countries - Sweden

The information contained on this page was compiled in April 2009 by our country team.

Contact: Prof. Berth Danermark
Swedish Institute for Disability Research
Örebro University

Email: berth.danermark@oru.se

The full text can be downloaded here.

The key national bodies with responsibility for disability law and policy implementation include:

The former Disability Ombudsman (HO) has from 1 January, 2009 been replaced by Discrimination ombudsman.

Sweden has ratified the United Nations Convention and the Optional Protocol.

Important national laws, policies and strategies concerning disabled people include:

There are four important Acts prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of disability. The Disability Ombudsman has the task to see that this legislation is complied with and that court action is taken when necessary.

Key features of the national system include (including adapted items from the MISSOC database December 2008):

Disability benefits

The most important disability benefits are:

Disability pension: A person is entitled to sickness benefits (for people aged 30-64 years) or activity support (for people aged 19-29 years) when having at least one-quarter reduction in working capacity. This measure has replaced the early retirement pension. Activity support is paid at the rate of 223 SEK per day if the person does not fulfill requirements for unemployment. If requirements are met the amount is between 320 SEK to 680 SEK per day. Maximum 196,800 SEK/year

Data on population indicate that:

15.7 % of the general population age 16-65 (919,000) have a disability of which 47.3% male and 52.7% female. Of these 60.5% reported reduced work ability, i.e. 9.5% of the total population. More women than men reported reduced work ability (10.9% vs. 8.2%). The most common forms of impairment are: Mobility (31.9%); Allergy (20.2%); Mental (9.3%); Hearing (8.6%) (Statistics Sweden, SCB 2007:2 Labour market situation for disabled persons 2006)

Swedish academic network for disability research

Journal: Forskning om funktionshinder pågår (in Swedish Disability Research in Porgress]). Four issues per year. Free of charge.

The national organisation representing disabled people at the European level (European Disability Forum) is:

The Swedish Disability Federation is the voice of the Swedish disability movement towards the government, the parliament and national authorities. The co-operative body consists today of 43 national disability organisations with about 500,000 individual members.

Useful sources of more detailed information about the situation of disabled people, and the policies and support available, include:

Further information and a fact sheet (in English) are available from the Swedish Institute website.