Paper short abstract:

2014, the Swedish government declared itself as the ’first feminist government in the world’. Indeed, Sweden has been successful in promoting gendered equality, yet many retired women live in poverty. This paper explores the relation between state feminism and neoliberalism with regards to pension.

Paper long abstract:

2014, the Swedish government declared itself as the ’first feminist government in the world’. Indeed, Sweden has been successful in promoting gendered equality, yet many retired women live in poverty and Sweden has a higher share of poor pensioners compared to other Nordic countries. In a country that so clearly has stated out its ambition towards state feminism, why are so many older women living on an income below or near the EU poverty line? Although the Swedish pension system officially is described as gender neutral, this paper show that the social contract of pensions rests on a male norm which, in turn, is connected to neoliberal ideals of work and the individual. By looking at life histories and current life conditions of retired rural women, the paper asks: how does the pensions system affect women’s ageing and, especially, later life?

For better understanding state feminism and policies regarding pensions, it is important to explore how they work in practice. The paper argues that the current pension system neglects real issues on the ground, which is especially prominent for today’s pensioners. While the Swedish pension system may seem logical from the “inside” due to its neutrality, autonomy and self-regulating mechanisms, it is also abstract and generalized, which simplifies and overlooks “outside” local and particular lived experiences. Although the pension system claims to be equal for all citizens, it overlooks the fact that economic insecurity in later life is shaped by the intersection of gender, rural and larger societal living conditions.