The Social Democrats said on Friday they would not advocate for an outright ban on profits by companies working in the welfare sector, arguing instead for stronger regulations, increased transparency, and tougher demands on quality.
While Sweden is often held up as a shining example of the benefits of a generous welfare state, a new paper argues that free markets, rather than a large state sector, are the real key to Sweden's economic success.
An increasing number of people in Sweden are dependent on long-term social welfare benefits in order to survive, according to a new report from the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen).
Privatisation and competition within public services have not become the miracle cure that Sweden was hoping for twenty years ago, according to a new study by Sweden’s leading public services researchers.
Sweden's social services have been given the green light to use information found on Facebook and other social media sites to verify whether or not Swedes are being truthful on their applications for benefits.
Five elk calves have been found starved to death in Värmland in central Sweden recently, with experts fearing that the drawn out harsh winter may claim further victims.
The Swedish National Food Administration (Livsmedelsverket) has discovered that a number of chickens which have not been bled and thus suspects that they may have been scalded and plucked alive.
<b>As Sweden's centre-right government hopes to win another four years in power, fears that conservative rule would cripple Sweden's welfare state appear to be unfounded, the AFP's Nina Larson explains.</b>
The government has pledged to invest 9.2 billion kronor ($1.22 billion) in jobs, welfare and future investments in what it called "the young Sweden," the ruling Alliansen coalition announced on Thursday.
A 32-year-old man from Halmstad is suspected of having cheated his way to benefits of almost five million kronor ($700,000) from the Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan) by pretending to be mentally disabled.
As average incomes increase, more people in Sweden are falling below the line classified as relative poverty, with single parents particularly affected, new statistics produced by the Parliamentary Investigative Service (riksdagens utredningstjänst - RUT) show.
Despite a projected budget deficit of 3 billion kronor ($379 million) for 2009, Sweden’s county and local governments shouldn’t expect any more money from the state.
Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg said on Tuesday that the country’s economic growth was its weakest in three decades as he announced that the government now forecasts the economy will contract by 0.8 percent next year.
Immigrants to Sweden should sign a contract to testify that they are familiar with Swedish laws, rules and values. If the contract is not met then their benefits should be reviewed, the Moderate party has proposed.
A Moderate Party working group has proposed withdrawing economic support for asylum seekers in Sweden who choose to live in municipalities where they can’t support themselves or where large numbers of asylum seekers already live.
Officials in Malmo are trying to figure out how to recoup around 17 million kronor ($2.5 million) in economic support the city mistakenly paid to 1,800 families.
The government presented the 2009 Budget Bill on Monday, which features 32 billion kronor ($4.8 billion) in reforms designed to counteract the effects of a weakening economy.
A wave of liberal reforms has swept across Sweden since the centre-right government came to power in 2006, notably with the sale last week of the state's crown jewel Absolut vodka, but the welfare state is still alive and kicking, analysts insist.
Social services' system for placing young people in foster care falls short, shows a new nationwide study presented by Sweden’s county councils on Monday.
The Green Party has said it wants to transform Sweden’s current system of unemployment insurance (a-kassa) into a state-run program and combine it with social insurance (Försäkringskassan).
