Disability pension changes

[medusala]

Someone posted here what a disgrace it was and gave a specific example of why. The example given sounded fair enough but an article in the Financial Times today gives a clear picture of why countries are trying to reign in the cost of sickness, though admittedly the example below is a slightly bigger issue than in Australia.

"According to the Swedish Confederation of Enterprises, each day about 370,000 Swedes - almost 1 in 10 of all employees - call in sick for work. Another 528,000 have retired early on sickness pensions.
"The sick can claim 80 per cent of their wage up to a certain level, at an annual cost of around £8bn ie over A$20b. This is roughly as much as the country spends on defence, foreign aid, higher education and research put together".

 

[jim boy]

This sounds pretty scurrilous. The percentage of sick days taken quoted is incredibly high considering the swedes aren't exactly known for their slack attitudes. I suspect it includes maternity and paternity leave (18 months maternity at 80% wage plus a substantial paternity amount), which is a cost borne by the government (they reimburse the business affected), and considering the high taxes in Sweden, most of cost will go straight back to the government.

And if you also take into consideration that Sweden's economy is robust and healthy, then it would appear not be a problem.

And 80% sick pay?? Don't we get 100% pay in Australia when we call a sickie??

 

[medusala]

Couldnt answer that but the FT is not known for shoddy journalism and it specifically mentioned sick days (I quoted directly from the article). You only get 100% pay in Oz for a short time.

I would think its a problem that they spend more on sick pay than on defence and education combined.

The labour govt in the UK is also trying to get people off disability pensions due to ever growing cost.

 

[jim boy]

I would think its a problem that they spend more on sick pay than on defence and education combined.

Why is there a problem? The education system in Sweden is motoring along just fine and Sweden don't seem to be under any immediate threat requiring massive defence spending (currently 2.1% of GDP). The population seem healthy, happy and well educated and the economy is motoring along nicely. There simply is no problem. The FT is a respectable journal, but in this particular case, it appears the statistics are being twisted to support a particular argument. This would seem especially true as it appears they have lumped Sweden's generous maternity leave in with sick leave (coincidentally I just happened to be speaking with a friend earlier today in Stockholm about maternity benefits).

 

[Leper]

A few suggestions for the Swedes....

1. Bring back Abba.
2. Stop making Volvos (kill the problem at its source).
3. Tell that sadistic guy at Ikea, think his name is Sven, to stop putting that extra bolt in the bag which you never can find a place for.

Cheers.

 

[mantis]

A few suggestions for the Swedes....

1. Bring back Abba.
2. Stop making Volvos (kill the problem at its source).
3. Tell that sadistic guy at Ikea, think his name is Sven, to stop putting that extra bolt in the bag which you never can find a place for.

Cheers.

1. NNNNNNOOOOOOOOO
2. I agree
3. I always thought I had done something wrong, good to know I'm not the
only one it happens too.