infravariables 'that clarify similarities and
differences between the United States and Sweden and the provision of
social support in each country. Sweden and the United States are most
similar in the level of industrialization each of these countries has
achieved. Labor force participation rates and patterns of labor force
participation are quite uniform between the two countries. The
concentrations of industry and people are also quite similar. More people
in both countries are likely to be found in urban rather than rural areas.
Industry remains largely concentrated in particular areas, though some
differences can be seen when these patterns are further considered for
each country. New residents in both countries appear to prefer urban to
rural residence. The Swedish government is more likely to develop
programs to promote industrial production in non-metropolitan areas and
facilitate the movement of people to these areas. In the U.S., the
federal government is not likely to be involved in activities of this
type. Indeed this type of government intervention in the U.S. would be
seen to be too obtrusive in both business and individuals' lives.

Sweden and the United States vary considerably when programs and
benefits are studied. Benefits and.programs are developed at the national

level in Sweden, which allows for' more uniform melementation. and

43

guarantees a level of general assistance to the entire population of the
country. In the U.S., programs and assistance vary among different
regions of the country and between states. The United States lacks a
coherent and consistent vision of general support for the population as a
whole.

Sweden and the United States are dissimilar in a number of other
significant ways. Though a transformation from agricultural to
industrialized society' occurred. within. each. country, the historical
pattern was different for each country. Agricultural production remained
a major part of the political and economic landscape far longer in Sweden
than in the rest of Europe. As has been previously mentioned, the United
States pattern was significantly different from either the patterns
present in EurOpe or in Sweden due entirely to its "born-free" status.

The United States and Sweden differ considerably in the degree of
social welfare provided during the transformation from agricultural to
industrialized society. As industrialization progressed, the Swedish
government sought to implement programs that would provide general
assistance and effect fundamental changes in Swedish society. / ’Sweden
adopted a more "planned” approach to the development of economic and
industrial policies while the transformation to industrialization was
taking place; that is, the government sought an active role in developing
economic policy. The social welfare program that developed as a part of
this "planned” approach was developed to mitigate the effect of
industrialization upon the population.

In the United States, individuals and families were often left to
cope with the changes brought on by industrialization as best as they
could. Though the social disruption that existed during the Great
Depression led to the development of a number of government directed
programs and policies to assist families, these programs were not

developed to provide general assistance or change the existing social

44

order present in the United States. Many researchers feel these programs
were developed to stem social unrest that would otherwise threaten the
existing social order. In the U.S., social policy was not developed to
fundamentally change society.

The size and characteristics of the populations of each country are
also quite dissimilar. The difference in size between the two countries
and the impact this has had on their development cannot be underestimated.
Clearly, in Sweden, programs and policies have been developed that seek to
address the domestic needs of the society and provide basic support to the
population. In addition, Sweden has been far less likely to engage in
international struggles or international affairs to the same degree as the
United States. By concentrating on domestic concerns, a comprehensive
social welfare program has been developed in Sweden that coexists with
economic and population policies developed there. On the other hand, a
comprehensive social support system does not exist in the United States.

The scope of programs in Sweden has been the entire population, and
though certainly there are vast differences in providing support to 8.4
million people rather than 246 million people, the emphasis upon general
support for the entire population is a critical distinction between
Swedish and United States policies. The foundation for general support
programs in Sweden, developed based on the existence of a largely
homogeneous population. Though the linkage between homogeneity and the
provision of general support is not altogether clear, it is apparent that
general support and the tenets of a program that provides a basic standard
of living for the entire population has been more easily adopted in Sweden
than in the United States.

Since the limits of social welfare provision are difficult to
assess, how well Sweden can adapt its programs to a more culturally
diverse population could be helpful information for the United States.

Should Sweden be able to expand programs to meet the needs of a more

45

diverse population, then these programs would be more applicable to
countries with multi-cultural populations. Clearly the United States has
been unable, or unwilling, to provide general assistance to the population
and instead has developed a "safety net" that is wholly inadequate toimeet
the needs of even the most vulnerable populations it seeks to serve.
Women, people of color, and children, remain at a distinct disadvantage to
the rest of the population in the U.S., even if they are receiving social
welfare benefits.

The extent of government involvement in the provision of social
welfare is another point of divergence for Sweden and the United States.
Though national level programs and policies exist in both countries,
compliance and implementation remains more sporadic in the United States
than in Sweden. In Sweden, there are national mandates that direct local
programs of social assistance, whereas in the United States, programs vary
based on the amount of state support for a program and the amount of local
resources.

In addition, the Swedish.government is not acting independently, but
in concert with collective organizations to develop programs and policies
that provide general support. Collective organization among the Swedish
population is a distinctive characteristic of the society. Again, the
degree of homogeneity in the population could be a crucial factor in the
development of a collective orientation to social problems in Sweden.

Another distinction that needs to be made between Sweden and the
United States, when the role of the government is considered, is the
acceptance of the government as a legitimate source and provider of social
support. Though.Hodges (1987) illustrates that the federal government can
be a source of social support in the United States, seeking national level
intervention in addressing social ills is far more acceptable in Swedish
society. The extent of government involvement in addressing social

problems in Sweden will become more apparent in the following section of

46

this thesis. In the U.S., the appropriate role of the federal government
is at best ambiguous, and, given the changing political orientation of
each administration, the political climate can even be hostile toward the

provision of social welfare.

