Family Futures

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FREDRIK REINFELDT, PRIME MINISTER OF SWEDEN

Balancing work and family responsibilities is a key challenge for many parents in today’s society. In Sweden,

both women and men are extensively employed after becoming parents. Several studies have shown that

high labour force participation among women increases a country’s gross domestic product substantially. It

ensures that a country’s human resources are better taken care of and enables all individuals – women and

men – to make full use of their professional potential. In short, gender equality is good economics, but also

good from an individual development perspective. Our experience confirms this conclusion.

Sweden’s general welfare system aims to even out the differences in life opportunities and living

standards, while retaining scope and conditions for freedom for individuals and families. Family policy

is based on the opportunity for children to develop together with their parents. The key elements that

summarize my government’s view of modern family policy are: a focus on the child, freedom of choice, and

an equal responsibility of both parents for the child.

Since family circumstances vary greatly, it is important that family policy is based on the family’s

individual situation. This means family policy is constantly in need of revision, to meet the changing

needs and preferences of families. There are several policy strategies at hand to encourage and support

both women’s and men’s potential to combine family life with working life. Among them are universally

available, good quality and affordable preschools, and a family policy that contributes to the adequacy of

resources of families with young children, including a generous and flexible parental benefit.

The

Family Futures

initiative is an excellent example of a means to exchange good practice and promote

family friendliness across the globe. Countries can learn and be inspired by others, adjusting models and

solutions to country-specific needs. I believe there is a need for continuous policy development in order to

improve living conditions for all types of families.

Fredrik Reinfeldt

Prime Minister of Sweden