abstract: 'In the 1990s Sweden went through a deep economic recession accompanied

  by a massive increase in unemployment and a rapidly growing budget

  deficit. The crisis had large repercussions for the welfare of many

  citizens and it generated cutbacks in virtually all social policy

  programmes. This halted a welfare-state expansion that had been going on

  for decades. It also caused great concern about the state of welfare of

  the nation. In 1999 the Swedish Government appointed a `Welfare

  Commission'', a team of academic researchers who were assigned the task

  of drawing up a balance sheet for the development of welfare in the

  1990s. The Commission delivered its final report in October 2001. This

  article is a condensed account of one of the more central issues for the

  Commission; namely, how the unemployment crisis affected already

  socially and economically vulnerable groups. Looking at the development

  over the entire decade, three groups stand out as particularly

  disadvantaged in terms of individual welfare resources: young adults,

  immigrants and single mothers. The downturn for these groups was

  especially accentuated in terms of employment and income. Young people

  and immigrants trying to get into the labour market during the crisis

  years faced the problems of newcomers to the systems of social

  protection. The poor economic development for single mothers could

  essentially be attributed to the shortage of work in general and of

  full-time work in particular that followed from the unemployment crisis.

  As a consequence, the importance of selective benefits increased and the

  relative size of all public transfers - despite rationing measures -

  stayed fairly unchanged. The results highlight the great influence of

  macroeconomic conditions and policy making for the welfare of vulnerable

  groups in society.'
affiliation: 'Bergmark, A (Corresponding Author), Mid Univ, Dept Social Work, SE-83185
  Ostersund, Sweden.

  Mid Univ, Dept Social Work, SE-83185 Ostersund, Sweden.

  Stockholm Univ, Swedish Inst Social Res, S-10691 Stockholm, Sweden.

  Inst Future Studies, Stockholm, Sweden.'
author: Bergmark, A and Palme, J
author_list:
- family: Bergmark
  given: A
- family: Palme
  given: J
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1111/1468-2397.00249
files: []
issn: 1369-6866
journal: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WELFARE
keywords: 'Swedish welfare; unemployment crisis; single mothers; immigrants; young

  adults; Welfare Commission'
language: English
month: APR
note: 'International Symposium on the Uncertain Future of Social Security, UNIV

  CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, 2001'
number: '2'
number-of-cited-references: '12'
pages: 108-122
papis_id: 3cd503e6bed696d6673cfaf0b7240a1a
ref: Bergmark2003welfareunemployment
times-cited: '38'
title: 'Welfare and the unemployment crisis: Sweden in the 1990s'
type: Article; Proceedings Paper
unique-id: WOS:000182392200005
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '16'
volume: '12'
web-of-science-categories: Social Work
year: '2003'