“I don’t have to save money for a rainy day”: what it’s like to live in Sweden

In Sweden, everything is very predictable in terms of career and business, and people always adhere to the rules. 40% of my income goes to taxes, but I do not mind, because I feel comfortable in this country. I can not save money for a rainy day, because I am sure that if something happens to me, the state will always support me. The tax system is very transparent: I pay a lot, but I know how my money is distributed.

People here do not work too hard, and they often rest. In the summer, most companies switch to an easy work schedule, but in September the season begins, when people are immersed in business with their heads. In Sweden, they think a lot about ecology. Companies seek to develop cleaner production, and even at the household level, people try to pollute the planet as little as possible.

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Visitors say that there are a lot of people with disabilities in Sweden - but this is only because they are visible. In Russia, they are either the same or even more, but they are not included in society. There is a special program: the state pays young people who care for people with disabilities. I know many guys who participated in this program and became friends with their wards. In general, people with special features are highly respected here, they are taken care of.

Despite the high prices, in Sweden I spend less money than in Russia. I practically do not buy clothes and all sorts of excesses - basically everything goes for food. There is a feeling that the Russian culture has an idea to spend a lot of money on unnecessary things.

If a person wants to earn a lot of money, he must either work in a company for ten years, or work for himself. According to my observations, the larger the company, the less it spoils its employees. In 20 – 30 years they earn from 20 to 30 thousand crowns (approximately 140 and 210 thousand rubles, respectively. - Approx. Ed.). Interestingly, there is always called a full salary with taxes. That is, if a candidate for any position was told that he will earn 40 thousand crowns, in fact this means that he will receive thousands of 25 net.

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Swedes get less stress than Russians do when they finish school and start looking for work. Six months after graduation, the state pays them a scholarship, although they no longer need to study. They can create something, slowly to start a career. Technical education is very popular. There is a high concentration of programmers, engineers, as well as architects, designers and scientists.

There are a lot of things in Sweden you can't joke about. On the one hand, here people are open to everything new, and on the other, they behave very carefully. It's hard to catch a man on a bold statement.

There are a lot of “quiet” racists: quiet because it’s indecent. Even 50 years ago, Sweden was one-racial society, that is, other nationalities appeared here relatively recently. The old generation is not uncomfortable with this, as well as how quickly the way of life has changed.

Homophobes are everywhere, just in Sweden it is condemned at the level of a general culture. There are super-right movements here, but they are popular in small cities, and in large homophobes it is not visible at all. Here modesty and political correctness are paramount.

Gender equality clearly prevails here, and I would say that women in this country have even more responsibility. I can safely say that today Sweden is ruled by women. As far as I know, there is one feminist party here, but I don't really understand politics. Once I held the door to an adult woman, and she said: "I can do it myself." I did it automatically and, apparently, offended her with such a gesture. But in fact, a sincere impulse to help here is always welcome.

I work a lot with advertising, so I know for sure that there is no sexism in advertising at all. In Scandinavia, sexism works only in a negative direction. I have familiar models that work all over the world, and they are always very happy with projects in Sweden, because here they feel like people, not objects. Local advertisers always focus on fashion or the product being sold.

Of course, there are a lot of advantages in Swedish tolerance, but there are some disadvantages. For example, people often hide their point of view, are afraid to talk about problems. At the school where I studied, there were a lot of trainings dedicated to openness.

I have been living in one place for five years, and in all this time I have only met my neighbors twice. The first time I talked with them during the work day. Subbotniks are held twice a year: everyone gathers and cleans the building. You can pay and not go there, but then you will no longer respect. The second time I ran into my neighbors in correspondence, I received an anonymous letter from them with complaints about the loud music that was playing with me.

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