Social Policy Development within the Cultural and Social Context

This next section will analyze the emphases and impacts of specific
social policies given the context of Swedish society in which they
developed, By using Tomasson's infravariables as the basis for developing
a case study of Swedish society, a foundation has been laid to examine the
development of economic and population policies within this context. The
first part of this discussion will examine the historical and social
development of the economic policies that led to increased social support
and the child care programs and strategies that are a result of these
economic strategies. This discussion will be followed by an analysis of
the effects of the development of a population policy in Sweden and the
child care programs that are a result of this policy. Both of these first
two parts place the development of specific social policies within the
historical development of Swedish society and the development of social
welfare policies during the early 19003 to the 19503. The final part of
this section will analyze changes in policies, and provide a current look

at the direction of child care programs and policies in Sweden.

co m o c and S cia Welfare P ov sio
Economic policies from the early 19003 in Sweden sought to alleviate
fluctuations in the labor market and mitigate the effects of these
fluctuations on individuals and their families. Like social welfare
programs that were developing'during this period, economic policies sought
to provide steady and dependable support through work in the paid labor
force, and not merely'a means for providing temporary support during times

of uncertain employment. Instead of targeting programs at alleviating the

47

symptoms of poverty associated with unemployment, full-employment for all
who wanted to work became an early goal of economic policy development in
Sweden. Bo Jangenas refers to this as the ”employment principle":
The employment principle means that it has been considered
preferable for the public sector to ensure the availability of

temporary jobs or vocational training for the unemployed,
rather than passively provide cash assistance (Jangenas 1985

p. 7).

Unemployment policy at the turn of the century (1900-1909) led to the
creation of public sector jobs and was a time during which jobs were
actively developed and work projects were adopted. The economic downturn
of the 19303 led to the adoption of additional ”active labor market
policy” to mitigate fluctuations in employment and unemployment (Jangenfis
1985 p. 16). That is, the government began to assume an active role as
planner of economic policy in concert with employer organizations and the
unions. (Labor market policy in Sweden did not develop with the intent of
instituting a top-down approach to management of the economy. More
accurately, the government sought to intervene in cooperation. with
industry and labor to address the needs for people to work, with the
recognition that a smoothly functioning economic sector was essential to
the functioning of the society as a whole.

After World War II, the most pressing labor market issue became how
to combine high rates of employment with low rates of inflation. The
Social Democratic Party (in concert with the labor unions) was most
influential in bringing about progressive labor market policies. And,
though the bulk of these policies were not adopted until after World War
II, the goals of the Social Democrats and labor were consistent with
social support policies previously implemented; that is, Swedish economic
policies after World War II sought to fundamentally address issues of
redistribution of resources and general support for all members of

society; Labor and the Social Democrats sought active government programs

48

and policies that provided protection from fluctuations in the market
place. These took the following form:

1. A restrictive policy toward overall demand;

2. A wage policy of solidarity, i.e., the goal of 'equal pay for
equal work' and reasonable and fair wage differentials,
interpreted in practice as meaning narrower wage differentials;

3. Selectively targeted (rather than general) programs to deal with
unemployment, partly because the wage policy of solidarity tends

to accelerate structural changes in the economy;

4. Programs to promote mobility and thereby improve the balance
between labor supply and demand (Jangenfis 1985 p. 12).

These policies, just as the previously mentioned social welfare
policies and the goals of the population policy, were implemented to bring
about fundamental changes in Swedish society. They led to government
intervention and collective measures to address needs of both individuals
and society. The acceptance of progressive policies in the labor market
and the emphasis upon jobs and working has led to the acceptance of the
belief in the ”right” of Swedish citizens to a job. Not only this, but
policies as recent as 1980 stress "that those people who want a job should
have a genuine opportunity to find a job" (Jangenas 1985 p. 33).

Economic policy did not develop in isolation from other programs.
The need for increased numbers of laborers led to the influx of both
immigrants and women into the labor market. Fluctuations in the Swedish
labor market have often required the recruitment of immigrants and women
as laborers. Smoothing out the fluctuations in the labor market began
with programs that sought to secure full-employment. Though male full-
employment was the initial target of these policies, the increased need
for women's labor force participation has led to the application of the
same economic policies for women. The emphasis upon greater equality
between the sexes has also led to the acceptance of these same ideals for

women. Equality between the sexes in the labor market has become an

49

increasingly important issue during the 19603 and continuing through the
present.

Early fluctuations in the reconomy and unemployment among the
population occurred at the same time in which recognition was made that
the population was at a less than replacement level. Low birth rates
during the 19203 and 19303 meant that programs to expand an industrial
economy and address the unemployment problem could occur, and still there
would not be enough people to fill jobs. Thus, Swedish economic policy

and the population policy sought to address these simultaneous concerns.

