Among keen men and pampered ladies : the eight hour working day debate in Sweden

In 1920, the eight-hour working day and the 48-hour working week were legislated in Sweden. With the intention of proposing this legislation, the Swedish liberal-socialist government appointed a Working Time Committee in 1918, composed of representatives of government, employees and employers. This tripartite system, rare at this time, would become synonymous with the Swedish Policy of compromise' or 'the Swedish model'.' This chapter examines this Working Time Committee and the debates that engulfed it.