The purpose of this paper is to discuss the concept of territorial equality as an indicator of universalism in locally provided care services for older people. The research question explored is how the local organisation of care services impacts on and either strengthens or weakens local universalism.
The analysis is based on case studies in six municipalities in Finland, Norway and Sweden.
The paper shows that three kinds of organisational characteristics are of relevance for local universalism: the explicitness in assignment criteria, the organisational strength of service guarantees and the degree of co‐payments. Local universalism is highly dependent on the specific organisational arrangements at the local level, but in interplay with national level regulations. Of the three investigated kinds of organisational conditions, the local impact is largest on access criteria and the organisational strength of service guarantees.
Although, there has been much work in mapping territorial inequalities in the Nordic as well as in a wider European context, little attention has been given to how universalism should be understood and evaluated at the local level. The study offers an empirical analysis of organisational conditions for local universalism in the Nordic welfare municipalities.
