Opposites Attract – Evidence of Status Exchange in Ethnic Intermarriages in Sweden

This study raises the question of how marriage market relevant status characteristics are distributed among partners in exogamous relationships. The status exchange hypothesis posits that partners in racially and ethnically heterogamous relationships trade status characteristics, mainly education. We address this hypothesis focusing on intermarriages between immigrants and native men (N=606,257) and women (N=600,165) in Sweden using register data covering the entire Swedish population for the period 1990 to 2009. Results from binomial and multinomial logistic regressions show that low status in terms of age, income, and previous relationships are determinants for exogamy, and that the main marriage market relevant status that is exchanged is age, not education. This holds particularly for immigrants from certain countries of origin such as for wives from Asia and Africa and husbands from Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Swedish men and women show surprisingly large symmetry in status exchange patterns

Opposites Attract : Assortative Mating and Immigrant–Native Intermarriage in Contemporary Sweden

This paper studies how immigrant–native intermarriages in Sweden are associated with individual characteristics of native men and women and patterns of assortative mating. Patterns of educational- and age-assortative mating that are similar to those found in native–native marriages may reflect openness to immigrant groups, whereas assortative mating patterns that indicate status considerations suggest that country of birth continues to serve as a boundary in the native marriage market. The study uses Swedish register data that cover the entire Swedish population for the period of 1991–2009. The results from binomial and multinomial logistic regressions show that low status of natives in terms of economic and demographic characteristics is associated with intermarriage and that intermarriages are characterized by educational and age heterogamy more than are native–native marriages. The findings indicate that immigrant women as well as immigrant men become more attractive marriage partners if they are considerably younger than their native spouses. This is particularly true for intermarriages with immigrants from certain regions of origin, such as wives from Asia and Africa and husbands from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Gender differences in the intermarriage patterns of native men and women are surprisingly small

Fertility patterns and sex composition preferences in immigrant–native unions in Sweden

Intermarriage between immigrants and native individuals highlights the need to study childbearing as a joint decision of couples, because fertility preferences are likely to differ for the two partners involved. This study focuses on Sweden, where the majority population holds a relative preference for daughters but many immigrants come from countries with son preferences. Using longitudinal registers for the period 1990–2009, I analyse third-birth risks according to the sex composition of previous children and type of union. Doing so allows the study of preferences from behavioural data: couples with a daughter preference, for example, are more likely to have another child if their two previous children were boys. Results show that third-birth risks tend to be higher in unions between Swedish women and immigrant men, whereas unions between Swedish men and immigrant women tend to exhibit lower third-birth risks. Son preferences are rarely realized in intermarriages

Will You Intermarry Me? : Determinants and Consequences of Immigrant-Native Intermarriage in Contemporary Nordic Settings

This dissertation examines the determinants and consequences of immigrant-native intermarriage in two Nordic countries, Sweden and Denmark, between 1980 and 2011. An increase in immigration during the second half of the twentieth and early twenty-first century in the countries under study was accompanied by an increase in intermarriage. However, the marriages of natives and some immigrant groups are more frequent than others, which may indicate that the strength of the immigrant-native boundary differs between immigrant groups. In contrast to previous research, this dissertation focuses on the perspectives of both the immigrants and the native majority and attempts to answer the following questions: who crosses the immigrant-native boundary through marriage, is immigrant-native intermarriage of a special nature, and does immigrant-native intermarriage contribute to successful integration.This dissertation is a compilation of four papers, each of which is a quantitative study of the determinants or consequences of intermarriage that relies on register data collected by the administrative authorities in the countries in question. The findings of this dissertation show that for natives both economic and non-economic status in the marriage market are associated with intermarriage. Moreover, patterns of age-assortative mating differ in intermarriages and in marriages of the native majority. For both Swedish men and women, unions in which the partner is considerably younger are relatively more frequent among immigrant-native intermarriages. The findings also suggest that the larger age gap between men and women in intermarriages is not only related to the differential treatment of certain immigrant groups in the Swedish marriage market but also partly the result of racial discrimination. Intermarriage nevertheless is related to immigrant integration. The findings from this dissertation show that intermarriage leads to positive income development for intermarried immigrants, particularly for immigrants whose country of origin means that they would otherwise experience difficulties in the labour market. With respect to demographic integration, intermarried immigrants deviate strongly from endogamous immigrants. While immigrants of certain origins display fertility patterns which confirm the existence of son preferences, immigrants from the same origins who are in unions with natives do not show such patterns by and large. This dissertation shows how immigrant-native intermarriage is connected with the broader social structure. An increase in immigrant-native intermarriage reflects the openness of a society to a certain degree. However, the findings of this dissertation also show that intermarriage is related to the social structure in a particular way. Intermarriage cannot only be regarded as a reflection of the successful structural assimilation of immigrants because intermarriage patterns also reflect social stratification. Intermarriages with some immigrant groups show systematically different patterns of assortative mating, which indicates the differential treatment of certain immigrant groups in the marriage market

