Joachim Palme, Professor, Uppsala University (Department of Political Science)
Joachim Palme, a professor at Uppsala University (Department of Politics), is a master in the study of the welfare state and social security system. He is one of the leading scholars in international academic discussions on the role of the welfare system in the infectious disease crisis and its future challenges. In 2021, he also gave a keynote speech at a symposium prepared by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs to explore health and welfare policies in the post-corona era. On September 19, the Uppsala University lab asked how Sweden’s welfare system was used during the pandemic.
The ‘Swedish model’ of 2020 has become a topic of debate around the world. Many people were surprised by the massive number of COVID-19 deaths in Sweden, famous for its welfare state.
Looking back at the number of COVID-19 deaths per capita in Sweden at this point (2022), it is lower than the European average. I think you have to compare it with other Nordic countries (Norway, Finland, Denmark) to find an answer that is suitable for the purpose of the question. Compared to these countries, Sweden has a higher mortality rate. The death rate from COVID-19 in the rest of the Nordic countries is low even by international standards. All Nordic countries have strong social security systems. Therefore, it is difficult to say that the damage that Sweden suffered from the pandemic was caused by a flaw in its welfare system. I think the difference between Sweden and other Nordic countries is the scope and intensity of restrictions imposed on citizens for quarantine.
What role has Sweden’s social security system played in the overall response to COVID-19?
played a very important role. This was also emphasized in the report of the ‘Corona Commission’, which investigated and evaluated Sweden’s response to COVID-19. During the pandemic, the existing systems to protect citizens were further expanded.
In Korea, through the COVID-19 pandemic, the right to rest when sick has often been talked about. Sweden has a ‘moral and sickness allowance’ system in place, but how was it used during the pandemic?
In Sweden, you can receive about 80% of your salary as a sickness and sickness allowance during the period you cannot work because you are sick. During the pandemic, this sickness and sickness allowance system was applied to people who were unable to work due to COVID-19 and were at home. Originally, no allowance was paid for the first day of leave. It was a device to prevent abuse of the sickness and sickness allowance, but during the COVID-19 period, the system was temporarily changed so that the allowance is paid from the first day of application.
This has played a major role, especially for workers in aged care facilities. There are a lot of ‘zero-hour contracts’ type of workers among elderly care facility workers. They work for a very short period in one facility. Sometimes that’s just one day. If sickness pay is not paid from the first day of illness, these employees will go to work to earn money even if they have symptoms of COVID-19. The sickness and sickness allowance is basically a system that guarantees the income of sick workers, but it also had the effect of preventing the infected from spreading the virus by staying at home during the pandemic.
Who will take over the work of an absent employee?
During the COVID-19 period, the shortage of manpower continued to be a problem. In particular, in hospitals and nursing facilities, a great burden was placed on the remaining medical staff and staff to fill the positions of colleagues who could not go to work due to COVID-19.
I heard that there is a ‘Childcare Leave (VAB)’ system. They say that if a child cannot go to school because of COVID-19, the parents do not go to work either.
The system has been in operation since the 1970s. It has been around 50 years since the system had been maintained. In Sweden, prior to COVID-19, children were not sent to school if they coughed or showed symptoms of a cold or flu. While the child is not at school, the parent stays at home to look after the child. During that period, wages are guaranteed by the government through childcare leave (80% of the original wage). This system originally occupied a very important place in Swedish society, but during the pandemic its benefits were even greater.
It is not readily drawn in the head. How is such a system possible?
I have been asked this question many times by people from other countries. Having and raising children is full of friction. For example, parents may want to send their child to daycare when he/she is a little ill for work. However, it is not pleasant for kindergarten teachers. There is friction between them. You have to adapt to the way you balance your life between work, parenting and home. In a Swedish family, the husband can take care of the children while the wife works in the morning, and the wife takes care of her children while her husband works in the afternoon.
You have been working on the concept of ‘The generational welfare contract’. COVID-19 is an infectious disease with a wide range of mortality rates by age. Do you think the ‘intergenerational welfare contract’ worked during the pandemic?
The welfare state can be broadly divided into ‘child-friendly’, ‘labor-friendly’ and ‘older-friendly’ models. The intergenerational welfare contract is an attempt to balance the system for children, labor, and the elderly. I believe the pandemic served as a ‘stress test’ for intergenerational welfare contracts. If you ask the case of Sweden, I think the policy of not closing schools for children is balanced, but has failed to protect the elderly.
[세계의 코로나 대응, 현장을 가다]
1. Japan
– Japan’s effort and reflection to save its neighbors www.EPN.co.kr/48618
– Establishment of community care through team medical care www.EPN.co.kr/48619
2. Sweden
– What was different about Sweden’s Corona strategy? www.EPN.co.kr/48670
– Why did Sweden open schools www.EPN.co.kr/48671
– “You must not forget that you are living life” www.EPN.co.kr/48672
– A way of coordinating life between work, childcare, and family www.EPN.co.kr/48673
3.UK
– How the UK is coping with disaster inequality www.EPN.co.kr/48728
– “Pandemic has exposed and amplified inequality” www.EPN.co.kr/48729
– 500m along the River Thames, a wall filled with red hearts www.EPN.co.kr/48777
– The gap filled by the independent scientific advisory group www.EPN.co.kr/48779
– “The media should invest in professional knowledge” www.EPN.co.kr/48771
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