The long road to the welfare state… and beyond: retirement, old-age provision and eldercare in the past and present

Session organizer/s: Jaco Zuijderduijn and Tobias Karlsson

Critique of work and the meaning of retirement in the Swedish FIRE (financial independence, retire early) movement c. 2010-2025

Session: 3

Authors: Charlotte Nilsson

Co-authors: NA

Abstract: Over the last decade, proponents of the FIRE (financial independence, retire early) movement have been increasingly present in the public and media sphere in various countries, not least Sweden. In books, blogs, social media accounts and newspaper interviews, men and women in their 20s and 30s describe their determination to reappropriate the time usurped by the contemporary capitalist lifestyle of constant work and consumption – they want to quit their jobs!

Originating from the US, the basic idea of FIRE is to live extremely frugally for a limited period (around 10 years), invest all income surplus in low-cost index funds and by the age of 40 be able to stop working and instead live the rest of your life off capital income. While the desire to skip the “rat race” has emerged in various contexts throughout the industrial capitalist period, the technique for “ordinary” wage earners to strive for financial independence and early retirement through stock-market investments has not been seen before. FIRE followers’ beliefs and endeavors seem to result in a paradoxical moral economy of, on the one hand, resisting cornerstones of late-capitalist society – wage labour, over-consumption, and household debt – while, on the other, consenting to the power of the financial markets and relying completely on the continued growth of capital invested in it. Moreover, FIRE presupposes that retirement – escaping salaried work – is the most desirable state in life.

A new research project, funded by the Swedish Research Council 2023-26 (project leader Charlotte Nilsson), will explore FIRE both as lived reality (for the few) and sociocultural imaginary (for the many). The conference paper will focus on the ideological aspects that concern work-criticism and retirement in the light of the Swedish political-economic development. Globally, the FIRE movement has emerged against the background of welfare state decline – most notably privatization of pensions – and financialization (i.e. growing influence of financial markets) as well as a strong stock-market recovery since the global financial crisis of 2008. While this development certainly holds true also for Sweden, the stakes are different: Swedish FIRE aspirants can, as opposed to for example their American counterparts, still rely on a future with stately parental insurance, public healthcare, and national retirement pension.

In sickness and in health - Sickness among urban and rural working-class men and women in early 20th century Sweden

Session: 3

Authors: Lars Fredrik Andersson

Co-authors: Liselotte Eriksson

Abstract: Economic growth has led to higher incomes and improved wealth since the industrial breakthrough, and mortality has declined on a large scale. At the turn of the 20th century, a considerably larger share of the population came to experience old age. Longer lives were not, however, necessarily healthier lives. In fact, previous findings suggest much less improvement in morbidity then mortality Clearly, a decline in mortality is not the same as a decline in morbidity and mortality, in itself, tells us nothing about the incidence of non-fatal illnesses in adulthood. In this paper, we address this issue by studying morbidity difference by age among adult men and women in Sweden during the early twentieth century. By using a rich archival material of morbidity records from one of the largest national health insurance societies, we seek to examine how age-health-deterioration indicated in previous literature interact with causes of illness, work life and living condition.

Occupation and family networks at old age, Västerbotten 1890-1960

Session: 3

Authors: Dennis Fahlgren

Co-authors: NA

Abstract: Due to declining working capacity at old age, individuals have throughout history assured against loss of income through family networks, life-cycle savings and or public welfare. As part of my thesis, this paper addresses declining work capacity by examining old-age assurance strategies in the County of Västerbotten between 1890-1960. More specifically, I focus on the assurance through market relations (including labour-wage and occupational pensions)family networks, and the public sector (including social security and poor relief).

The period of study includes major structural and institutional changes expected to have altered individual’s assurance strategies, such as the introduction of compulsory public pensions. In theory, the expansion of pensions may have down-played dependency on labour income and family network at higher ages. This paper examines the elderly’s occupations, and how family networks varied in relation occupation and SES.

The empirical setting is the county of Västerbotten in the northern Sweden, which underwent a rapid industrial development, mainly in the forestry sector, as well as changing migration patterns during the period of study. Due to digitalization of church records (POPLINK-database), it is possible to conduct longitudinal analysis of all individuals living in the area. The database contains data on occupation, number of- and proximity to adult children, marital status and if the individual receives support from the poor house or municipal old age home. Based on data from the database, this paper provides descriptive statistics of the elderly’s occupations and family networks, in the rural and urban settings of Västerbotten between 1890 and 1955.

Conceptualizing and measuring retirement in historical micro-level data

Session: 4

Authors: Tobias Karlsson

Co-authors: NA

Abstract: Although universal pension systems may be a thing of the past century, retirement behaviour has a longer history. In this paper, we discuss various ways to conceptualize and measure retirement using historical micro-level data. We consider and compare different definitions of retirement, distinctively for men and women, and observe changes over time. The paper forms a point of departure for a new project, which seeks to systematically investigate retirement behaviour in Sweden from the late nineteenth century to 1950s, a period when increasing numbers of ageing men left the labour market, even though pension benefits were too low to sustain independent living.

Local level state capacity in Sweden in the 19th century

Session: 4

Authors: Johan Ericsson

Co-authors: NA

Abstract: Most accounts of state capacity treat only the central state or the state as a unitary actor. Apart from missing diversity on a horizontal level – branches of the central government might have higher or lower capacities –this approach crucially omits vertical and geographical differences. This is even more important in countries with far reaching local self-governance, be it at state, regional or local level. In this article I will use the case of Sweden between in the 19th century to highlight how what is often seen as a strong unitary state actually functioned in a much different way than what is often assumed. Many of the new tasks that government took on from the second half of the nineteenth century fell on the shoulders of local government. Local level state capacity differed substantially both from that of the central government and between different localities.

Old age, pensions and retirement before the welfare state

Session: 4

Authors: Jaco Zuijderduijn

Co-authors: NA

Abstract: Historians have long established that elderly people were at risk of impoverishment. To study how societies tried to prevent this from happening, they have used a mixed economy of welfare model, but without discussing financial institutions. I will present a conceptual framework that allows for studying the role of finance in preparing for old age before the welfare state, and demonstrate which financial instruments were available to the general public.