Overview of Social Insurance in Sweden

• Area: 450,000 km2 (174,000 sq mi)

• About 9,3 million inhabitants

• Average life expectancy from birth: men 77.9 years,

women 82.4 years

• Capital: Stockholm (829,417 inhabitants).Greater Stockholm is about 2 million inhabitants

• Major cities: Göteborg (507,330), Malmö (293,909)

• Most common surname: Johansson

Sweden - General Facts

Population

• World’s oldest system of population records

(church parish records from 1686)

• 71% live in nuclear families (1990 census)

• 80% live in urban areas and along the coast

• Most retire at age 65. 17.4% retire at 65+

• Very elderly (80+) 5.3%

• Fertility rate: presently 1.94 children per woman – Long-term average of ≈ 1.8

• Covers the entire population

• Based on work or residence

• Provides both basic protection and income-related benefits

• Facilitates free movement between different employers and geographic regions

• Financed through a mixture of contributions and general tax revenues

The Swedish Model

• Support to families with children

• Sickness, disability & work injury insurance

for loss of income

• Unemployment insurance, services & training

• Pension insurance

• Student allowances

• Health care, medicine and dental care

• Social assistance

• Care for the handicapped and elderly

Security in all phases of the life cycle

Categories of Benefits

• Social insurance payments are based on the Income Replacement Principle with a ceiling on contributions for pensions and on benefits for other payments.

• Guarantee levels for old age pensions, permanent disability, for the registered unemployed and for parental benefits.

• Allowances non-means tested (child allowance) and means-tested social assistance and housing allowances.

• Universal health for all residents and home care for aged (small co-payments)

Administrative Order

City Hall Municipalities (290)

• care for children and families• care for elderly• social assistance (cash transfers)

County Councils (21)

• health care in general

The State• cash transfers (social insurance)

Supervisory Structure of Swedish Social Security

Ministry of Finance

Ministry of Health and Social Affairs

Ministry of Labor

Tax AuthorityCollects:

National Board of Health and

Welfare

Supervises:

Social Insurance Agency

Pays:

National Employment

Agency

Government

National Financial Management

Authority

• Acounting standards

• Sets standards and monitors

results for financial

performance and efficiency

Parliament National Audit Office

Social Insurance Supervisory Authority

Unemployment Insurance Board

Agency for Public Management

Institute for LM

Policy Evaluation

• Contributions• Income taxes• Value added

tax• All other taxes

• Independent auditor• Audits of all government agencies

• Delivers to government and parliament

• Follows up and evaluates the

management of public agencies

• Sickness and disability

• Family benefits• Handicap benefits

• Health Care• Services for parents, elderly

and handicapped

• Social assistance• Special programs

• Web based nationwide listing of available jobs

• Employer contacts• Job search services• Training, education

programsPensions Agency

• Pensions

Pays:

Personal registration number

All citizens:

Personal code number

64 08 23 - 323 4

Date of birth Birth No. Control digit

Introduced in 1947 (1967)Introduced in 1947 (1967)

RFV - supervising government agency, head office in Stockholm

IT-department in Sundsvall, Kalix, Söderhamn and Karlskrona

21 independent social insurance offices

Individual case management

Organisation before 2005

1 January 2005

The administrative reform

One organisation

One committee

One principal

22 organisations

22 forms of governance

22 cultures

A coherent government agencyThe Government’s demands:

• Clear leadership

• Common attitudes

• One single human resource policy

With the objective to break the development of the ill-health absence

• 54 million pay outs a year (including pensions)• 15 national and 53 local insurance centre• 5 Customer Center and Self Service• Around 260 local offices• Around 12,900 employees• Stockholm – head office

The Swedish Social Insurance Agency

Citizens meet Försäkringskassan in different ways (yearly basis)

• 1.1 million visits

• 8.8 million telephone calls • 2.3 million service telephone transactions• 416 000 e-mail

• 19.6 million visits• of which 8.2 million to My pages (Mina sidor) • 136 000 sms

• 45 million letters sent • 644 different forms

Internet

Customer centre

Local offices

Letters and forms