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money for their leisure. There are about 600,000 motor boats and 150,0000 sailing boats in Sweden, and the number of both is increasing rapidly. In 1971 there were an estimated 500,000 summer and weekend cottages.
Sweden ranks very high in the availability of material goods which reduce drudgery and make possible a greater enjoyment of life (Figure 18). According to public surveys conducted in 1971, all Swedish households have TV sets and refrigerators. The ratio of 557 telephones per 1,000 inhabitants in 1971 was the second highest in the world after the United States, as was the ratio of 283 passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants (1970).
Modern housing, with all the amenities deemed adequate in the United States and Sweden, was in short supply until the concentrated construction effort started to catch up with the demand in the early 1970's. Families may now rent modern apartments, even in Stockholm, after a wait of only a few months. The accommodations are confining by U.S. standards, however, averaging only four smallish rooms per dwelling unit, including kitchen and bathroom. Renting rather than ownership predominates, with rents controlled at about 15% of gross income after application of a small housing allowance. Such allowance varies with income and size of family; the average worker family with two children receives about SKr1,000 a year.
While the high proportion of rented accommodations—about 52% nationwide—conforms more or less with European, as opposed to North American practice, it has inspired criticism in the Swedish press and has provided grist for the mill of the bourgeois parties in their attempt to fault the long rule of the Social Democrats. Many Swedes satisfy the proprietor instinct through ownership of vacation cottages, over a quarter of all Swedish families having access to such facilities. Summer and weekend cottages ar being constructed at the rate of about 25,000 per year.
2. Social security
Sweden has attracted attention in recent years as a highly functional welfare state. Its social welfare program, one of the most comprehensive in the world, is distinctive in that it is supported by an economy which is only about 10% nationalized. The general acceptance of the philosophy and principles of universal social insurance protecting all citizens from birth to death was manifested by the Riksdag's virtually unanimous endorsement of the National Social Insurance Act of 1962, which consolidated and liberalized benefits under the then existing social insurance programs.
The development of the Swedish welfare system to its present stage of refinement is almost entirely a 20th century phenomenon. Conforming to European experience, Swedish reformers drew much of their initial inspiration from the landmark social reforms instituted by Chancellor Bismarck in neighboring Germany in the 1880's. The flourishing Danish cooperatives and mutual insurance schemes at the turn of the century also provided models. But it was not until the Social Democrats came into power in the 1930's that the rapid progress leading to today's comprehensive schemes was initiated.
The social security system comprises five programs: universal old-age and disability pensions, universal health insurance, workmen's compensation, unemployment insurance, and family allowances. All of these programs are compulsory except unemployment insurance, which is normally contractual between unions and management. Non-Swedish citizens who live and work in Sweden are equally affected. The pensions and health insurance programs are comprehensive in coverage, with benefits graduated to some extent according to contributions. The National Social Insurance Board under the Ministry of Social Affairs supervises the administration of social insurance, except for unemployment insurance, through its 27 regional offices. All insured persons are registered with one of these insurance offices from the month in which they reach 16 years of age. It is at this level that basic decisions are made concerning eligibility and the amounts of money dispensed. Anyone dissatisfied with the decision of an insurance office can appeal to the National Social Insurance Board. Further appeal can be made to the National Social Insurance Court, which is the final court of appeal in such cases.
Social welfare expenditures in Sweden account for a greater portion of the national budget than does any other single item. In the 1968-69 national budget the Ministry of Social Affairs received about SKr10.6 billion, or 30.3% of the total budget. Figure 19 illustrates the dramatic growth in welfare expenditures from 1963 to 1968. The total welfare expenditure in Sweden amounts to about 20% of the net national income. Although comparisons are difficult to make, this percentage is only a little above the corresponding figures for other Nordic and for Common Market countries, while it is considerably higher than the proportion allocated for welfare in the United States. The large expenditures for social welfare purposes in Sweden stem not only from high social aims, but also from the large proportion of older people, who require large outlays for pensions and health, the two most important welfare programs. The welfare bill is paid
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