P u atio oli and Soc We f e r v n

Sweden has often experienced periods of population surplus and
population decline. However, during 1927 the net fertility rate was less
than 1.0, and by 1934 it had dropped to .70 (Scott 1982 p. 12). During
this period Sweden began to address the social problem of declining birth
rates in a way that was both experimental and progressive:

Swedes became used to the idea that social policies, to be

effective, cannot be applied individually, like band-aids or

the legendary finger in the dike, but must be part of a

consistent program...,Sweden accepted the premise that 'a

population policy can be nothing less than a social policy at

large' " (Scott 1982 p. 12-3).

What began as a program to address a problem of a less than
replacement birth rate became a comprehensive program for health care,
prenatal care, and child care policies. Legislation of these programs
began as early as 1935 and continued through the 19503. These programs
did not, however, develop without considerable debate or controversy, and
these programs did not develop in a vacuum free of economic
considerations. A less than replacement birth rate would have left new
industry and the country's economic and industrial position vulnerable.

Support to women and families appeared initially to allow for population

growth while at the same time sustaining economic growth.

50

Implicit in the population policies was the recognition that women
were not only mothers but full members in society. The population policy
and changes in family law sought to guarantee that women shared the same
rights as men, and that their work in paid employment or at home was of
value to society. Programs implemented during 1935 to 1938 included the
following provisions:

1. Free delivery care and a maternity bonus for all women, and state
maternity clinics;

2. Public housing schemes for families with three or more children,
and rent reductions according to the size of family;

3. State loans to married couples, and sizable tax exemptions for
families with children;

4. Subsidies for school meals, children's clothing, and play schools
for children (Scott 1982 p. 14).

Additional aspects of the Swedish population policies developed
during the 19303 provided improved old-age and disability pensions,
voluntary unemployment, and sickness insurance. These programs were
followed by basic pension plans regardless of paid employment (Scott 1982
p. 15), and in the 19503 a national health-insurance plan was adopted. In
addition, the 19503 brought the acceptance of compulsory sex eduction
courses that are administered through the school system. Scott's (1982)
research suggests that it was far more difficult to implement programs
that provided birth control and sex education as additional goals of
population policy, than it was to provide programs that facilitated
women's entrance into the labor market. The reason for this reluctance on
the part of Swedish society to include sex education and birth control as
part of a social change strategy is best understood and illustrated by
looking to Myrdal (1941).

In the opening pages of Nation and Family, Alva Myrdal (1941)
identified the need to consider widely held societal values, while at the
same time, seeking to address the "population problem" in a scientific

manner 8

51

The principle difficulty in constructive social engineering
is...the need of value premises to supplement knowledge of
facts....To be truly rational, it is necessary to accept the
obvious principle that a social program, like practical
judgment, is a conclusion based upon premises of values as

well as upon facts (1941 p. 1-2).

It was the values of individual sexual behavior and the issues surrounding
the ”family” which were, and which remain, most difficult to legislate,
because it appears these are the issues that are'most ideologically laden.

Myrdal (1941) recognized that the development of’a population.policy
would, from the very beginning, result in a basic conflict with other
social values in certain areas. But these conflicts were an inevitable
part of the process:

It (the population policy) will be felt to condition the life

of the individual just as it determines the welfare of

nations. It touches sex life and the institution of the

family as well as national production, distribution, and
consumption...When that happens it is of the greatest
importance that it be made common knowledge that the
population policy concerns the very foundation of the social
structure and that a problem of such giant dimensions calls

for nothing less than complete social redirection (1941 p. 2).

Even though it took twenty years for sex education and birth control to
become an accepted part of the population policy in Sweden, these programs
eventually became a part of the policy.

In hindsight, it is easy to see that the policies of the government
that addressed the population issue also led to a program of increased
support to children. The care of children became one of the latent
functions of the government as population policies developed during this
period. The government sought to guarantee not only basic security needs
for all members of society, but also to insure the same access to
opportunities for all children. Regardless of their home environment,
children were to receive meals at school, a clothing allowance, and equal
educational opportunities. Thus, a collective orientation toward the

needs of all members of the population appears to have permeated most

aspects of social life to a degree unparalleled in other countries. For

52

Myrdal (1941) and Scott (1982) the population policy, and programs adopted
as part of this policy, sought to bring about fundamental changes in
Swedish society, and were not one-time solutions to the problem of less
than replacement birth rates.

As the need for women to enter the labor force persisted, it became
apparent that child care and aid to working parents were important issues
for labor unions and the Swedish government. Yet, two additional issues
arise when child care as social policy is considered: first, children
need care*while their parents work; and secondly, collective socialization
of children may lead to the desired outcome of more equality between men

and women.

Egeality Between the Sexes and Social Policy Development

Scott (1982) links the recognition of the need for more equality
between men and women as one component of the programs and policies geared
toward children in child care settings. The notion of equality between
the sexes, though legislated in a variety of ways, has however had
problems gaining acceptance in Swedish society, even though legislation
was enacted in the mid-19203. Child care strategies in public care
settings have been adopted with the expressed hope that more equality
between the sexes will be achieved if children are introduced to these
precepts early on in their development. The hope is that not only will
more equality between the sexes be obtained, but that children will be
socialized to engage in more collective and cooperative relationships that
are considered desirable in Swedish society.

