We’re
accustomed to hearing Sweden is Nirvana for women, especially working women. In
part this is because it has heavily subsidised, universal day-care.

However,
new data shows that Swedish mothers are more likely than their counterparts in
other developed countries to claim disability benefits. So things are not as rosy for Swedish women as
they seem on the surface.

Across the
OECD, there has been a big rise in the numbers quitting work and going on
disability benefits (or disability pension), but the rise is biggest among
mothers and is higher again among Swedish mothers.

So what
gives? It isn’t clear, but what is clear is that when the UN, the EU and
other international bodies place Sweden at or near the top of the table when it
comes to being the best place in the world for women (a recent report put
Ireland at number five), they really ought to take figures like these into
account.

After all, if
Sweden is Nirvana for working women, then very few working women in Sweden should be
claiming disability benefits, correct?

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