Gender Equality, Parenthood Attitudes, and First Births in Sweden

We analyse Swedish survey data on attitudes about parenthood among young adults aged 22-30 in 1999, and examine who became parents over the next four years. Our results show that while both men and women perceive more benefits to parenthood than costs, men are more likely than women to perceive both negative and positive consequences of parenthood. Further, gender role attitudes shape parental attitudes differentially for men and women. More egalitarian men perceive fewer costs and more egalitarian women perceive fewer benefits than those with more traditional gender role attitudes. Our analyses of the transition to parenthood indicate that, even controlling assessments of the costs and benefits of children, men with more traditional attitudes were more likely to become fathers at an early age, while gender role attitudes had no effect on women’s transition to parenthood. In contrast, there were no gender differentials in the effects of costs and benefits, each of which strongly affected the transition to parenthood, but, of course, in opposite directions. We interpret these findings to indicate that even in a country as far into the Second Demographic Transition as Sweden, negotiating shared parenthood is still sufficiently difficult that it depresses fertility, but now because of its impact on men.

Integrating the second generation: gender and family attitudes in early adulthood in Sweden

'Dieser Artikel nimmt die Einstellungen zu drei im jungen Erwachsenenalter auftretenden familialen Herausforderungen bei im Lande geborenen Schweden unterschiedlicher Herkunft in den Blick. Wir untersuchten ihre Einstellungen hinsichtlich des Eingehens einer neuen Partnerschaft durch Zusammenwohnen versus Ehe und des Eingehens einer Partnerschaft innerhalb oder außerhalb der eigenen ethnischen Gruppe sowie hinsichtlich der Bevorzugung einer eher traditionellen oder eher egalitären Balance zwischen Arbeit und Familie, wenn die Kinder noch klein sind. Die Einstellungen auf diesen Dimensionen zeigen das Ausmaß auf, in dem die erwachsenen, in Schweden lebenden Kinder polnischer oder türkischer Abstammung entweder die schwedischen Familienform akzeptiert haben oder aber von sich selbst erwarten, dass sie einige familiale Besonderheiten beibehalten werden. Unsere Analyse basiert auf einem 1999 durchgeführten Survey junger Erwachsener in Schweden (Family and Working Life in the 21st Century). Dieses Survey bestand aus 2.326 Teilnehmern im Alter von 22 bis 26 Jahren, von denen 500 mindestens einen Elternteil hatten, der entweder in der Türkei oder in Polen geboren war. Wir konzentrierten uns auf die Faktoren, die die Akzeptanz schwedischer Familienformen erhöhen: Wir betrachteten die Effekte zwei Messinstrumente zur Einwirkung schwedischer Wertvorstellungen durch die Wohnumgebung (Bildungswesen, ethnische Segregation in der Nachbarschaft, eines Messinstrumentes zum Grad der Einwirkung schwedischer Wertvorstellungen während der Kindheit in der eigenen Familie (bikulturelle Ehe der eigenen Eltern) sowie einen Faktor, der von einer Abschwächung der Unterstützung für die familialen Herkunftskultur (Bruch mit der Familienstruktur der Elternfamilie) ausgeht. Wir fanden heraus, dass systematische Unterschiede in den Einstellungen zur Familie in der zweiten Generation aufgrund der jeweiligen ethnischen Herkunft bestehen. Es gibt große Unterschiede zwischen jungen Erwachsenen türkischer und schwedischer Herkunft, wohingegen Schweden polnischer Abstammung den Schweden sehr viel ähnlicher sind. Nicht desto trotz scheinen sich die Einstellungen junger Frauen und Männer sowohl polnischer als auch türkischer Herkunft denen ihrer Altersgenossen schwedischer Herkunft anzunähern, jedenfalls im Vergleich zu den in den ethnischen Gemeinschaften ihrer Eltern. Dies hängt jedoch vom Wohnumfeld und den Familienzusammenhängen, in denen sie in Schweden aufwuchsen, ab.' (Autorenreferat)'This paper focuses on attitudes towards three family challenges of early adulthood among native-born Swedes of differing origins. We examine attitudes towards forming new partnerships through cohabitation versus marriage, partnering within or outside one's national group, and preferring a more traditional versus a more egalitarian balance of work and family when children are young. Attitudes about these dimensions reveal the extent to which the adult children of Polish and Turkish origins living in Sweden have accepted Swedish family forms or expect to retain some forms of family distinctiveness. We base our analysis on a 1999 survey of young adults in Sweden (Family and Working Life in the 21st Century). The survey consisted of 2,326 respondents who were ages 22 and 26, of whom 500 had at least one parent who was born either in Turkey or Poland. We focus on the factors increasing acceptance of Swedish family forms. We consider the effects of two measures of exposure to Swedish values in the community (education, neighborhood ethnic segregation), a measure indicating the extent of exposure to Swedish values in the childhood family (parental intermarriage), and a factor suggesting the weakening of familial support for the culture of origin (disrupted childhood family structure). We find that there are systematic differences in family attitudes among the second generation that reflect their ethnic origins, with sharp differences between young adults of Turkish and Swedish origins. Swedes of Polish origin much more closely resemble those of Swedish origins. Nevertheless, the attitudes of young women and men of both Polish and Turkish origins appear to be approaching those of Swedish-origin young adults, relative to the family patterns in their parents' home communities. This, however, depends on the community and family contexts in which they grew up in Sweden.' (author's abstract

