Propongo la lettura di questi interessante articolo, con particolare raccomandazione per chi si sta valutando la possibilità di trasferire la propria famiglia in Svezia.
Buona lettura
Swedish society — democracy, equality and tolerance
By Rikard Lagerberg & Emma Randecker
Sweden's economic and social system has lifted the country to one of the
highest standards of living in the world. Tax-financed education and health
care contribute to making Sweden a role model for many other countries.
The average Swedish family has 1.9 children.
To illustrate Sweden's economic and social system, often referred to as the
"Swedish Model," we want to introduce you to the average Swedish
family, the Johanssons: Anna Maria, 42, Lars Erik, 39, Simon, 15, and Emma, 12.
This family, their names and their life is a fictional construction, based on
statistical averages for Sweden from 2006 as reported by Statistics Sweden as
well as other facts. For example, 272,594 Swedes are named Johansson, which
makes this the most common surname.
The Johanssons live in the small city of Växjö (280 miles, or 450 kilometers,
south-west of Stockholm) in a house with a tax-assessed value of SEK 963,000,
which equals around 75 percent of the market value.
They have chosen to live in
Växjö mainly because of the city's focus on sustainability and its proximity to
nature. More than four-fifths of Swedes live in cities, and two-thirds live in
houses, one-third in apartments.
The Johanssons also have a summer house in the country, along with half of
the 35 to 44-year-olds. Their silver-colored Volvo takes them to and from the
summer house.
With their two children, the Johanssons have slightly more than the 2008
average of 1.9 children per woman. The fact that Lars has been married to Anna
for fourteen years also sets him apart from the unmarried majority of
39-year-old men in Sweden. Many unmarried Swedes are in a sambo relationship,
that is, live together with a partner without being married. And did you know
that almost half of the Swedish households are single households? The reason
why Anna is older than Lars in our average couple is that women have a higher
life expectancy. In real life, it is actually more common that the man is one
or two years older than the woman.
Anna works in the care sector, earning SEK 20,900 per month. Lars makes SEK
26,400 per month in the production industry. After taxes, they have a monthly
income of SEK 35,600 together. Add to this a tax-exempt child allowance from
the state of SEK 1,050 per month and child. Emma and Simon in turn get a
monthly allowance from their parents of SEK 220 and SEK 600, respectively.
(Simon gets more simply because he is older, not because he is a boy.)
When Simon and Emma were babies, in 1991 and 1994, both Anna and Lars used
their right to parental leave. Today parents are entitled to as much as 480
paid days at home with each of their children; back then, the period was
slightly shorter. The signal is clear: it is important for both parents to be
able to combine a career with having children. By implementing generous rules
and benefits, Swedish society has made this possible.
A male employee announcing that he wants to go on paternity leave hardly
raises any eyebrows anymore, but he might, on the other hand, be scowled at
should he decide not to use his right to parental leave. In 2008, men used
around 20 percent of the total parental leave—more than twice as much as when
Simon was born in 1991.
This feature has been published by the Swedish Institute.
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