The Swedish government fully considers the needs of children's development, and has created a social environment suitable for all families to take care of children by implementing parental insurance, child allowance, family allowance, various medical insurance and welfare services, providing meticulous care for children, paying generous parental leave (also translated as "parental allowance" and "parent-child leave") and universal public nursery services (state subsidies).

1. Parental insurance [4]

Sweden began to implement the parental insurance system from 1974, that is, to give both parents paid holidays to take care of their children and promise to return to their original jobs or similar jobs. According to parents' insurance plan, pregnant women can enjoy maternity allowance 180 270 days before delivery. Pregnant women can take a month off before giving birth and receive maternity leave allowance. Since 2002, the Swedish parental allowance has been paid for a total of 480 days and can be applied at any time from the date of birth or adoption to the age of 8. There are 390 days out of 480 days, and the allowance that parents can get is converted from the salary lost during vacation, and the allowance exceeds 80% of the total income of employees (below the maximum limit, the maximum amount of parental allowance in 2004 was about 24,000 kronor per month, 1 kronor was about 1.07 RMB). For the remaining 90 days, that is, three months, the daily allowance per person is fixed at 60 kroner. The allowance for parents without income is 180 kroner per person per day for 390 days, and it is still fixed at 60 kroner within 90 days. For parents with multiple births, the government gives extra subsidy days. Parental insurance is also effective for adoptive parents. After adopting a child under 10, adoptive parents can take a leave of absence for at least 6 months to take care of the child at home and let the child adapt to the environment. Starting from 1980, parents with children under 12 can take 60 days off each year to look after their children and enjoy temporary parental allowance. Parents with children under one and a half years old can work six hours a day or have a complete rest. Parents with children under the age of 8 can reduce their working hours by a quarter every day. The employer may reduce or stop paying wages according to the reduced working hours, but may not dismiss employees. Parental insurance is part of the Swedish social security system and is paid by all employers.

2. Child allowance and family allowance

All Swedish children receive child allowance from the day of birth until they are 16 years old. The amount of child allowance is adjusted with the rise of prices. At present, the monthly child allowance in Sweden is about SEK 65,438+0,000. Families with more than three children can also enjoy additional child subsidies. For children whose parents live apart or die of illness, the state will provide certain subsidies every month. If one or both parents die, children under 18 can get child support (also called child annuity), while still retaining the right to enjoy other allowances. In addition, there is a "widow's allowance", that is, after the death of her husband, the widow can continue to take care of her children under the age of 16. In Sweden, rent is one of the main expenses of families. In principle, local authorities provide certain housing subsidies to low-income people and families with many children according to the residents' situation.

3. Education subsidies (including public kindergarten services [5])

From the age of six to six, children can enter different forms of nurseries. The child care fee is divided into two parts, one is the food fee that everyone has to pay, and the other is the management fee. Children's parents can pay less or not if their income is low or they have many children. Children aged 6 to 7 can receive no less than 3 hours of preschool education every day. Most local governments in Sweden employ full-time childcare workers, which is a social service subsidized by the state. When children are sick and their parents cannot take care of them for some reason, they can seek help from children's health care institutions. Primary and secondary education is completely free. Students can use stationery and have free lunch at school. Students boarding outside can get housing subsidies every month. Day students who live far away from school usually buy monthly tickets on behalf of the school. For students whose school is more than 6 kilometers away from home, the authorities either provide them with vehicles or give them monthly transportation subsidies. Young people who have completed nine-year compulsory education can get a study allowance if they continue their studies after reaching the age of 16.

4. Health care

There are maternal health centers all over Sweden, which are responsible for maternal health care. The prenatal and postnatal care of pregnant women and hospital delivery are completely free. All Swedish citizens enjoy free medical care. Patients only need to pay a registration fee of 55-70 kronor to go to the hospital. Preschool children and primary and secondary school students are completely free to see a doctor in the children's health center and the school health center, but they have to pay the registration fee like adults when they go to the hospital. /kloc-hospitalization and dental treatment for children under 0/6 years old in public hospitals are completely free. /kloc-Children under 0/0 are hospitalized, parents can visit them, and travel expenses can be reimbursed at least once a week. In addition, when parents are unable to work because of taking care of disabled children, the state provides them with subsidies equivalent to early retirement pension, and stipulates that parents who take care of disabled children under 65,438+06 at home can get child care subsidies, and parents can take up to four months off every year to take care of sick children before their children reach 65,438+02, which is the same as sick leave.

