The easiest way to explain this is to point to the fact that Sweden for a large part of it´s modern history (1936-1976, 1982-1991 and 1994-2006) has been ruled by the Social Democratic Party of Sweden.
One of the main pillars of the party´s ideology has been "the welfare of the people" in all aspects of life. They are thus rightfully considered the main designers of what once was "The Welfare State" where the citizens were always under the benevolent protection of the state, from the cradle to the grave.
This welfare state began crumbling in the 1990´s and is since then slowly being dismantled, piece by piece, to expose the surprised Swedes to the market forces.
However one of the benefits created that has not yet been removed is the Holidays Act. According to this law all employees are entitled to a holiday whether employed by the hour or the CEO of a company. (No employed person is excluded, even the Swedish Prime Minister takes a vacation.) Everyone who is employed is entitled to a minimum of five weeks vacation, four of these weeks they are entitled to receive continuously during the period June-August.
During a period of about six weeks (July - mid August) Sweden comes close to a complete standstill. Only the most essential services are maintained and the workforce of any given company is reduced to half - or less - it´s usual size, some companies even choose to shut down completely for a month.
I think one of the main reasons we Swedes accept these conditions is that we ourselves wouldn't want to lose our summer vacation.
Summer is important to us Swedes, just saying!
