To glimpse Swedish angst under its picture postcard prosperity, look no further than film director Lisa Ohlin, who has enjoyed years of tax cuts in an economy the envy of Europe. Homes in her Stockholm neighborhood cost around $1 million.

“We do not see that there is room for any broad tax cuts in 2015 and 2016 and also when we look ahead, there’s limited room” – Finance Minister Anders Borg

But this leafy, well-heeled area is a microcosm of Sweden, where eyes are on a struggling school with strained finances, not enough teachers and poor results. Like many Swedes, Ohlin wants her cherished welfare state back.

“Classes are more about storage (of kids) than anything. Teachers cannot handle the workload they have in some classes,” said Ohlin, a mother of two. “There is poor discipline and poor attention. There is a huge fear of going over the budget.”

Voters like Ohlin are returning to faith in cradle to grave welfare after eight years of center-right Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, who cut income, wealth and corporate taxes. Sweden’s tax burden has fallen by four percentage points of GDP – now lower than France.

In the eyes of many Swedes, the welfare state withered. Sickness and unemployment benefits were cut. Private firms started to run tax-funded schools and hospitals. But a tipping point may have come as a September general election approaches – and many now point to a U-turn.

Read the full report on Reuters here.

Related: this right wing campaign on Facebook backfires, when people in the comments declare that they actually want to pay tax [comments might have been removed after the time of writing this, ed.]