ABSTRACT
Active labour market policy programmes have been developed considerably more in Sweden than in Finland, When expressed as a proportion to gross national product spending on labour market policy accounted for a slightly bigger share in Finland than in Sweden. This chapter argues that active labour market policy measures have played a bigger part in Sweden than passive ones. Comparison of the Finnish and Swedish labour market policies is interesting because the two countries shared, in many respects, the same socioeconomic circumstances prior to the current employment crisis. International comparisons show that Sweden has had a more active labour market policy than other Unemployment rates Rates based on commonly used definitions countries. When the number of underemployed and of those in a weak position in the labour market is included, it can be seen that the task of labour market policy is terrifyingly vast in both countries.
