The welfare society

This chapter covers the Swedish welfare system and how responsibility for it is divided between the state, the regions and the municipalities. The basic idea is that all residents should have a basic level of economic and social security, such as access to healthcare, education and support during illness or unemployment, and that this is largely funded through taxes. The more people who work, and the more goods and services bought and sold, the more money the state, regions and municipalities can spend on welfare. The chapter mentions three types of tax: income tax, deducted from wages; VAT, paid when buying goods and services; and employer contributions, paid by the employer on top of wages, partly toward sickness insurance and pensions. Some welfare services are run by private companies, but they are still funded with tax money.

The state funds, among other things, pensions, sickness insurance, parental insurance, unemployment insurance, study support and child benefit, as well as higher education and research at colleges and universities. Sweden's 21 regions levy their own tax and are mainly responsible for healthcare, meaning primary care such as health centres, hospital care such as emergency and university hospitals, and things like psychiatry, rehabilitation and dental care; healthcare is mostly run publicly, but there are also private providers funded through taxes.

The municipalities, which also set their own tax rate, have broad responsibility for everyday services close to people's lives. That includes childcare such as preschool and after-school care, schools and education, with compulsory school for children aged 6 to 16 as well as upper-secondary and adult education, and elder care, where municipalities are legally required to offer support to older people, either at home or in dedicated housing. Municipalities also run social services, which provide support and protection to, for example, families without enough money, people without housing, people with substance-abuse problems, or people exposed to threats and violence, as well as support around work and study. Since the chapter clearly divides who is responsible for what, from the state to the region to the municipality, and mentions concrete age limits such as 6 to 16 for compulsory school, this is the kind of division of responsibility and detail the test can reasonably be expected to ask about.