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The article presents the authors' reflections on a comparative research project entitled Labour Movement and the Welfare State started in August 1982. It is being carried out at the Sociological Institute of the University of Copenhagen and is being partly financed by the Danish Social Science Research Council for a period of two years. The theme is the study of the reciprocal relations between distinct characteristics of various national labour movements and different national routes of development in shaping three areas of welfare policies crucial to wage labour: occupational safety, unemployment insurance and pension benefits. In the political-ideological field, one major confrontation revolves around the role of the welfare state and the trade unions in terms of the economic crisis. The Scandinavian connection between labour movement and the welfare state is illustrated in two different ways by the cases of Denmark and Sweden. We well use the concept models of labour movements to account for variations in relations between the state and wage-earners. This project may contribute to ongoing discussions on the differences between national labour movements in Europe, especially with regard to the functioning of the Scandinavian model.