ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the organizational and social policy changes of the eldercare sector in Sweden. It also describes data sources and methods used; gives the context for eldercare services in the Swedish welfare state; and summarizes three decades of organizational trends in Swedish eldercare. The chapter analyzes how these changes have affected the everyday lives of care workers and to some extent the users and their families. Both home-based and residential care has gone through major organizational changes, and in both forms of care the organizational reforms have been implemented with hardly any consideration of the consequences for staff. Both national statistics on work-related injuries and the NORDCARE survey present a picture of worsening working conditions for the staff in eldercare, a trend that can be related to declining resources and organizational changes. The chapter concludes by discussing the women-friendly potential of the Swedish welfare state for care workers in light of the recent changes in eldercare services.
