Editing Per Albin Hansson (section)

==Political activity==
During [[World War II]], in which Sweden maintained a policy of neutrality, he presided over a [[National unity government|government of national unity]] that included all major parties in the [[Parliament of Sweden|Riksdag]] with the exception of the [[Vänsterpartiet|Communist Party]].<ref>Swedish Encyclopedia "Bonniers Lexikon", 1960s, known as "the Apple", vol 6:15, article "Hansson, Per Albin", column 837 "Han ombildade dec. 1939 regeringen till en även folkpartiet och högern ommfattande samlingsministär, som fungerade till juli 1945. Genom försiktig utrikespolitik sökte han bevara Sveriges neutralitet"</ref> Forging the Social Democratic grip on Swedish politics that would last throughout the century, Hansson left an astounding legacy on his party as well as creating the idea of Sweden to become "''[[Folkhemmet]]''", "The People's Home".<ref>Swedish Encyclopedia "Bonniers Lexikon", 1960s, known as "the Apple", vol 6:15, article "Hansson, Per Albin", column 836–837 "Partiets målsättning skulle enligt Hansson (1928) vara att göra Sverige till ett 'folkhem' ".</ref> This remained intact until the early 1990s, including a strict policy of neutrality, a wide-stretching [[welfare state]] through parliamentary legislation, and reformist [[social corporatism]] rather than Marxist [[Socialization (Marxism)|socialization]] of the [[means of production]]. Following the [[World War II|war]], Hansson formed a Social Democratic cabinet enjoying [[absolute majority]] in the Riksdag before succumbing to a [[Myocardial infarction|heart attack]] on his way home from work late at night on 6 October 1946.

During Hansson's fourteen years as Prime Minister of Sweden, a wide range of reforms were realised, such as income-tested child allowances for invalidity pensioners and widows, maternity allowances through voluntary sickness insurance, and a 1935 law that introduced state subsidies for the construction of apartment houses for families with three or more children, combined with housing allowances for families with more than two children living in these houses.<ref>Growth to Limits: The Western European Welfare States Since World War II Volume 4 edited by Peter Flora</ref> Subsidised dental care was also established.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GLQ3AAAAIAAJ&q=sweden+dental+care+1938&pg=PA13 |title = Current Issues and Research in Macrosociology|isbn = 9004070524|last1 = Lenski|first1 = Gerhard Emmanuel|year = 1984| publisher=Brill Archive }}</ref> By 1953, dental clinics were open to the whole population, with children receiving free treatment and adults either paying a modest fee or (in the case of less well-off persons) free treatment as well.<ref>Freedom and welfare : social patterns in the northern countries of Europe edited by G.R. Nelson, Denmark, Assisted by A. Makinen-Ollinen, Finland, S. Thorbjornsson, Iceland, K. Salvesen, Norway, G. Tegner, Sweden, 1953, P.23-24 </ref> 

A bill that provided for "the establishment of a voluntary unemployment insurance scheme was passed into law and came into force on 1 January 1935." The Government also allocated funds for the improvement of rural housing.<ref>[http://www.ilo.org/public/libdoc/ilo/P/09614/09614(1934-1935).pdf THE I.L.O YEAR-BOOK 1934-35]</ref> An act of 26 June 1936 amended that of 1929 "so as to include all the diseases contained in the revised Convention, as well as those due to carbon monoxide, cyanogen and its compounds, chlorine, nitrous fumes, chromic acid and its compounds, and certain infectious diseases (hospital staffs, etc.)." A People's Travel Association was founded for workers and their families in March 1937. An act of 11 September 1936 "contains a new regulation of the right of association and collective bargaining. The act applies not only to workers in private undertakings but also to employees in the service of the State or the communes who have not the status of officials." On 1 November 1936 an act came into force "regulating hours of work on farms employing more than four workers, exclusive of cattle tenders. The maximum working day is 10 hours, and the net working week may vary from 46 to 56 hours in the course of the year."<ref>[http://www.ilo.org/public/libdoc/ilo/P/09614/09614%281936-1937%29.pdf THE I.L.O YEAR-BOOK 1936-37]</ref> According to one study, the years 1937 to 1939 became "a harvest season for a series of social reforms that previously for the most part were dreams for the future."  

