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FIGURE 19. Dramatic growth of welfare expenditures (U/OU) (chart)

mainly by the national government and by local authorities, with a small share defrayed by fees and taxes on the insured and employers (Figure 20). A basic principle of the Swedish welfare program is that most social benefits should be available to everyone, regardless of personal income. Therefore, about 85% of national and 75% of local expenditures for social purposes are for benefits distributed without means tests.

a. Old-age, disability, and widows' pensions

Pensions are paid to the elderly, to invalids, and to widows and their children. The national pension scheme consists of a basic and a supplementary pension. Both pensions are calculated as a percentage of a base sum, which follows the general level of prices and is adjusted each month. The initial index was the general price level in September 1957, when the base sum was set at SKr4,000. In January 1970 the base sum was SKr6,000.

To qualify for the basic pension a person must be a Swedish citizen domiciled in Sweden. A Swedish citizen living abroad can receive this pension if he has been registered in Sweden for census purposes for 6 years preceding his 63rd birthday. Resident aliens covered by reciprocity agreements—generally from the other Nordic countries—can also receive a basic pension under certain conditions. A retirement pension is normally received from the month in which a person reaches the age of 67, and such a pension is paid only after application. It is, however, possible to take out the pension earlier, but the sum paid is then lower by 0.6% for each month between the commencement of payments and the normal month for retirement. The earliest month from which advance payments can be drawn is that in which the insured person reaches the age of 63. A person can also have his old-age pension deferred up until the age of 70 in order to receive a higher amount by 0.6% for each postponed month. The old-age pension for a single person is at present 90% of the base sum. If husband and wife are both pensioners, then the pension amounts to 70% of the base sum to each. In August 1970 a full term old-age pension amounted to SKr5,760 a year for single persons and SKr8,960 a year for a married couple.

A person 16 years of age or older whose working capacity has been reduced by at least half because of sickness, mental retardation, physical disability, or other handicap can obtain an advance pension if the disability is permanent. If the person concerned can be expected to regain wholly or partially his ability to work within a year or so, he receives a sickness benefit instead of an advance pension. The advance pension can be paid in full, to two-thirds, or to one-third, depending on how much working capacity has been reduced. The full advance pension or the full sickness benefit is as large as the old-age pension.

The basic pension also provides for widows and children. A pension is paid to a widow who has reached the age of 36 at the time of her husband's death, provided the marriage continued for at least 5 years. A full pension, which is identical in amount to the full old-age pension allowed a single person of 67, is paid if the widow has reached the age of 50. A full pension is also temporarily paid to a widow, regardless of age or length of marriage, if she has the custody of a child under 16 years of age. A pension is paid to children under 16 years of age on the death of one or both parents. This pension amounts to 25% of the basic sum of the death of one parent and 35% on the death of both parents. The basic pension provides a number of additional special benefits, including

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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200090021-3