Opposites attract. Unions between majority natives and marriage migrants in Sweden : L’attraction des opposés. Mariages entre Suédois(es) et personnes qui migrent en Suède pour se marier

Marriage with the prospect of migration may lead to new patterns of union formation in globalized marriage markets. Annika Elwert looks at characteristics and marriage patterns of majority natives who are in unions with immigrants who either lived in the country before union formation or migrated around the time of marriage, and gives insights about majority natives’ openness towards different immigrant groups in the marriage market

Can Men Have it All? Economic Determinants and Consequences of Fathers' Parental Leave Use in Sweden

This study addresses the question of economic and workplace related determinants and consequences of fathers’ parental leave use in Sweden. The analysis is based on the Swedish Level of Living Survey for the years 1991 and 2000. The results show that wages and the probability of taking parental leave beyond the ‘daddy month’ are inversely u-shaped: with very low hourly wages it does not seem to be affordable to take longer parental leave, whereas with higher wages it does not seem to be rational. Working in the public sector increases the probability to take parental leave beyond the ‘daddy month’ which is rather explained by different structures and workplace cultures than by economic incentives. Wage penalties for parental leave could not be found, but fatherhood more generally seems to lead to a wage premium. Self-selection into family-compatible employments seems to be an important consequence for mothers who take extended parental leave but similar effects were not found for fathers

The social care-taking of the city-kids. Determinants for day-care attendance in early twentieth century southern Sweden

In this paper, we analyze one of the early welfare interventions in the Swedish welfare state targeted towards mothers and young children: the introduction of a child day-care system. Because quantitative research on day-cares in historical settings is generally scarce, in this study, we focus on the determinants of day-care enrollment in southern Sweden during the early twentieth century. We use unique longitudinal micro-level data for the city of Landskrona obtained from the Scanian Economic Demographic Database, which has been linked to individual-level records of day-care attendance for children born between1900 and 1935. Event-history techniques are employed to analyze the importance of factors such as household composition, parental socio-economic background, marital status of the mother, and mother’s occupation. Of the studied children, 8 percent were ever enrolled in daycares, most of them around the ages 3 to 6. The results show that the mother’s marital status, household SES, the presence of other adult females in the household and mother’s occupation are all significant determinants of day-care attendance for children. In this study, we show that day-care attendance followed a negative SES gradient and was most common among children of single mothers, in the early twentieth century in southern Sweden

Cohabitation Premiums in Denmark : Income Effects in Immigrant–Native Partnerships

Intermarriage with natives has the potential to enhance immigrant integration, as intermarried immigrants gain access to resources such as language skills, information about institutions and customs, and native networks. Due to these spillover effects, immigrants in intermarriages are more likely to be successful in the labour market. However, a positive relationship between intermarriage and economic integration can also be caused by selection based on unobserved characteristics. In previous studies, spillover effects have only been studied from the time of marriage but could occur in a period of cohabitation before marriage. Using unique register data from Denmark, we are able to identify cohabiting couples to analyse both intermarriage and exogamous cohabitation premiums. We study these effects and address selection in a panel data framework, obtaining a time profile of income in relation to the start of cohabitation. Results show comparatively high premiums for male and female immigrants from countries with lower levels of overall economic development and these income increases are directly related to relationship formation

The social care-taking of the city-kids. Determinants for day-care attendance in early twentieth-century southern Sweden

The introduction of a child day-care system is one of the early welfare interventions targeted towards mothers and young children that over time gained great prominence in the Swedish welfare state. Because quantitative research on day-cares in historical settings is generally scarce, in this study, we focus on the determinants of day-care enrolment in southern Sweden during the early twentieth century. We use unique individual-level records of day-care attendance for children born between 1900 and 1935 which have been linked to longitudinal micro-level data for the city of Landskrona obtained from the Scanian Economic Demographic Database. Event-history techniques are employed to analyse the importance of factors such as household composition, parental socio-economic background, marital status of the mother, and mother’s occupation. Of the studied children, 8% were ever enrolled in day-cares, most of them around the ages 3 to 6. The results show that the mother’s marital status, household SES, number of siblings, the presence of other adult females in the household and mother’s occupation are all significant determinants of day-care attendance for children. In this study, we show that in the early twentieth century in southern Sweden, day-care attendance followed a negative SES gradient and was most common among children of single mothers