Karst groundwater vulnerability mapping: application of a new method in the Swabian Alb, Germany

Groundwater from karst aquifers is an important drinking water resource, which is, however, particularly vulnerable to contamination. Karst aquifers consequently need special protection. This paper discusses the concept of groundwater vulnerability mapping and the special characteristics of karst aquifers that are relevant in this context. On this basis, a new method of groundwater vulnerability mapping is proposed—the PI method. It can be applied for all types of aquifers, but provides special tools for karst. Vulnerability is assessed as the product of two factors: protective cover (P) and infiltration conditions (I). The method was first applied and compared with two other methods (EPIK and the German method) in a test site in the Swabian Alb, Germany. The results obtained with the different methods are discussed and an outlook on the role of vulnerability maps within an overall groundwater protections scheme is give

Fold structure and underground drainage pattern in the alpine karst system Hochifen-Gottesacker

Abstract.: This paper summarises seven years of hydrogeological research in the alpine karst system Hochifen-Gottesacker (Germany/Austria). Geologically, the site belongs to the Helvetic nappes and consists of Cretaceous sedimentary rocks. The Schrattenkalk limestone forms a relatively thin karst aquifer above or between thick marl aquicludes, forcing groundwater to flow parallel to the strata. The limestone is intensively cut by faults and fractures favouring karstification. The fault offsets are relatively small, so that their influence on the large-scale groundwater flow paths is limited. The site is thus ideal to study the influence of fold structures on the drainage pattern. Multi-tracer tests with a total of 16 injections demonstrated that troughs of plunging synclines form the main underground flow paths, while crests of anticlines act as local groundwater divides in the higher karst zones where the base of the aquifer is above the level of the surrounding valleys. In an adjacent valley that receives inflow from several synclines, tracer tests confirmed a major underground drainage system running across the folds. An axial culmination in the area is part of the continental water divide Rhine-Danube; an axial depression acts as a zone of confluenc

A new quantitative interpretation of the long-tail and plateau-like breakthrough curves from tracer tests in the artesian karst aquifer of Stuttgart, Germany

In 1998 and 1999, two multi-tracer experiments were conducted in the artesian karst aquifer of the mineral springs of Stuttgart, Germany. The breakthrough curves (BTCs) monitored at the springs showed very long tails or developed plateau-like concentration levels for more than 200 days. Initially, this observation was qualitatively explained by exchange between cavities with stagnant water and the active conduits. Since then, a new analytical solution for tracer transport in karst aquifers has become available, the "two-region non-equilibrium model” (2RNE), which assumes the presence of mobile and immobile fluid regions, and mass transfer between these two regions. The experiments were thus revisited, and it was possible to provide a more quantitative explanation of the observed behaviour. The new model simulated all BTCs very well, thus confirming the earlier qualitative explanation. The prolonged BTCs can be attributed to intermediate storage in cavities containing quasi-immobile groundwater, and slow release into active fractures and conduits. The results also demonstrate that karst aquifers are not always fast-flushing systems, but contaminants can sometimes remain in immobile fluid regions for long period