Second, the formation and evolution of Swedish child welfare policy

The development of Swedish child welfare system is synchronous with the construction of social welfare security in Sweden, and it has also experienced a long-term evolution process, which develops with the overall development of social welfare. Especially in 1934, Professor Medell, an economist who used to be the Swedish Minister of Commerce, and his wife published the book "Population Crisis", pointing out that there is a potential crisis of population decline in Sweden. This book urges the Swedish government to pay special attention to the welfare of women and children, and issued a policy in 1939 that employers cannot dismiss female employees because they are pregnant or married.

1947, Karen Koch became the first elected cabinet minister in Sweden, and pursued an active child welfare policy. That year, she began to implement the child allowance, and then enacted the paid parental leave bill. Since then, in 1960, the Swedish government has promulgated the Child and Adolescent Welfare Act, which provides for the compulsory protection of abused children and juvenile offenders, and promulgated the Child Care Act every other year, which provides for the care services for preschool children and school-age children. 1974 implemented a universal family allowance system, which ensured the minimum living standard of many families with children. 1975 implement the preschool education law and provide free preschool education for children who have entered primary school for one year. 1982 formulated and promulgated the Social Service Law, which incorporated the Child and Adolescent Welfare Law and the Child Care Law. See table 1 for the main regulations on child welfare in Sweden.

Looking at the development history of Swedish child welfare system, we can see that the development of Swedish child welfare policy is gradual, basically based on the original laws and regulations, adjusted, supplemented, modified and improved according to the development of society, which is also the Swedish tradition of paying more attention to compromise and cooperation [

6) Tracing back to the development of Swedish child welfare system, it can be roughly divided into three stages. The first stage is from the end of 19 to before World War II: under the high risk of fertility and child mortality, the relevant policies for child care and assistance are gradually formed and the institutional foundation is gradually laid; The second stage is from World War II to the end of 1970s: introducing relevant cash payment (including child allowance, maternity allowance and tax preference), and gradually establishing public childcare service and parental leave payment. In particular, since the 1960s, large-scale investments have been made in public conservation measures; The third stage is from the end of 1970s to the present: after years of development, Swedish public child care services tend to be mature, but the development is no longer obvious, while the payment of parental leave that facilitates women's employment and enhances parent-child relationship has developed significantly.

In addition, some rules of policy adjustment can be found through the major events in the development of Swedish child welfare policy [7] (see Table 2). First, paid parental leave is gradually extended with the development of society. 190 1 year, the Swedish government began to stipulate that women should enjoy four weeks' unpaid maternity leave. 1955, the law stipulated that working women should enjoy three months' paid maternity leave, which was gradually extended to nine months a year, until now 480 days. Second, with the development of society, more and more emphasis is placed on the responsibility that fathers should bear in the growth of their children. Since the bill was put forward in 19 17, all children have the power of the father (that is, the state stipulates the father's responsibility for children born out of wedlock and the father's economic obligation), and the father's responsibility for caring for children has changed from voluntary choice to compulsory, and the parental leave has developed from the original transferable to non-transferable and non-transferable time.

Third, Sweden's child welfare policy orientation and operating mechanism.

In the orientation of child welfare policy, the Swedish government emphasizes that it is the responsibility of the state to take care of children and cultivate high-quality citizens, and provides inclusive child welfare policies. In the Swedish concept of social welfare, children are not only innocent vulnerable groups worthy of sympathy, but more importantly, Swedes believe that children are the hope of the future. "The fate of the younger generation in Sweden determines the fate of Sweden." Managing them well is the key to managing society.

In terms of decision-making, Sweden adopts mixed economy and people's livelihood decision-making. On the one hand, it is committed to increasing the employment rate to promote economic development; On the other hand, based on the concept of people's livelihood, it is considered that taking care of people's lives is the mission of the country and improving people's living standards is the responsibility of the country. Provide high-quality social services for children, and establish policies such as parental leave, parental leave and public parental leave, so as to achieve the policy objectives of encouraging childbearing, supporting employment (especially for women) and achieving gender equality.

In terms of policy implementation, Sweden's child welfare policy takes the form of state intervention, and the government basically assumes the responsibility of child care and family support. In the field of children's social welfare, the Swedish government's intervention is powerful. The organization and management of Sweden's child welfare system are carried out by various institutions: the parliament is responsible for the formulation and revision of laws, and the introduction of child welfare policies is confirmed by law after reaching consensus through discussion and consultation among different interest groups in the whole society; Government departments shall, in accordance with the division of labor, formulate corresponding systems and implementation rules; The financial department participates in the formulation of laws and regulations, management policies and supervision, and is responsible for the distribution of social welfare; Compulsory education after the age of 7 is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education. Since 1996, the competent authority for child care has been transferred from the Ministry of Health and Welfare to the Ministry of Education, with the aim of "integrating preschool institutions, schools and after-school child care into lifelong learning". Summarizing Sweden's child welfare policy can be summed up as a mother-friendly child welfare policy supported by the state. It shows obvious characteristics such as public provision, equal popularization and full cooperation with parents' work needs.

