北欧社会福利制度
北欧社会福利制度From the cradle to the grave
Thanks to a demonstrably successful blend of market economy, democracy, voluntary organizations and active government policies. In the Nordic countries, the State is involved in financing and organizing the welfare benefits available to the citizens to a greater extent than in most other European countries. The system is universal, covering everyone. The government even has a constitutional duty to ensure all citizens can have a home and enough to eat.
内容
There are three major pillars of the modern Nordic welfare state: social security, health care and free education. Health care and social security ensure a high minimum living standard for all citizens regardless of their economic situation. The free education maximizes the social mobility, and strives to make it possible for everyone to better themselves, without relying on economic support from their families.
The benefits given are generous and evenly distributed. In combination with the taxation system, the wealth redistribution is greater. The Nordic countries have strong economies, a high standard of living, low crime rates and are democracies.
所有公民享受医疗保险待遇，国家对药品实行补贴，病人每次购药超过50马克只需付费50%，重病和长期患者购药只需付费25%或享受全额补贴。
北欧国家社会福利制度共通点
社会福利支出站国民收入的30%左右.在这些国家，社会福利项目广泛，而且普及到几乎所有的国民。它们把社会全体公民，特别是老年人的基本生活保障作为公民的权利，实行一种“从摇篮到坟墓”的福利制度，并对各项社会福利制度进行立法保护；孩子出生后，父母亲可请有薪产假，且在每个孩子满16周岁之前，父母均可获得生活津贴。在医疗方面，全民公费，医疗费用和经医生之手的药品开支，均由国家负担，无论城乡，不分人群，一律平等,从业者在患病期间还可领取病假补贴。在教育方面，从小学到中学到大学，全部免费，并每天享用一顿免费的餐点，大学生还可领学习津贴；在劳资关系上，公民每周法定工作时数为40小时，每一位劳工均可获得每年最少五周的有薪假期。并且有规范的社会失业救济金制度，不但在失业期间可领失业救济金，专门的职业介绍所将也会将失业人员的数据输入计算机，为他们提供最新就业信息和职业培训。社会保险方面,老人的退休金及生活所需全部依靠社会养老保险，平均4个芬兰人的纳税就能支持一名退休老人的生活，退休年龄男女均为65岁，退休金随生活指数增减，因而瑞典老人的生活比较安适。老人数量的不断增加，加重了地方福利的负担，如提供专门交通工具、家庭护理和家务服务。
监狱象宾馆一样，“囚犯的天堂”因此得名。其余的用于政府其它各项行政开支(行政管理、商业发展、交通、国防、援助发展中国家等。
这么高的福利来自何处税收，取之于民，用之于民。这些国家的税收率很高，个人工资的三分之一左右要交纳个人所得税。高税收不仅积累了大量的公用资金，以支持社会的高福
利，同时也制约了暴富阶层的形成，越富缴税越多，使贫富差距不致过大。因此，成为“没有人拥有太多，没有人一无所有”的福利国家的典范。
What is distinctive about the Nordic approach is the dominant role of national governments in the formation of social policy, and the development of an extensive public sector for the implementation of that policy. but a much more prominent role is played by the private sector, voluntary organizations, and the family than is generally the case in Norden.
The role of the state
Nordic countries in particular, tend to expect more of their governments than other countries. The feudalism of the Nordic region was less rigid，and, Nordic societies were comparatively equal. They have always had fairly small populations, with a high degree of cultural uniformity in terms of language, religion, social behavior, etc. In all of the Nordic countries, there was a forced merger of church and state following the Reformation, which helped to strengthen and legitimate the central government. The growing strength of the labor movement and the class-based struggles of the industrial era resulted in political compromises which laid the groundwork for the universal, equal social insurance systems of today's Nordic countries. The notion of a "people's insurance" was already well-established at the turn of the century.
