Non-Take Up in Sweden

Abstract

The Swedish welfare state has for many decades been regarded as one of the best developed in the world. A recurring ambition in it has been to reach large populations with broad and general support initiatives. In this present text, non-take up is discussed in relation to current welfare conditions in Sweden; how non-take up can bring difficulties especially for people under strained economic conditions, but also how it in the long run can be a general threat to legitimacy of public welfare. Here, non-take up is understood as when people entitled to public welfare support do not receive (a full share of) it. As part of the discussion, the phenomenon is linked to an empirical study of the Swedish City missions' efforts for people in poverty.