(1) The Scandinavian welfare states did not emerge in toto during the 1930s and 40s.

(2) Most social policies replaced means-tested programs with universal and compulsory policies.

(3) Programs were state financed, but some required employer and employee funding. Over time, the percentage of state finance declined as employer contributions increased.

(4) Social Democratic parties in all cases were the chief advocates for welfare policy, but they needed to make concessions in some places (Denmark) to bourgeois parties that sought limits on employer contributions and tax breaks for private insurance schemes.

(5) Flat-rate systems (particularly in pensions) were replaced by superannuated programs in the 1960s.