1. State support, government burden

Providing social welfare services for children is the main function of Swedish governments at all levels, especially local governments. After the legislation on children's social welfare is approved by the Swedish parliament, it is generally handed over by the government to the National Insurance Bureau for implementation. The children's social welfare fund and various social service fees shall be borne by the government. The fees shall be collected by the tax authorities and managed by the State Social Insurance Bureau, which shall formulate specific regulations and implementation measures according to law, and supervise the implementation of local insurance regulatory bureaus in various provinces and cities, with special funds for special purposes. In order to maintain the financial needs of this high welfare expenditure, Sweden implements a high tax system, that is, the "Swedish model" in which high welfare and high taxes go hand in hand. At present, Sweden's personal income tax is about 40% on average, which is the national GDP.

36% is used for social welfare, and the proportion of local governments is higher. Take Stockholm as an example, two thirds of its annual budget is spent on education, medical care and social services.

2. Equal popularization

In Sweden, every child with nationality enjoys social welfare. The state guarantees every Swedish child a place in kindergarten and during the ten-year compulsory education. In order to achieve maximum equality among different groups of people, Sweden has adopted a series of policies to give corresponding subsidies to vulnerable groups such as young families, low-income families, sick people and people who have lost their labor force, and to provide low-cost childcare services, education at all levels, social support and medical care services to all residents as equally as possible, so that children from different backgrounds can enjoy all kinds of social welfare and social services as equally as possible. In order to ensure that children in different regions enjoy the same welfare, Sweden has also adopted the "Robin Hood" welfare policy, subsidizing areas with rich fiscal revenue from areas with insufficient welfare expenditure [8].

3. Mother-friendly welfare policy

Sweden's child welfare policy fully meets the work needs of parents, especially the needs of working mothers, designs different types of parental leave, and formulates corresponding policies according to the family needs of children of different ages. A good child welfare system is undoubtedly an important factor to improve the female employment rate and fertility rate, which makes Sweden enjoy a very high female employment rate and fertility rate in advanced countries. According to Swedish media reports, Save the Children, headquartered in the United States, issued a statement on May 6, 2008, saying that Sweden was once again selected as the most suitable country for mothers in the world. Save the Children evaluated the living conditions of women in 46 countries and regions in the world/kloc-0 from the aspects of life expectancy, maternity allowance, drinking water quality, political participation and mortality rate of children under five. Sweden has the highest score and is the most suitable country for mothers to live in.

Four. Reflections on Sweden's child welfare policy

For many years, Sweden's comprehensive ranking of international competitiveness and quality of life has been in the top ten in the world, thanks to the development and improvement of the Swedish welfare system. The well-designed Swedish child welfare policy has contributed to improving the quality of Swedish population, maintaining long-term social stability and unity, and promoting economic prosperity [9]. In the process of studying Sweden's child welfare policy, we found that the following points are worth learning:

1. Adhere to the fine tradition of attaching importance to children's welfare.

After 1970s, the stagflation of western economy made Sweden's high welfare policy difficult to maintain, and the huge public expenditure and heavy tax burden slowed down Sweden's economic growth and reduced its competitiveness. Sweden, like some other western countries, has also begun to reform the social welfare system, and in 1980, it put forward the social welfare expenditure austerity bill, gradually increasing the intensity of reducing and controlling welfare expenditure. Although tightening social welfare expenditure is the focus and basic policy measure of Sweden's social welfare system reform, it has not shaken its fundamental nature as a welfare state. The proportion of children's welfare expenditure has not decreased, but has increased, and the coverage rate has also shown an upward trend. Taking children's health care as an example, during the period of 1980-2000, the health care coverage rate of children under 6 years old increased from 3 1% to 66%; On the contrary, the nursing coverage rate of the elderly over 80 years old decreased from 62% to 44% [10]. It can be seen that Sweden attaches importance to children's social welfare, which has been a consistent tradition of Swedish social policy since the 1930s.

