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Summary

• This article describes and analyses public support received by unpaid carers in Sweden

• Three types of carers were identified

•  Very few carers helping someone living in a different household – the large majority of carers – received or desired support aimed directly at them

• Carers mostly wanted public services for the cared-for person

• Despite legislation in 2009 mandating municipalities to offer support to carers, very few of them know about this law

•  There is a wide gap between policies and their implementation, but also some reluctance among carers to use public support services for themselves

•  Social policy needs to clarify the aims of the support provided and to take the needs of both carers and cared-for persons into account.

This article describes and analyses public support for Swedish unpaid carers, now mandated by law, and also the support that they desire, using surveys conducted in 2008, 2009, and later. Few carers helping someone in a different household – the large majority of the carers – received any support aimed directly at them, such as access to support groups, training, relief service, or financial support. Yet, most carers did not desire any support for themselves. They mostly wanted public services for the cared-for person, all of which may also indirectly support carers. Intra-household carers – about a tenth of all carers – have vastly larger care commitments than other carers. Some of them desire support for themselves, usually relief services of financial support. Three out of 10 of these carers used any public support, despite the new (2009) legislation that only a minority of carers know about. There is a wide gap between policies and their implementation, but also some reluctance among carers to use public support for themselves. The relationship between carers and the state is unclear in Sweden and this reflects on the aims and the forms of support. Stereotypes about ‘typical’ carers may have impeded adequate forms of support.