Fundamental to many of the programs and policies directed at these
efforts is the recognition that women remain largely responsible for child
care and the home, even as their labor force participation rates rise. A

number of social policies implemented since 1980 which were directed at

53

working women with children have the expressed goal of creating more
equality between men and women both at home and in the work place.11

Though legislation has been adopted in Sweden to promote equality
between the sexes, and child care programs have been developed to further
these ideals, it is a serious mistake to believe that equality has been
achieved in any great measure. Both Silen (1987) and Leijon (1987) have
examined the outcomes of social programs since the 19603 that were
intended to facilitate even greater quality measures between the sexes in
the labor market. Silén (1987) suggests that a "gap (exists) between
words and deeds” (p. 11).

Leijon (1987) goes as far as to say that ”sexual equality has lost
ground" (p. 13). The goals of government directed programs since the
initial population policy have developed to facilitate greater equality,
but these alone cannot dictate individual or employers' behavior and
attitudes. The forms that discrimination against women in the labor
market take continue in Sweden and are often quite subtle. Though a broad
array' of social reforms have 'taken. place since the acceptance and
implementation of a population policy and specific equity legislation,
individual behaviors continue to change more gradually. The "population
problem" that led to the development of social policy and allowed women
greater access to the labor market is no longer the same ”problem" that
effects the current generation. The fact that a gap continues to exist
between official programs and policies and the way people live out their
lives is not an issue to be passed over lightly. What becomes clear is
that government action alone does not alter individual attitudes.

Though the debate over the success in achieving more equality
between men and women is beyond the parameters of this paper, the fact
that equality exists as an expressed goal of the Swedish child care policy
is important to note. As women increased their work in the paid labor

force, child care became an extension of the population policy. Thus, in

54
Sweden, the population policy and labor market policy are the foundations
upon which child care programs rest. Children are accepted not only as
full-members of society who benefit from general social welfare programs,
but also are recognized as a group that has special needs. Many of these
special needs arise when their parents work outside the home. The next
section of this paper will explore women's role in the labor market and
the child care strategies that have: more recently been adopted, to

facilitate women's labor force participation.

Critical Revlew of Existlng Chlld Care Policy

This final section will concentrate on what has been learned about
Swedish.society and the social policies adopted there to meet the needs of
working parents. This analysis is essential to assess what type of
policies might facilitate a better integration of work and family life in
the United States.

An analysis of social welfare and child care policy development in
Sweden has consistently reflected three key issues:

1. The first is the need for women to work outside the home;

2. Equality between the sexes has been an expressed goal of both
labor market policies but also child care policies in that
country;

3. Social change has been accomplished through collective action
that sought to implement changes across society among its basic
institutions and not a temporary remedy to current problems.

Child care programs have not been adopted simply to meet the needs of
parents, but are imbeddedwwithin economic'growth and population strategies
in Sweden. Child care programs have been implemented to effect changes in
society to create more equality between all segments of society and to
guarantee a level of support and opportunity across the population.

Sweden is quite similar to other industrialized countries in the

level and types of industrialization that has been achieved, and in the

labor force participation rates of both men and women. Some of the

55

reasons for women's participation in the labor force are similar in both
the United States and Sweden. High rates of inflation and declining real
wages in manufacturing and traditional industries in both countries have
compelled women to enter the paid labor force. As educational levels of
women have risen, so too has their labor force participation rates (The
Swedish Institute 19843; Wilkie 1988). In addition, high rates of divorce
and the increased incidence of single parent families have led to a
continuing number of women working outside the home (Hewlett 1986). The
types of jobs that women in Sweden occupy are largely similar to those
women occupy in the United States. That is, there remains a high degree
of sex segregation in jobs in both countries with women concentrated in
low wage, service, secretarial, and health care occupations (Adams and
Winston 1980; Steinberg and Cook 1988).

One contrast between the labor market participation of women in
Sweden and the United States is the availability of part-time work (Table
8). According to the Swedish Institute, forty-five percent of all women
in the paid labor force in Sweden.work.part-time in "occupations which are
regarded as 'women's work'" (1984d, p. 1). In 1984, the proportion of
women working part-time in the United States, was twenty-seven percent
(Spitze 1988). Though the hours worked part-time has not been examined as
to whether work hours are compatible with hours children are in school or
during the evening'when another parent may'be present, the availability of
part-time work may reduce the number of hours that children require public
care. In Sweden, part-time work by women is supported by the labor unions
(Steinberg and Cook 1988). Furthermore, there is some pressure from
women's groups to set both men's and.women's work hours to six hours a day
for 5 days a week. This is considered to be one way to increase men's

contribution to work in the household and in child care (Furéker 1986).

56
Table 8.

Part-Time Employment: Selected Labor Force Statistics. 1981. in Nine
lndustgialized Countries,

 

 

 

 

Women as a Part-time workers as Percentage of female
Comtry percentage of a percentage of total population, 15-64
all part-time employment
workers
Males Females Working working
full-time part-time
Austria 87 2 18 -- --
Canada 72 7 32 36 17
Demark 92 3 44 36 28
Fed. Rep. of Germany 94 1 26 35 12
France 85 2 16 39 7
Italy 64 1 6 33 2
Sweden 85 7 46 40 34
United Kingdom 94 1 37 34 20
United States 70 8 24 42 13

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: .Ann.Helton Stromberg and Shirley Harkess, editors, Women Working:
Theories and Facts in Perspective, Second Edition, (Mountain View, VA:

Mayfield Publishing Company, 1988), p. 313.

