Is There Really a Scandinavian Social Service Model?

Abstract

The Scandinavian countries are often assumed to constitute a coherent and unique social service model characterized by a comparatively high level of universalism and a strong capacity to defamilialize care responsibilities. In examining whether we really can identify such a model when comparing current social service systems, social services in the Scandinavian countries are contrasted with their counterparts in three continental European countries. The resulting data indicate that only Denmark complies with the image of the Scandinavian social service model. Both Norway and Sweden deviate significantly. Norwegian childcare services and Swedish elderlycare services do not stand out as particularly universalistic or defamilializing compared with those of other Western European countries. Given these findings, it may be questioned whether it is reasonable to speak of a `Scandinavian social service model'.