When federal income taxation was introduced in Sweden in 1902, it was perceived as natural to jointly tax the spouses’ incomes and wealth since the husband was the wife’s guardian (Welinder1974 p. 152). It also mirrored a society where agriculture dominated and both spouses often worked on a small farm and married women employed outside the farm or the home were rare (Nyberg 1989). Even though married women had the right to control their own income since 1874, they did not become legally competent until the Marriage Act of 1921. Men’s right to exercise power and control within the family was then abolished and married women and men had equal decision-making rights over family finances (Niskanen 2004). However, even if this was a break-through for women, the new law was introduced with a key limitation: it was only valid for marriages entered into after 1920. For older marriages, transitional rules were created, which were not done away with until 1950.