2. The child welfare policy is a part of the national active labor policy.

The Swedish government has given full consideration to promoting employment, especially supporting working mothers, when formulating child welfare policies. Take childcare welfare service as an example, it closely links "enjoying welfare" and "working/paying taxes", which support each other and complement each other. Convert "mutual responsibility between adult citizens and the state" into "adult citizens take part in labor and the state takes care of their children during working hours" [1 1]. Children's welfare policy is scientifically designed and the supporting measures of labor policy are perfect. Including a fairly long paid parental leave, relatively relaxed parental leave (taking care of sick children), perfect re-employment training and counseling (the unemployed can continue to enjoy public childcare services as long as they enter this training assistance program), and the salary of parental leave is linked to the prenatal salary. Various policies allow parents of children to reduce the pressure of raising and come out to work. We must pay special attention to this design, because it is the secret of survival in Sweden and even the welfare model in northern Europe.

3. Reasonably divide the responsibilities of the central and local governments in the child welfare system.

Before 1983, Sweden's huge welfare expenditure was mainly borne by the central government, while the actual tax collection right was in the hands of Swedish local governments. This division is obviously inappropriate. Since 1983, the Swedish government has introduced a series of reform measures to re-divide the responsibilities of the central and local governments. Under the condition of not directly lowering the social security allowance standard of the people, part of the social security expenditure undertaken by the central government will be transferred to local governments to realize the localization of the social security system and reduce the financial expenditure of the central government on social security. By reasonably dividing the responsibilities of the central and local governments in the social welfare system, not only the relationship between the central and local governments in the social welfare burden is straightened out, but also the local government becomes an ideal social welfare burden, plays an important role in the management and implementation of the social welfare system, effectively solves the problem of unbalanced regional development and promotes the coordinated development of social economy and social welfare.

4. Solidly implement the principle of "equal popularization"

Sweden is famous as a high welfare country that advocates equality. In Sweden, the core value of welfare is equality. What needs to be explained is that this kind of equality is completely different from only guaranteeing the "equality" on the minimum living standard line, but implementing comprehensive equality in the field of income distribution; It is not only limited to "equal opportunity", but also emphasizes "equal starting point" and "equal result". Eliminate social differences through welfare policies, and make special efforts to improve the economic situation of families with childcare burden, so as to give children a good starting point. The Swedish government has invested a lot of resources to establish a high-quality baby-care service system that every family can afford; Provide free preschool education for every child who is about to enter primary school for three hours a day for one year; Let more than 90% Swedish children receive government-funded child health care ... These policies give young couples and poor families confidence to raise their children.

5. The development of child welfare policy is pragmatic and stable.

For many years, Swedish child welfare has maintained a pragmatic and stable tone. On the one hand, we should adopt policies and measures that are beneficial to disadvantaged children and families, so as to fully embody and ensure equality. On the other hand, take a pragmatic attitude and adjust the policy or self-payment amount in time according to the surplus and deficit of the national treasury [12]. Taking the child care fund as an example, we adopt a combination of tax payment, partial self-payment and subsidies for disadvantaged children. On the one hand, it is stipulated that only when both parents (or single parents) participate in labor can their children have the right to enjoy childcare welfare services; Families with more than one child using childcare services can get a lot of childcare funds. On the other hand, according to the needs of the national treasury, the self-payment ratio fluctuates. The data shows that from 65438 to 0987, users paid 10.8% of Swedish preschool care (institutions and nannies) welfare service funds, and in recent years, users paid more and more.

6. Promote women's employment, advocate gender equality and achieve a win-win situation for women's and children's rights and interests.

Sweden's child welfare policy is based on promoting gender equality. The government protects the rights and interests of employed women and their children through legislation, and emphasizes the responsibility of fathers to take care of their families, especially their children. To a great extent, it has changed the mindset of "the father is responsible for making money to support the family and the mother is responsible for housework and childcare" under the traditional family and conservative thought, promoted the realization of a more equal gender role model, and enabled Sweden to obtain the highest female employment rate in the world [13]. In the system design, priority is given to the needs of working-class children's care and education, the needs of work and family, and the voice of women demanding equality. In this way, the Nordic child welfare measures have achieved the wonderful effect of improving women's rights and children's rights at the same time.

The development and perfection of the child welfare system is based on economic and social development. More than a hundred years ago, Sweden was one of the poorest agricultural countries in Europe. The working people were hungry and cold, and children had no social welfare at all. This involves the stage of child welfare development [14] [15]: underdeveloped countries regard child welfare as child relief; Developing countries regard children's welfare not only as passive relief, but as solving children's problems caused by various negative factors in society, especially helping unfortunate children and families (especially families whose children are in an unfavorable living state because of poverty); For developed countries, child welfare is all activities to promote the healthy development of children's body and mind. China's child welfare is in a critical stage of transition from developing countries' child welfare to developed countries' child welfare. How to choose a reasonable child welfare policy model, modify and improve the current child welfare policy, and make it more scientific and reasonable is an urgent problem to be solved in policy research.