s the model welfare state. Unfortunately the costs have outpaced the taxpayers' ability to pay, and many Swedes resent paying the high taxes needed for the unemployment system.
The Swedish model of the welfare state is the oldest in Europe, dating back to the 1930s. In the 1960s, rather than being the product of a working-class revolution, it became a boon to the middle class and to working mothers. Welfare benefits were paid according to a percentage of salary, rather than to a flat rate--up to 90 percent in the case of illness or childbirth--meaning the better paid received more. These benefits caused the state budget to grow to a point where the Swedish deficit is the highest in Europe (14 percent to Italy's 10 percent and to Britain's eight percent). In the
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