57

Though part-time work is considered to be a strategy that women in
the United States adopt to balancelwork and family responsibilities, it is
seldom supported by organized labor unions and falls outside of the
existing benefit structure in the United States. Part-time work in the
United States is often used as a means to reduce employer benefit costs.
Part-time work in Sweden and the United States remains a poor substitute
for full-time employment if a family's sole source of income and support
are dependent upon a part-time worker.

Given the number of pieces of legislation and the»development of the
social support system in ‘place in. Sweden, it is evident that the
government takes an active role in facilitating work in the paid labor
force. It is the availability of public sector jobs that has allowed for
much of women's labor force participation in Sweden. As more women seek
paid employment, the pool of private child care providers decreases
resulting in the need for more public care. This leads to an interesting
paradox regarding women's labor force participation: tasks which were
once performed by women in the home are now being provided by women who
are employed by the government.

Adams and Winston's (1980) research offers a major criticism of the
public employment of women in Sweden. For Adams and Winston, it is the
types of public employment available to women that leads to increased sex
segregation in the labor market: "...it simply leaves women doing the
same jobs they have always done (cooking, cleaning, child care), only now
they’work for public authorities instead.of their own families" (Adams and
Winston 1980 p. 17). The concern is that women's roles will therefore
become even further entrenched in ”traditional” spheres. This calls into
question the whole ideal of achieving more equality between the sexes. If
women remain the sole providers of child care, health services, and social
work, their roles have not changed, but have merely been supplanted.

Women are now being paid for their "traditional" labor, but men are not

58
working to any great degree in these areas. They are also not helping to
alleviate the burden of work women perform in their own homes. Thus, the
messages children receive about equality between men and women in school
ultimately may not be reflected in the adult roles they see carried out.

The emphasis upon full-employment and the primacy of working has
also led to the need for increased child care and family support. In
Sweden, as the need for labor increased, women‘were actively encouraged to
enter the labor' market, again increasing the need for child care.
Programs and policies had to be developed to provide assistance to
families with children, not only to encourage the birth of more children,
but to guarantee their care while their parents worked in the paid labor
force.

The population and economic policies that have been created in
Sweden have sought to address the need for increased population growth,
and have actively encouraged the labor’market participation of women. The
existence of a population policy in Sweden illustrates the extent of
government intervention in what is considered in the United States to be
a largely "private sphere." If a society is to encourage both child birth
and work, then additional supports have to be generated to provide for the
care of children while their parents (mothers) work.

Much of the initial focus of Alva Myrdal's (1971) research centered
upon how ill-equipped the family was to meet the challenge of a changing
labor market in which both men and women would work outside the home. The
Swedish population policy not only sought to address population and work
issues, but also to effect changes in the core institutions of the
society. As the labor force participation rates of women rose, it became
clear that parents couldn't work and raise a family without additional
social supports. In addition, other goals, such as achieving more
equality between the sexes, could not be addressed unless fundamental

changes were made in other social institutions.

59

Child care, "domestic science” and sex-education have become part of
the public school curriculwm in Sweden (The Swedish Institute 1984d).
Each of these programs represents attempts at reducing gender specific
tasks, and training both boys and girls to provide for the care of
children and the home, while at the same time, children are trained to
work in the paid labor force. In the United States, the care of children
and ”domestic science" are still largely assumed to be appropriate topics
for girls/apd*women, while sex education largely remains the province of
parentsa" Here, a significant difference between the two countries becomes

obvious: in Sweden, social policy and public programs seek to change

rid-’5’”

society and social relationship through education. The government has
iherefore assumed the role of provider of the programs and ideologies that
are sought within the society.

The emphasis upon achieving more equality between the sexes and
among different segments of society in Sweden cannot be overstated.
Intervention early on in a child's development through day care programs
is a tenet of the child care programs in practice in Sweden (Scott 1982).
This collective approach to child rearing is thought to encourage
desirable outcomes for Swedish society. Yet some researchers (mainly
Americans) express concern for the future of a society in which the
government has assumed such extensive involvement in activities that were
once provided by parents for their children, and other family members
(Wolfe 1989a, Wolfe 1989b, and Popenoe 1991). Limitations on government
intervention and the effect that these programs will have cut Swedish
society are currently unknown. What becomes increasingly clear is that
the scope and extent of government involvement in addressing social
concerns in Sweden is significantly different from the traditions present
in the United States.

While more equality between the sexes remains an elusive goal, it is

clear that all individuals can expect a basic level of support in Sweden.

60

This becomes clear when the influence of public policy on the institution
of the family in Sweden is examined. Working parents and their children
can depend upon public programs for a diverse number of services.” This
is illustrated not only in the types and kinds of child care available,
but also because the government is the major provider of organized, non-
family care. In Sweden, the government has assumed a burden of
responsibility for its citizens that people in the United States would
largely consider to»be the responsibility of individuals and ”the family."

