[1] The modern Swedish welfare system was preceded by the poor relief organized by the Church of Sweden.
[4] In the reformed Poor Law of 1871, however, the criteria of whom was eligible to receive benefits was severely restricted to include only orphans, the aged and the invalids, and in parallel, the system was complemented by old customs such as rotegång, child auction, fattigauktion[5] and by private charity (foremost the local Fruntimmers-skyddsförening).
[8] The final transformation of the old poor care system to a modern social welfare system was the Social Help Law of 1956 (Lagen (1956:2) om socialhjälp)[9] In 1961 the private sick benefit societies were replaced with county-level public insurance societies who also handled pensions.
The health care system in Sweden is financed primarily through taxes levied by county councils and municipalities.
During the last decade several county councils have started using a Fee-for-service system for primary health care under the name "VårdVal".
[16] The tolerance of fraud of the social welfare system generally decreases with high unemployment and low economic growth.
The responsibilities considered to be a part of the welfare system includes unemployment benefits, activation benefits, employment services, employment programs, job and development guarantees, starter jobs, and the European Social Fund.