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Age Differences in Unions: Continuity and Divergence Among Swedish Couples Between 1932 and 2007

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Abstract

Age differences in unions have important implications for a number of demographic and societal outcomes. This study examines patterns of age differences in Swedish marital and childbearing unions during the twentieth century, using administrative register data on all first births (1932–2007) and first marriages (1968–2007). All first births are further analyzed by civil status of the parents, and non-married and married parents are compared. The study discusses the theoretical and methodological importance of distinguishing between age heterogamy (absolute age differences) and age hypergamy (gendered age differences) and examines changes in both measures. Results show that age differences in unions changed only slowly over the twentieth century. Age hypergamy decreased at a slow pace, while age heterogamy showed a u-shaped pattern with increasing heterogamy the last decades. These results are confirmed in quantile analyses. Standardizations are also done to examine the influence of age distribution of first unions. Trends for marital versus childbearing unions are similar overall.

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Acknowledgments

The study is supported by the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet) via the Swedish Initiative for Research on Microdata in the Social and Medical Sciences (SIMSAM): Stockholm University SIMSAM Node for Demographic Research, Grant 340-2013-5164. Support was also received from STINT (The Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education) and the Sweden-America Foundation. I am grateful for suggestions and comments by Gunnar Andersson, Margarita Chudnovskaya and Juho Härkönen.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Demography Unit, Department of Sociology, Stockholm University, 106 91, Stockholm, Sweden

    Martin Kolk

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  1. Martin Kolk
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Correspondence to Martin Kolk.

Appendix

Appendix

See Figs. 8, 9 and 10.

Fig. 8
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Number of first births and first marriages of Swedish-born parents in Sweden

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Fig. 9
figure 9

Contour plot of number of first births and first marriages by age of Swedish-born male and female partners in Sweden, 1940, 1970 and 2007

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Fig. 10
figure 10

Mean age of first birth and first marriage for Swedish-born men and women in Sweden

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Kolk, M. Age Differences in Unions: Continuity and Divergence Among Swedish Couples Between 1932 and 2007. Eur J Population 31, 365–382 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10680-015-9339-z

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