When the social transformation from agrarian to industrialized
society is considered for Sweden and the United States, one difference
between these societies becomes quite clear: whatever social disruption
did occur in Sweden was met through various and active programs and
policies of the government. From the early 19003 to the present day, the
Swedish Parliament has sought to legislate general and ultimately
universal assistance programs and policies. Though debate exists as to
the how quickly and how effectively the needs of the population have been
met in Sweden, it is clear that macro-level solutions have been sought to
address social ills. Coughlin (1979) believes that this is the essence of
social policy: "social policy originates in government intervention in
social and economic affairs in order to mitigate the effects of the 'free
market' on individuals and families" (p. 8). The clear intent of both
population policies and economic policy in Sweden, has been to mitigate
the effects of labor market fluctuations within the society and to allow

for the accommodation of both work and family life.

FINDINGS OF THE ANALYSIS

What this analysis has revealed is that Sweden has adopted general
and universal social welfare policies that provide a minimal standard of
living for all members of society. The primary goals of Swedish labor
market policies have emphasized full-employment, self-fulfillment through
employment, more equality between the sexes, and the care of children
while parents work. Thus, the question underlying the Swedish model is
not whether public child care is "appropriate” care, but no_w to make
public care the best possible care for children while their parents work
(The Swedish Institute 1984b, p. 4). Children not only receive care and
support while their parents work, but they also receive care and support
as full-members of society; children are provided for if their parents
cannot provide adequate care; in addition, children receive some measure
of government support over and above what they receive from their parents.
Thus, the government through the provision of child care is playing a part
in the socialization of children. The socialization of children in a
public setting is thought to facilitate other societal goals.

But government intervention in these areas is not limited to child
care. Indeed Myrdal (1971) suggests that social policy development in
Sweden sought to address fundamental problems and contradictions in
society. For Myrdal, the ”science of family sociology" illustrated time
and time again, "...how irrationally the dominant family type tended to
perpetuate itself," (Myrdal 1971 p. 13). The dominant family type being,
the man as "breadwinner" and the woman as "housewife”, even though social
research during the 19303 illustrated that the dominant type was no longer

adequate and appeared to be inconsistent with the increased need for women

61

62
to enter the paid labor force. For Myrdal, social science research of the
period led to the formulation of the issue not as the, ”'right of married
women to work' but rather 'the right of working women to marriage and
motherhood” (1971 p. 23). This difference in the way the issue is
constructed appears to recognize that women were needed to participate in
the labor force, and that future society is dependent upon women
continuing to bear children. Thus, in Sweden there appeared to be an
implicit recognition that there existed both the economic impetus for
policies shaped in this way, and also the recognition that families and

children were essential to the survival of society.

CONCLUSIONS

On one hand, this research has addressed the issue of Sweden as a
"model" society by exploring the tenets of the social welfare system in
that society. By doing so, it has become apparent that the Swedish child
care system would be practically impossible to implement in the United
States. When the context in which child care is provided is considered,
it is evident that Swedish society and United States society are vastly
different. The child care system in Sweden was laid upon a foundation of
social support that sought to encourage both increased birth rates and
work for all adults in the paid labor market. Child care was not a "one
time” agenda item for the Swedish Parliament or the labor unions, but is
part of an expanding system.of social support not only for working parents
but for the children themselves. Children are seen as "full"-members of
society and benefit from a social support system based upon the
supposition that children require society's support.

What this analysis of the social support system in Sweden
illustrates, is that in the absence of other social institutions to meet
the needs of the people, the government was turned to as the appropriate
agency upon which to depend. With increased urbanization came the
disruption of a social system in which families could meet their
subsistence needs. Urbanization and industrialization created new needs
and social problems that the family as an independent institution was
unable to meet. In Sweden, collective solutions were sought to mitigate

the effects of increased social disruption. Solutions to social problems

63

64
were not adopted as temporary measures, but attempted to address needs
across society in an effort to change society. The result is a
fundamentally different set of social institutions in a society with a
different approach to social problems from that which exists in the United
States.

Thus, Sweden does not provide an adequate model for the development
of social policy in the United States given the vastly different origins
of social policy development in these countries. That is not to say that
Swedish society does not provide some directions in which future United
States policy might go. What is apparent is that the care and support of
children goes beyond the provision of day care while parents work in the
paid labor force. Basic inequality in the way society is structured must
be mitigated. Child care policy in Sweden did not develop in a vacuum but
as part of a comprehensive care and support system in that country. The
integration of economic and population policies led to the restructuring
of the educational system, the labor market, and even some might argue,
the family, to more thoroughly meet the basic needs of the population in
Sweden.

The Swedish system is not without flaws. Likewise, the future of
Swedish society is difficult to predict. What is abundantly obvious is
that other European countries appear on the surface to more adequately
meet the basic needs of the members of the society for health care, child
care, and employment. And, though more comparative work needs to be done
in this area, without employment guarantees, even more basic needs for
food, and shelter may not be met. Thus, additional research is needed to
examine the gaps between the programs and policies in existence in the

United States and other countries. The way people experience programs and

65
policies that seek to meet basic needs, in Sweden and the United States,
also requires further research. Evaluation research is vitally important
to assessing existing programs and future policy agendas for social
support in both countries.