Writing on these years, Hansson stated that "1937 loosened things up.  That is when a pension amendment indexed to the cost of living was enacted, child support, mothers’ assistance, maternity assistance, far-reaching improvements in preventative mother and child care, the housing loan fund. The regulation of farm labor was approved. 1938 gave us compulsory holidays, the national dental plan, and the Institute for Health Insurance. 1939 saw the regulation of working hours … [and] housing for pensioners was created for the aged."<ref>The Age of Social Democracy Norway and Sweden in the Twentieth Century By Francis Sejersted, 2021, P.121</ref>  

An act to provide for 12 days of annual holiday with pay for workers passed the Riksdag on 2 June 1938, while a Royal Notification of 2 December 1938 "deals with medical inspection of workers exposed to silicosis, referring to: examination on engagement and annually thereafter; practical methods to be followed; medical authorities entrusted with examination; recording of results on the health register, etc." The Workers' Protection Act of 1912 was "amended and extended to cover certain aspects of hygiene and protection for young persons even in the smaller undertakings, as well as medical examination for adults on engagement and periodically thereafter in the case of particularly unhealthy trades, notably those involving exposure to lead poisoning and to silicosis." Also, under legislation of ("act of 3 June 1938, notification of 17 June 1938") "compensation has been extended to cover forms of dermatitis due to the use of chlorinated derivatives of phenol for impregnating wood." A 1938 act amended the Workers' Protection Act, with an Institute of Social Hygiene set up; one of its duties being the study of maternity protection. An act of 1938 authorised "loans and grants for the erection of roomy accommodation for large families living in overcrowded buildings in rural districts." The 48-hour week "has been extended to cover the staff in lunatic asylums and the Government has fixed the increases in staff which this reform involves." The Holidays with Pay act, which was promulgated on 17 June 1938, "contains special provisions for home workers." This act "introduced a legal system of annual holidays with pay in the country. The act, which is of general application, grants one working day's holiday for every month of service after one year, provided that at least 180 days have been worked in the same undertaking and at least 16 days per month; the act may not be used to invalidate any more favourable conditions contained in collective agreements. For seamen in particular the payment during the holiday includes wages and an allowance for food. Changes in the ownership of the vessel and interruptions of service for which the seaman is not responsible do not affect the right to the holiday."<ref>[http://www.ilo.org/public/libdoc/ilo/P/09614/09614(1938-1939).pdf THE I.L.O YEAR-BOOK 1938-39]</ref> 

A new act fixed hours of work for employees in commerce. From 1 January 1939 the working hours for nursing and domestic staff were 48 in the week, and on 10 March 1939 "the Government presented a Bill to amend the act of 16 May 1930 on hours of work in bakeries. The proposed amendments would enable Sweden to ratify the international Convention on the subject. They suppressed the exemption of family undertakings from the scope of the act and the provisions under which the act applied only to the production of bread and pastry for sale. The Bill was passed by Parliament on 11 May 1939." Instructions concerning the inspectorates for electrical installations, explosives and ships were published on 30 June 1939 and other instructions on the inspection of lifts on 13 December 1939. Three Royal Notifications of 26 January 1940 "amended the existing regulations on the special inspection of the State railways, private railways and explosive substances." The war risks of seamen in the event of accidents were dealt with in an act of 11 June 1937, which provided "for a very considerable increase in the accident benefits normally due to seamen if the injury or death results from an act of war. In the event of total incapacity or death the individual is entitled to a lump sum which, in the case of officers, is generally equal to twelve months' salary, and in the case of all other ratings, 4,800 kr. For partial incapacity the sum is proportionately reduced." An act of 14 October 1939 provided that "no person may be discharged from employment on account of military or other service which he is required by law to perform. The parties may however agree to override this rule if the military service is to last more than three months." An act of 19 May 1939 prohibited employers "from discharging, owing to engagement or marriage, any wage earner with at least two years' continuous service in the undertaking. Any agreement to the contrary is null and void and an employer who contravenes this rule must pay damages. The act applies to undertakings employing at least three persons."<ref>[http://www.ilo.org/public/libdoc/ilo/P/09614/09614(1939-1940).pdf THE I.L.O YEAR-BOOK 1939-40]</ref>