Gustav Möller (6 June 1884 – 15 August 1970) was a prominent Swedish politician from the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

, credited as the father of the social security system and the

welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the State (polity), state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal oppor ...

, also called folkhemmet. He was a member of parliament in 1918–1954 and member of the government in 1924–26, 1932–36 and 1936–51.

Life and career

Gustav Möller was born in 1884 to a poor family in

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

, Sweden, but was discovered by his employer and given an education as an office accountant; however, he instead used it in the service of the

labor movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...

, initially as a leader of its publishing house. As party secretary and organizer of the Social Democratic base organization in 1916–1940, he oversaw the trebling of membership and local branches. During his terms as the Minister of Social Affairs in 1936–38 and 1939–51, he is credited as the creator of the Swedish social security system and the

called folkhemmet. He was partly influenced by

Alva Myrdal Alva Myrdal ( , ; née Reimer; 31 January 1902 – 1 February 1986) was a Swedish sociologist, diplomat and politician. She was a prominent leader of the disarmament movement. She, along with Alfonso García Robles, received the Nobel Peace ...

and

Gunnar Myrdal Karl Gunnar Myrdal ( ; ; 6 December 1898 – 17 May 1987) was a Swedish economist and sociologist. In 1974, he received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences along with Friedrich Hayek for "their pioneering work in the theory of money an ...

's ideas about policies that could help families, but more by the Danish Social Democrats C. V. Bramsnæs and Karl Kristian Steincke. He was named honorary senior lecturer at the universities of

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

and

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

in 1945 and 1947, respectively. There were two specific details of Möller's welfare policy that were colored by his childhood experiences: 1. There should be no stigmatization of the poor, no sorting out of those in need. Rich families as well as poor should have their children's allowance, old age pension and free medical treatment. 2. There should be as little bureaucratic paternalism and arbitrariness as possible. Eligibility should be governed by law. Preferably, the welfare assignments should be administered by the recipients themselves, as when unemployment allowances were administered by the trade unions. And allowances should always be cash. Möller considered the welfare state a temporary stopgap rather than a goal in itself. A dedicated

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

, he resigned from government in 1951 rather than following his party into

postwar A post-war or postwar period is the interval immediately following the end of a war. The term usually refers to a varying period of time after World War II, which ended in 1945. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum, ...

compromises with private business. He lived in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

at the time of his death in 1970, his wife Else having died in 1968.

Life and career

References

Further reading