As was mentioned in the introduction, families in the United States
have sought government intervention when their problems could no longer be
handled within the family alone. A social welfare system does exist in
the United States, but so far it has been unable to effectively eliminate
or even substantially reduce a number of problems that it has attempted to
address. Certain programs such as Social Security have, however, helped
to mitigate some of the poverty among the elderly, but this program is set
up and administered as a contributory systemland not a.progressive system;
thus, the burden and the benefits are unequally distributed. Members of
the population‘who find themselves working in low-wage jobs benefit little
from the existing Social Security program.t3

What becomes clear is that the United States is at a point where it
must begin to ask (and answer) a number of difficult questions, if, as a
society, it seeks to mitigate the effects of the labor market upon
individuals and families. 1A.number of fundamental questions must be asked
before a child care programlor additional family policies are developed in
this country. Important decisions about the importance and value of
working in this country and how this effects the perception of women's
work outside the home, must be considered.

Currently women's role both at home and in the labor force is
largely ambiguous. Women continue to increase their labor force
participation even in the absence of social support in child care.

Likewise, women in the United States continue to absorb the greater share

66

of the burden for home and child care even as they work outside the home.
Given these circumstances, is it realistic to believe that every man and
woman in this country could be guaranteed a job that provides adequate
wages to maintain themselves and their dependents? Social support can be
provided so that a parent can stay home with a child or social support can
provide care while both parents work outside the home. What is
unmistakable, is that child care is not an issue isolated from labor
market considerations or simply, as it has been constructed here, a
"family issue.”

Employment in the paid labor force is not the only issue to
consider. Adequate wages and job security are needed to guarantee that
individuals can support themselves and their families. In a society in
which wages are the only acceptable means through which to obtain food,
shelter, medical care, and clothing, it is essential to guarantee
employment opportunities that provide a sufficient wagezrgf This would
appear to be obvious, yet the opportunity structure thatcexists in this
country does not allow for equal access to education or jobs, which leaves
large segments of the population unable to compete to achieve even a
minimum standard of living. Unemployment and high numbers of discouraged
workers illustrate the vast gaps that exist in the job market and
opportunity structure in the United States. The question becomes, as a
society, how serious is the United States about providing jobs and
adequate wages for people? If, as a society, the primacy of working
outside the home is raised above all other concerns, then as a society the
needs of working parents and their children must be considered. If
parents are expected to work outside the home, what types of care will be

acceptable and appropriate for children?

67

Current social policy initiatives in this country have left the dual
roles of ‘women, as parents and. as ‘workers in the paid labor force
ambiguous. It is undeniable that women continue to enter the labor force
and that this "trend” shows little sign of abating or reversing itself.
Since women continue to enter the labor force, the question becomes what
types of child care will be considered acceptable for children in these
households. In the absence of other social supports, parents (especially
women) are left to balance as best they can the burden of making child
care arrangements and meeting work obligations.

Changes in the labor force and changes in family patterns have
resulted in the need for women to work.outside the home. Since most women
(and men) will be parents at some point in their lives, how the United
States addresses the needs of children of working parents will have a
great impact on future society. The basic support of a large and
vulnerable population, that is, children in the United States, should be
of great concern.

Fundamental changes in work organization and the labor market have
taken place and will continue to take place, as women continue to enter
the labor market. The goals of any social policy development in the
United States must be made explicitly from the start. As a society, truly.
the United States must address some very basic questions. An emphasis
upon working must be coupled with provisions to provide for the care of
children. The care a child receives surely must have some effect on the
life the child will lead and the society of which she or he is a part.
How well the needs of our youngest members of society are addressed is a
reflection of the future of the society. Indications exist that the

United States has a declining standard of living and vast gaps exist

68
between the different strata of society. The role of social science
research may well be to identify those programs and policies that
facilitate the balancing of work and family responsibilities, and to

provide a glimmer of hope for future society.

FOOTNOTES

1Both the Senate and the House of Representatives introduced child
care legislation during the calendar year of 1989. Senate bill (S. 5) was
introduced by Senator Dodd on January 25, 1989; and was titled, ”The Act
for Better Child Services," this bill passed by voice vote on June 23,
1989. The House bill (H.R. 3) was introduced in the House on January 3,
1989; by Representative Hawkins, this bill was titled, ”The Early
Childhood Education and Development Act." On April 4, 1990; the Senate
acted on H.R. 3 in lieu of S. 5, a joint bill (H.R. 5835) was introduced
on October 15, 1990. This later became Title V, of the "Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1990" which was signed by the President on November
5, 1990 and became Public Law 101-508 (104 stat 1388). Congressional
Index 1013t Congress 1989-1990 Vol. 1, Chicago: Commerce Clearinghouse,
Inc.

Parental leave legislation (H.R. 770) titled, "Family and Medical
Leave Act of 1990," was passed by both the Senate and the House, but was
vetoed by the President on June 29, 1990. The House failed to override
the veto by a 232-195 vote. Michigan AIL-C10 News, Vol. 51 (8) August
1990.

zTomasson (1970) lists three specific items under characteristics of
the population in his book; the first, is the size of the population; the
second, is the number of cultural resources available to the population;
and thirdly, the amount of intermingling between classes. Tomasson then
develops a separate infravariable that measures the degree of homogeneity
present within a society.

