Research group Stockholm University Demography Unit (SUDA)

Migrants from low-income countries living in care settings in Sweden were more likely to die from Covid-19 than people born in the country during the first year of the pandemic, according to a new study by researchers from Stockholm University, published in the European Journal of Public Health. The finding stands out, since elderly migrants in daily care usually have higher life expectancy than Swedish-born individuals in similar circumstances.

Individuals who pursue careers in health and education tend to have more children than those in other fields, according to a new study in demography. This is the case regardless of gender and education level.

High income is increasingly associated with stable marriages among older people, a new study in demography reveals. Previously, the trend was the opposite – the higher the income, the greater the risk of divorce, especially among older women.

Internal migration in China does not lead to greater gender equality in families, a new doctoral thesis in demography reveals. This challenges the common belief that simply moving from rural to urban areas makes family structures of migrants more egalitarian, according to Weiwen Lai, the author the thesis.

A new study finds that immigrants are more likely to adapt to Swedish childbearing norms if they move to Sweden at a young age. This seems to be the case regardless of their gender or country of birth.

There is a slight decrease in income inequality between families with small children, according to a new study from Stockholm University. Later start of parenthood seems to be a main driving force behind the equalisation.

Mothers who took parental leave part-time or for shorter periods were more likely to engage in income-generating activities or pursue education. A new study uncovers surprising patterns in parental leave usage among newly arrived migrant women in Sweden, specifically focusing on their integration into the labor market.

How many relatives do Swedes have? And at what age is the family the largest? Researchers in demography have found out in a new study.

Matthew Wallace at Stockholm University receives the prestigious ERC Starting Grant from the European Research Council, ERC, 2023.

What roles do religion and region of origin play in childbearing? In contrast to earlier research, a new doctoral thesis on the subject of sociological demography demonstrates that region of origin has a greater bearing than religion on ideal number of children, fertility intentions and achieved number of children.

The age of the youngest child impacts parental mortality, with a significant survival advantage observed for parents of newborns due to both selection and behavioral changes, while controlling for parental age. This is revealed by a Swedish study published in the scientific journal Genus.

Read the new report for The Expert Group on Public Economics (ESO) by Gunnar Andersson, Andrea Monti and Martin Kolk, researchers at Stockholm University Demography Unit.

In contrast to what many believe, Swedish men and women with higher incomes have more children, new research from Stockholm University shows. This pattern is particularly clear for men and grows stronger over time: the more money, the more children. But after four children, things change.

Previous studies have shown that widows and widowers run a higher risk of dying themselves, compared to those of the same age whose partner is still alive. This is often referred to as the ‘widowhood effect’. A new thesis from Stockholm University shows that excess mortality is higher among widowers with a higher socio-economic status compared to other widowers. For widows, it is the other way around – the risk of dying is greater among those who are worse off.

In a new study, the researchers found large birthweight inequalities among the descendants of non-western immigrants compared to the descendants of Swedes. The largest differences were found in the third generation. The researchers warn inequalities may continue to widen in subsequent generations.

SUDA congratulates Matt Wallace for his appointment as Docent in Demography at Stockholm University.

We are happy to congratulate Helen Eriksson who receives 5,9 million SEK from Forte for her project "A family decision? Population studies of parental leave at the gendered workplace".

Gunnar Andersson and colleagues from Stockholm University and the Karolinska Institute have analyzed mortality and morbidity patterns in Sweden during the Covid-19 pandemic in a report for the Swedish Corona Commission.

Ann-Zofie Duvander is driven by the desire to contribute to the development of society. Trying to look behind what we see as “truths,” and find what needs to be questioned. At the same time, it is important to distinguish between research and political policy decisions, stresses Ann-Zofie Duvander, Professor of Demography.

In a new study from Stockholm University and several US universities, the researchers found that children in the US aged 9-13 from different social classes spent roughly the same number of hours in front of a screen, on average. However, there were class differences in how the children spent their screen time and in parenting rules related to digital technology use. In the era when TV watching predominated children’s technology use, pediatricians advised parents to limit children’s TV time since research suggested it could impede their development. Previous research has shown that parents from higher socioeconomic groups were more likely to follow these expert recommendations than were parents from lower socioeconomic groups. Despite the dramatic change in the digital landscape and the nature of technology use over the last decade, the American Academy of Pediatrics still recommended one to two hours of screen time per day at the time the new study was initiated in 2014, at the same time as schools were sending tablets and computers to the homes for children to do their homework on them. Stefanie Möllborn, researcher in sociological demography at Stockholm University, decided to explore this further together with colleagues at University of Colorado Boulder, Midwestern State University and University of Michigan. “So, in this situation where the medical advice is still old school but digital technology has changed so fast – what is happening around social class? I think one of the most important results in our study is that there is not a substantial class difference regarding time on screens anymore in the United States”, says Stefanie Möllborn, first author of the new study that was recently published in Journal of Marriage and Family .