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Demographic analysis: Family formation and separation in corona times

Decline in separations in 2021

Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2022-10-05 8.00

Fewer people moved in with a partner in 2020 and 2021 compared with the years 2015–2019. Compared with the same period, the number of separations was slightly higher in 2020 but lower in 2021. Because of COVID-19, more people, especially women live alone after the death of their partner.

Nearly 250 000 people become cohabitants during a year. The number of new cohabitants has slightly declined in recent years. The proportion of new cohabitants, namely the proportion of people who move in with a partner among those who previously lived without a partner, declined in both 2020 and 2021. The decline occurs to people at all ages, especially among those aged 25-32, the most common ages to move in with a partner.

Approximately four million people live with a partner. Fewer than 200 000 of them separate in a year. The number of separations was largely the same in the years 2018, 2019 and 2020. A decline of separations was noticed in 2021 and the decline was larger than any of the previous years since 2013, when Statistics Sweden began to have access to housing statistics.

The decline in the proportion that separated in 2021 is noticed among people of all ages, except for those aged 55-65. The proportion of separation at these ages increased compared to the previous five years. Despite the increase, few people separate at these ages, about two percent per year. In comparison, roughly seven percent of those aged 30 separate per year.

The decline in the proportion of separation is seen among both those who have no children and those who have children living in the household. The largest decline occurs among those with one child in the household. In the group without children in the household, the difference is the smallest in 2020 and 2021 compared with the period 2015—2019. This group includes those who do not have children at all and those whose children have moved away from home.

Proportion of people who do not live with a partner at the end of the year relative to people who lived with a partner at the beginning of the year, by number of children in the household at the beginning of the year

Graph

Every year approximately 30 000 people are living alone after the death of their partner. The number has become larger because of the increased mortality rate during the pandemic year 2020. Compared with the period 2015—2019, the number increased by seven percent in 2020 and three percent in 2021.

In 2020, the proportion of widows increases by eight percent among foreign-born women and six percent among Swedish-born women, compared to the previous five-year period. The impact is more visible on women than men because men died of COVID-19 at a higher rate than women and that the man is often older than the woman in a relationship.

Definitions and explanations

The data comes from the household register for the years 2015—2021. Family formation and separation in 2020 and 2021 are compared with the period 2015—2019. Persons in marriage, registered partnership and consensual union are here classified as living with a partner. All others are classified as living without a partner.

  • A person who did not live with a partner at the turn of the year but lived with a partner at the turn of the next year is classified as a new cohabitant forming a family.
  • A person who lived with a partner at the turn of the year but did not live with a partner or lived with another partner at the turn of the next year is classified as separated
  • A person who lived with a partner at the turn of the year but did not live with a partner at the turn of the next year because of the death of the partner is classified as a survivor

Publication

Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Source: Statistics Sweden.

Statistical agency

Statistics Sweden

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Lena Lundkvist

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