ABSTRACT
This chapter explains how and why the trend in pension insurance in Sweden since the mid-1980s has gone in the direction of defined contribution schemes in both public and private insurance. There was a clear exchange in ideas between developments in the private insurance market and the evolution of the public mandatory and quasi-mandatory occupation-related schemes in the 1990s, with the introduction of unit-link insurance in 1993 serving to lead the way. The quasi-mandatory schemes for private blue- and white-collar workers and for local government employees all changed in the 1990s. In the financial account system, individuals themselves choose from among a large number of registered funds during the investment phase. An effect of the reform of the public system appears to have been to create a perceived need to save for retirement on the part of women. Especially persons with higher earnings were given even greater incentive to purchase insurance products that combined individual pensions with a survivor's annuity.
