Living and working the Swedish dream －スウェディッシュ・ドリームを叶えること、働くこと－

“I work all night, I work all day,
To pay the bills I have to pay.
Ain’t it sad?”
From the Abba song, “Money, money, money” 

Sometimes I wish I were Swedish.

I could put up with the cold weather.  I would just turn up the heating and snuggle up close to a mid 1970s Agnetha Fältskog: the blond singer from Abba.

I could put up with all the meatballs.  I tried them in an IKEA cafe once.  I’m sure they would taste better if you actually heated them up.

But why would I want to be Swedish?

Most people have probably heard something about Sweden’s generous welfare system, or the small gap between the rich and poor compared to other countries.

It has also managed to limit working hours whilst maintaining a successful economy.  At the moment there is a standard 8 hour working day.

But some local governments in Sweden are experimenting with a 6 hour day, or 30 hour working week.  According to a BBC article, the experiments have had mixed success.  In some office environments, the shorter working day didn’t help, probably because people just took their unfinished work home.  But in intensive and tiring jobs like nursing and social care, the six hour day has shown signs of success.  Workers at a care home trialling the new six hour day took less sick leave, reported better health, and had greater productivity.  They were able to complete 86 per cent more activities with their patients than before.

I am sure I would be much less stressed and better motivated at work if I only had to be there for six hours too – as long as I knew Agnetha was waiting at home to heat up my meatballs. 

Vocabulary:

ain’t – slang for “isn’t”

to put up with – to bear; to stand

to snuggle up to – to hug, cuddle or move your body close to, in a warm and comfortable way

a welfare system – a system of government payments for people who need help, such as the unemployed, disabled etc.

to have mixed success – to be partly successful and partly unsuccessful; to do well in some ways and badly in others

intensive – concentrated; with little rest time

social care – help for vulnerable people, who require nurses or others in daily life

a care home – a place where vulnerable people, such as the elderly are cared for or looked after

productivity – efficiency; work rate