How the Responsibility of Digital Support for Older People is Allocated? The Swedish Welfare System at the Crossroads

Abstract

A great welfare challenge today is to promote opportunities of digitalization while limiting social inequalities from digital divides, especially for older people. While the digital divide is a dynamic problem, shifting from physical access to skills and usage, public policies to close the divide do not necessary follow. This study explores who is providing digital support in Sweden by looking at three institutions: (1) the municipal eldercare system, (2) popular education institutions, and (3) the family. The results show that the Swedish policy rely heavily on popular education and family arrangements, leaving many young-old Swedes in need of digital support without public support, while the opposite occurs for very old Swedes who are mostly consumers of welfare technologies. Issues of dependency/independency arise. Given this, the role to the Swedish welfare state needs to be re-evaluated, especially in light of rapid demographic change.