I have adopted a slightly different strategy for this analysis. In
the section subtitled, ”Characteristics of the Population," I discuss the
degree of interaction among the various social classes and the size of the
Swedish population in comparison to the United States and.Western.European
countries. I then develop another subsection of the paper that looks at
the number of cultural resources available in the society and the degree
of homogeneity in Swedish society.

3David Ellwood (1988) , in Peer Support: Poverty in America, describes
the generally held view of the way the term social welfare is used in the
United States. ”People hated welfare no matter what the evidence. It
wasn't just conservatives; liberals also expressed deep mistrust of the
system, and the recipients themselves despised it" (pp. ix-x). And later
in the book, Ellwood writes, "Welfare, as the public uses the term...,
means cash, food, or housing assistance to healthy and nonaged persons
with low incomes” (p. 5). As an assistance program, Ellwood feels that
the existing welfare system conflicts with widely accepted values of
United States society, "--involving autonomy, responsibility, work,
family, community, and compassion..." (p. 6).

In the early 19303, the groundwork for social welfare in Sweden was
laid and was known as folkhemmet or ”the People's Home.” According to

69

70

Stig Hadenius the People's Home is defined as "a comprehensive but loosely
defined social welfare program to improve the living conditions of broad
categories of ordinary citizens" (1988 p. 41). This emphasis upon support
for "ordinary citizens” is an important distinction between the two
interpretations of social welfare in use in Sweden and the United States.
The extent of social services provided is also an important distinction to
make when the provision of social welfare is considered in each country.

l'Tomasson (1970) considers the United States to be a ”born-free”
state (p. 4). By this he is referring to a nation-state that did not have
a feudalistic society that needed to end before capitalism and
industrialization could be advanced. Richard Tomasson. Sweden: Prototype
of Modern Society. (NY: Random House, 1970).

5The World Almanac and Book of Facts, Mark S. Hoffman, editor. (NY:
Pharos Books, 1988) p. 721.

6United States Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the
United States: 1989, 109th Edition, (Washington, D.C.: The United States
Government Printing Office), p. 7.

7Sweden is also a member of a number of other international agencies.
Sweden is a "member of the OECD (Organization for Economic COOperation and
Development), EFTA (European Free Trade Association), and the Council of
Europe. Sweden also has a trade agreement. with. the EC (European
Communities Common Market) covering industrial products.” ‘The Swedish
Institute, "Fact Sheets on Sweden: General Facts on Sweden,” (April 1985),

p. 1.

8The Samar have until recently been referred to as ”Lapps" or
”Lapplanders." The Samar (Lapps) are a culturally distinct and
linguistically distinct ethnic group, indigenous to Northern Sweden. With
the increase attention and growing awareness of ethnicity and
multiculturalism in Sweden, Samar is the preferred identity designation
for this people.

In 1984, the population of the Samar "(was) roughly estimated at
between 10,000 and 15,000" (The Swedish Institute, ”Fact Sheets on Sweden:
The Swedish Population," (December 1984), p. 3).

9Steven Prokesch, ”In Haven for Refugees, Hate Make Entrance," New
York Times (20 June 1990) p. A12; Steven Prokesch, ”Sweden's Puzzle: Fate
of Soviet Jews," New York Times (5 July 1990) p. A9; Anne Lindh, "Don't
Touch My Pal,” Inside Sweden, (June 1986) p. 5; Kjell Oberg, ”13 Sweden
Ripe for Racism?“ Social Change in Sweden, 27 (February 1983), p. 1.

10The Swedish government has remained committed to the development
of an expansion of social services to this new more multi-cultural
population. How well and how long the social welfare system can continue
to expand is a crucial issue (Prokesch 1990a). Though unemployment has
begun to rise in Sweden, the curtailing of most immigration into the
country is hoped to allow the system time to adjust to the changes taking
place in society. Sweden appears to be experiencing the same malaise as
other industrialized countries. With the rapid changes taking place in

71

Eastern Europe clearly the path upon which any country is currently
treading is no longer as sure a course.

11Specific legislation exists to provide equality at work and in
education between men and women in Sweden. The Act on Equality between
Women and Men at Work was enacted in July of 1980, with the aim of
promoting equal rights in work, working conditions and opportunities for
self-fulfillment in employment. This Act is directed at employers and has
two main parts. The first part contains rules of the prohibition of
discrimination on grounds of sex, and the other part deals with active
measures to promote equality; Compliance with the above act is supervised
through the creation of a position, the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman, and
an Equal Opportunities Commission. The Swedish Institute, "Fact Sheets on
Sweden: Equality between Men and Women in Sweden," (December 1984), p. 2.

12The extent of government involvement in child care can be further
illustrated. All school children receive free lunches while they attend
public school. No distinction is made about the socioeconomic status of
the family. These lunches are developed to meet, at least for one meal a
day, the child's nutritional needs. The issue is not whether the parents
can or cannot afford to provide a lunch but is seen as a way to guarantee
that the child's nutritional needs are being met and they can concentrate
on their studies.

13Women appear to be at a particular disadvantage in this respect.
Tamar Lewin, ”Change is Urged in Social Security," The New York Times, (10
May 1990), A16.

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