Households and kinship over the life cycle

Martin Kolk , Stockholm University
Emma Petterson, KI

We study all households in Sweden using register data on the complete Swedish-born population in 2017. The study takes an individual perspective and maps how the number and the types of household members people live with varies across different ages. We use register data to reconstruct family links, including extended kin such as cousins and grandparents, and compare differences by individuals’ own gender as well as by the gender and lineage of their kin. The results show that Sweden is predominantly a nuclear family society, and that household composition follows the nuclear family life cycle, with the largest households occurring during childhood and the family formation years. We document the extent of complex families in Sweden, though find that these represent a modest share of all household relationships. We document clear gender differences in household composition, which are largest at older ages and in early adulthood. We conclude by reflecting on how our results compare to other times and places.

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 Presented in Session 8. Kinship Networks over the Life Course