Is there a common social model in the five Scandinavian countries different from the rest of Europe?
The first Scandinavian conference on social questions took place in 1907. At that time politicians, unionists, engaged citizens and experts came together to grapple with urgent themes like social security in work accidents and industrial safety. A regular exchange about social questions continues today. That is why the country of the high North appears to outsiders like a great family. They have found very similar answers to central challenges like sickness, old age, poverty and unemployment – despite great demographic and historically conditioned differences. With its 9.3 million inhabitants, Sweden has a population almost twice as large as Denmark, Finland or Norway. Sweden and Denmark were once powerful kingdoms while Norway, Finland and Ireland were part of other great kingdoms and first became independent at the beginning of the 20th century. Before 1939, Copenhagen led the welfare state reorganization. Spared from war, Sweden began right after 1945. Scandinavia was long a poverty
