Parenting Support in Sweden: New Policies in Old Settings

Summary, in English

This article sets out to investigate the political development and implementation of parenting support services in Sweden. The object of analysis is on how parenting support has been organised and how it has been articulated in policy debates, and also key elements of parenting support in practice. The analysis shows that parenting support builds upon a century-long tradition of for example pre-emptive health care check-ups and services to parents, counselling and parenting education. There are, however, elements in parenting support policy which mark a clear deviation from this policy legacy. These include the introduction of structured parenting programmes, the growth of the idea of parents as autonomous beings and the partial relocation of parenting support into new public health goals.