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revenue to increase by approximately 9-10 per cent per annum, as well as by successive increases to local tax rates, viz from about 15 per cent in 1960 to almost 24 per cent by 1974.

There is reason to expect that the sources of revenue will go on expanding in line with the rate during the 1960s. But the rise of local tax rates can hardly equal those of the 1960s.

Financial developments are in a fact a major problem concerning the speed at which employment opportunities can be increased within the public sector. The Commission should therefore consider the financial problems and the fiscal consequences attendant on such a course of development as has been briefly outlined above. Close consultation is called for with the Revenue Commission and the Commission on Local Government Finance.

7.

The regional conditions of employment policy

As already observed, a larger number of job opportunities will be needed in order to achieve equivalent employment levels throughout the country. The unutilized resources of labour are unevenly divided between different regions. Thus, the intensity of female employment is relatively low in the northern counties and in the counties of Gothenburg and Bohus. Elsewhere, too, there are localities whose labour markets are characterized by a one-sided, stagnant economic structure and a low intensity of employment, especially where women are concerned.

Differences in the level of employment are connected with the economic structures of different localities and regions and with the changes undergone by different industries. In recent years Government and Parliament have devoted a great deal of attention to regional and local employment problems, e.g. through the active location policy implemented since the

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mid-1960s, and also through the county planning jointly developed by provincial administrations, county councils and municipalities.

An initial evaluation of this planning was undertaken in the programme of regional policy adopted by the Riksdag in 1972. In this programme the Riksdag defined the general goals of regional policy and stated its guidelines in the form of a plan for the development of the regional structure and frames for provincial planning expressed in terms of numbers of inhabitants in 1980. Resolutions were also adopted by the Riksdag concerning a number of social spheres with a view to the realization of the goals of regional policy.

Provincial Planning 1974, which is to be presented in 1975, will among other things include an account of the measures required for the solution of local and regional problems of employment. Accordingly, this material will be of great importance in assessing the demands placed on general employment policy by the guidelines of regional policy. An assessment of this kind should be included among the tasks of the Commission.

8.

Employment policy and the conditions of working life

As stated earlier, considerable public effort will be required in order to increase the number of job opportunities on a scale corresponding to popular expectations concerning employment. But a general expansion of the demand for the labour will not in itself be sufficient to provide work for all. The varying conditions applying within and between different regions call for the design of public initiatives to cater for extremely varied requirements. The need for selective measures becomes still more apparent when we consider the situation confronting individual persons in the labour market.

Measures designed to support vulnerable groups and enable them to participate in working life are mainly to be found

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in the context of labour market policy. These include measures to promote geographical and occupational mobility, i.e. the labour exchanges, labour market training etc. We may also mention the various measures taken to provide employment in the form of relief work projects and sheltered employment.

A continuing strong expansion of labour market policy will be of vital importance not only to the possibility of reducing open unemployment but also in facilitating wider assess to the labour market and raising the level of employment. A review of many of the instruments of labour market policy is at present in progress or is being planned. Thus labour market training is being investigated and both sheltered employment and vocational rehabilitation are scheduled for review. The organization of the Employment Service has been reformed and it will now be possible for computer techniques to be applied to referal activities. The National Labour Market Board has been instructed to investigate the possibility of increased information being supplied to the employment offices concerning vacancies and of the registration of vacancies being made compulsory. The preventive elements of labour market policy, designed to prevent the elimination of individual persons from the labour market, have been reinforced in recent years. Among other things this has been done through the establishment 1) of adjustment groups in a large number of firms. The Ministry is devoting particular attention to these activities. Finally, mention can be made of the appraisal of certain of the effects of labour market policy by a group of experts on labour market research. It is the Government's intention to put forward successive proposals on the basis of material from the above mentioned survey work and other sources with a view to presecuting the development of labour market policy and increasing its resources.

1) Adjustment groups are formed within firms in co-operation with the Employment Service and the trade unions. Their task is to help elderly and handicapped persons to stay in the firm by adjusting work to the abilities of those concerned. The present number of adjustment groups is close to 4,000.

It will also be the task of the experts to keep close track of reports from the Royal Commissions and surveys mentioned above. In doing so, they are to consider any further demands which may be placed upon labour market policy and the direction of that policy in view of the future course of employment policy.

As already observed, labour market policy has an extremely important part to play in strengthening the position of the individual in the labour market and at the same time in easing the recruitment of labour. Additional measures for the adjustment of working life to individual requirements will be needed in order to make it possible for groups at present without employment to enter the labour market. Measures of this kind are conceivable in a large number of sectors.

It is of fundamental importance for the sake of this adjustment for employees to be given increased influence of their own conditions of work. A comprehensive process of reform has begun for the democratization of working life. This includes e.g. a review of labour legislation.

Major amendments have been made to industrial safety legislation with effect from January 1, 1974, thus increasing the ability of employees to participate in the shaping of their working environment. The continuing transformation of the working environment and an adjustment of working exigencies are important means of enabling people to participate in working life, especially as regards the provision of employment in the open market for persons with various kinds of handicaps.

Altered working hours may also be considered as a means of rendering working life more accessible. The idea of a combination of part-time work and partial retirement pension for elderly employees is one example of this and is at present being considered by the Retiring Age Committee.

The principle of greater individual liberty in the disposition of working hours and, on the other hand, of studies, holidays, retirement and other periods of non-employment, has acquired progressively greater currency in recent years.

Over the past few years, working hours have been cut from 45 to 40 per week. The reduction of working hours is one way of realizing improved productivity. The balance between improved cash remuneration, better social security and shorter working hours must in the first instance be determined by the trade unions. As it is, employee organizations are inclined to give priority to longer holidays, though at the same time they have recommended a working week of about 30 hours as a long-term goal of reform where working hours are concerned. The Swedish unions have advocated a reduction of the working veel: by means of cuts in the number of working hours per day. The Government shares this view. There are both social and political grounds for a solution of this kind, not least with regard to the efforts that are being made to establish equality of status between men and women in working life.

Education is another sector in which action may be needed. One of the important tasks of long-term employment planning must be to establish a better balance between the supply of and the demand for personnel with various educational qualifications.

The expansion of elementary schooling, upper secondary and higher education and other forms of adult education has resulted in young persons entering working life at a later age than before. Lack of adjustment between the economy and the educational system has created certain difficulties for young persons in the labour market, especially as regards the transition from studies to employment. Various types of measures must therefore be considered with a view to making it easier for young persons to enter working life. One possibility is for young persons to be prepared for working life