The Welfare State in the Twentieth Century: A Case Study of the Swedish Public Pension System

This is an attempt at depicting welfare state developments in one of its most notable success stories: Sweden. As a major subsector of the Nordic country’s welfare state, this paper focuses on the evolution of social insurance, particularly the public old-age pension system from its liberal beginnings in 1913 all the way to 1998, when the novel three-tiered pension system was introduced. In addition to its policy emphasis, this paper examines the relationship between the welfare state and social democracy by studying the implications that cross class alliances and social reformism had on the political viability of the Swedish Social Democratic Party. Though it is a case study, the aim of this thesis is to shed light on a vital institution in all industrialized societies and to hopefully serve not only those curious about Sweden’s experience but anyone with a preliminary interest in social policy or welfare state studies