Social work within ‘a welfare paradise’

In international comparisons the Nordic countries – Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland – are often described as child-centred welfare paradises for children (see, for example, Haavind and Magnusson, 2005; James and James, 2008, pp 1-2). Researchers have pointed out that there is a specific tradition of welfare state support for families with children in this region, which is characterised by comprehensiveness, generosity, universalism, gender equality and egalitarianism (for example, Björnberg, 1999; Sainsbury, 1999; Hiilamo, 2002, 2007; Ellingsæter and Leira, 2006). The paradise image is strengthened by empirical findings from international studies that have shown, for example, child poverty to be rare and children's well-being and health to be relatively high in the Nordic countries (for example, UNICEF, 2007; Hiilamo, 2008). Seeing the Nordic region as an ideal place for children's welfare has also been further supported by the emphasis of the Nordic societies on the individuality of children; in these societies, children are regularly seen as individuals with rights of their own, whether the question is of children's relations to families, welfare institutions or policy (see Millar and Warman, 1996, p 46; Brembeck et al, 2004).

If the Nordic countries really form a specific paradisiacal sociocultural context for childhood, what does this mean for social work with children and families? The basic understanding of social work is that it exists to provide remedies of some kind to people who experience social threats, problems or risks in the area of welfare. Does the Nordic welfare context make a difference to the nature of child welfare social work? These are the basic questions that this volume and its chapters aim to address, making both public discussions and everyday child welfare practices from the Nordic countries available for English-speaking readers. Until now Nordic perspectives have been rather rare in the body of Englishlanguage social research on child welfare and child protection, even though the Nordic welfare states and their child welfare are, because of their international ‘top position’ ranking, objects of large international interest.

The paradise image needs immediate specification in three respects. First, the Nordic welfare states are not immune to strong global and local pressures to reinterpret and change their welfare model.