The most characteristic feature of the development is the dramatic reduction in the number of elderly people receiving services. The decline is only partly due to a rise in taxes for the services paid for by the elderly themselves. New regulations on the local (municipal) level are more important. The home help services concentrated on frail elderly people, who now get more services, while the need for merely basic household services often no longer qualifies one for home care services. The municipalities refer the elderly people to their relatives or even recommend private firms if the income of the suppliant is above a certain level. In both cases, there is a dismissal of the universal principles so far inherent in the Swedish welfare system: Instead of the individual, the family becomes the unit as regards allocation and the right to benefits on the basis of income runs the risk of being seen as poor relief.