Children’s living arrangements and experiences of family disruption In Sweden, 1975-2000

Sheela Kennedy, University of Wisconsin at Madison
Elizabeth Thomson, University of Wisconsin at Madison

This paper examines changes in children’s family structure in Sweden between 1975-2000 and focuses on socioeconomic differences in children’s family lives. We will address two main questions: 1) Have rising rates of cohabitation and childbearing in consensual unions increased children’s experience of family instability and time in a single-parent household? 2) Have these changes in children’s living arrangements disproportionately affected children from disadvantaged backgrounds? Sweden, a country with high rates of cohabiting births and high rates of union dissolution, combined with generous social policies, is an important context for studying SES differences in children’s family instability.