The Nordic model
1. A greater degree of active state involvement than in other countries. For example, the state guarantees basic pensions and free or heavily subsidized health services for all residents, although the delivery of such services is usually administered by provincial or local governments.
2. By international standards, the greatest proportion of the labor force employed in the social, health and educational sectors-- roughly thirty percent.
3. Heavy reliance on the public sector for the provision of social and educational services; roughly ninety percent of all personnel in those sectors are public employees. The corresponding figures for other European countries range from
40-80 percent; in the U.S., the figure is 45 percent.
4. The organization of social insurance within co-ordinated national systems which have overall responsibility for basic pensions, sick-leave benefits, child allowances and health services.
5. A comparatively high level of trust between citizens and governments. Nordic societies are more "state-friendly" than other European societies.
6. Comprehensive, or universal, social insurance systems which cover entire populations or sub-groups. For example: every resident is entitled to a basic old-age pension upon attaining retirement age, even in the absence of any history of gainful employment; child allowances are allocated to all families with children, regardless of income level; all residents are entitled to the best available medical services, irrespective of income, social status or other personal characteristics. This contrasts with most other European countries, where entitlement is conditional on successful participation in the labour market.
7. An advanced level of gender equality, especially as a result of legislation since the 1970s; essentially all benefits are "gender-neutral", in that women are treated as individuals with needs and rights of their own, rather than as merely wives and mothers. Nordic labour markets are characterised by high rates of female employment, nearly-equal incomes for men and women in comparable occupations, and a well-developed support system for working mothers.
8. Social insurance systems free of class or occupational bias. Those with high incomes are included in the same system as those with low or no incomes.
9. General taxation as the principal means of financing, which has the effect of redistributing income. As a result of the Nordic countries' universal, redistributive social insurance systems, their poverty rates are among the lowest in the world. Minimum pensions are not especially high, but generous in comparison with those of most other countries.
10. A greater emphasis on providing services, as opposed to direct income transfers, than in other European countries. Those services include an extensive network of child-care centres, old-age homes, and in-home assistance for the severely ill and the elderly.
11. A traditionally strong emphasis on full employment as a goal in itself, and as a prerequisite for generating the necessary economic resources for the general welfare state.
12. Strong popular support. Such issues as children's well-being, public health,
old-age care, etc., are consistently accorded the highest priority in opinion surveys and during elections. No political party seeking broad support can afford to ignore them.
The fact that the Nordic countries can be described with the foregoing list of distinguishing features does not mean that they have become "welfare paradises". As nations everywhere, they are confronted with a variety of old and new challenges. But in comparison with other developed countries, they are subject to far less severe and widespread levels of crime, alcohol and drug abuse, poverty and related problems. Furthermore, problems associated with single parenthood and unemployment appear to be less severe, due to the support provided by Nordic societies to those affected.
This comparatively favorable state of affairs is almost certainly a consequence of the institutions and social policies of the region's strong and efficient central governments. In addition, the comparatively egalitarian spirit of the Nordic countries, as expressed for example in their redistributive income policies, very likely contributes to greater social cohesion and stability.
Current challenges
In recent years, all Nordic governments have stepped up their efforts to encourage and assist the jobless to find gainful employment. Some may be tempted to interpret that trend as a concession to neo-liberal ideology. But it is actually in complete accord with the traditional Nordic emphasis on the value of work and full participation in society. Politicians who blow the neo-liberal trumpet too loudly tend to encounter resistance in Norden. Thus, the basic structures of the Nordic general welfare states have remained intact, largely due to broad political compromises and the sufficient, if somewhat grudging, support of the voting public.
At this point, it is impossible to say whether the minor modifications to the social insurance systems of Sweden and Finland, and to a lesser extent of Denmark, may prefigure some kind of fundamental change. But so far, the institutions and programmes of the Nordic general welfare states have survived fairly intact, despite the severe challenges of recent years. It is therefore still appropriate to speak of the "Nordic model" of society.