Family and Working Life among Young Adults in the 21st Century the Young Adult Panel Study (YAPS)

Statistics Sweden was in charge of the field­work, collecting data via mail and web questionnaires in 1999, 2003, and 2009. The data has information on attitudes and norms, work and family situation in the first phases of young adult life in Sweden in the beginning of the 21st century.

We are grateful to all who have answered the questionnaires and thereby contributed to this unique database!

We are also grateful for financial support for data collection and analyses from the Swedish Council for Social Research (SFR) via grant no. F0138/1998, from the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research (FAS) via grants no. 2001-1075, 2001-4022, 2002-0117 and 2007-0154, from the Committee for Longitudinal Research at the Swedish Research Council (VR) via grant no. 2002-3727, from the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation via grant no. J2000-0063, from Brown University, USA, through a Salomon Grant and a smaller contribution from the Swedish Institute for Futures Studies via program support to “Equality without children” from the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research.The third round was also financed by FAS (grant no. 2007-154).

The data for the 1999 and 2003 surveys have been archived at the Swedish National Data Service (SND). Eventually the data from the 2009 round will also be archived there. 

The currently ongoing research project 'Forerunners in family behavior and gender equality: New trends among young adults in Sweden' (grant no. 2012-0646) is financed by the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (FORTE), formerly known as FAS.

For participants

We are grateful to you for contributing to this database!
Are you interested to see how you and others answered the questionnaire? See the descriptive report for selected results from the survey (in Swedish).

Descriptive report 2009 (927 Kb)

List of publications from YAPS (Articles in peer-reviewed journals)

Bernhardt, E., Goldscheider, F. and Switek, M.(2023). Attitudes toward work and parenthood following family-building transitions in Sweden: Identifying differences by gender and education. Demographic Research 49: 783–808.

Ohlsson-Wijk, S., Brandén, M. and Duvander, A-Z. (2022). Getting married in a highly individualized context: Commitment and gender equality matter. Journal of Marriage and Family 84(4): 1081-1104.

Brandén, M. and Bernhardt, E. (2020). Does Similarity in Work-Family Related Attitudes Improve Relationship Quality? Evidence from Sweden. Journal of Family Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/13229400.2020.1759445

Duvander, A-Z., Kridahl, L. (2020). Decisions on marriage? Couples’ decisions on union transition in Sweden. Genus 76:22. 

Duvander, A-Z., Fahlén, S., Brandén, M. and Ohlsson-Wijk, S. (2019). Who makes the decision to have children? Couples’ childbearing intentions and actual childbearing, Advances in Life Course Research, prepublication

Brandén, M., Duvander, A-Z., Ohlsson-Wijk, S. (2018). Sharing the Caring: Attitude-Behavior Discrepancies and Partnership Dynamics. Journal of Family Issues 39(3):771-795. 

Evertsson, M., Boye, K. and Erman, J. (2018). Fathers on call – A study on the sharing of care work among parents in Sweden. A mixed methods approach. Demographic Research 39:33-60.

Duvander, A-Z., Brandén, M., Fahlén, S., Ohlsson-Wijk, S. (2017). “Women have a stronger say in couples' decisions to have a child”. Sociologisk Forskning special edition ”Look at what’s happening in Sweden”: Swedish sociology on contemporary Sweden 54(4):307-312.

Ruppanner, L., Brandén, M., and Turunen, J. (2017). Does Unequal Housework Lead to Divorce? Evidence from Sweden. Sociology 0038038516674664.

Ruppanner, L., Bernhardt, E., and Brandén, M. (2017). Division of housework and his and her view of housework fairness: A typology of Swedish couples. Demographic Research 36: 501-524.

Bernhardt, E., Goldscheider, F. and Turunen, J. (2016). Attitudes to the Gender Division of Labor and the Transition to Fatherhood: Are Egalitarian Men in Sweden More Likely to Remain Childless? Acta Sociologica  59(3): 269-284.

Kaufman, G., Bernhardt, E. and Goldscheider, F. (2016). Enduring Egalitarianism? Family Transitions and Attitudes Toward Gender Equality in Sweden. Journal of Family Issues 1-21

Switek, M. (2016). Internal Migration and Life Satisfaction: Well-Being Paths of Young Adult Migrants, Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, 125(1): 191-241.

Switek, M. and Easterlin, R.A. (2016). Life Transitions and Life Satisfaction during Young Adulthood,  Journal of Happiness Studies. doi:10.1007/s10902-016-9817-y

Waldenström, U. (2016). Postponing parenthood to advanced age, Upsala Journal of Medical Sciences, 121:4, 235-243, DOI: 10.1080/03009734.2016.1201553

Wiik, K.A. and Bernhardt, E. (2016). Gendered expectations: expected consequences of union formation across Europe.Journal of Family Studies http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13229400.2016.1237883

Andersson, L. (2015). Gender, family life course and attitudes towards divorce in Sweden. Acta Sociologica 59(1): 5167.
Goldscheider, F., Bernhardt, E., and Lappegård, T. (2015). The gender revolution: Understanding changing family and demographic behavior. Population and Development Review 41(2): 207-239 (2015).

Nilsen, AVB., Waldenström, U., Espehaug, B. and Schytt, E. (2015). Still childless at the age of 32: An investigation of predictors in 22-year old women and men. Scandinvavian Journal of Public Health 43(5): 481-489.

Bernhardt, E. and Goldscheider, F. (2014). Ambivalence about Children in the Family Building Process in Sweden. Finnish Yearbook of Population Research 2014, pp. 57-71.

Duvander, A-Z. (2014). How Long Should Parental Leave Be? Attitudes to Gender Equality, Family, and Work as Determinants of Women’s and Men’s Parental Leave in Sweden. Journal of Family Issues 35(7): 909-926.

Evertsson, M. (2014). Gender Ideology and the Sharing of Housework and Child Care in Sweden. Journal of Family Issues 35(7): 927-949
Goldscheider, F., Bernhardt, E. and Lappegård, T. (2014) Studies of Men’s Involvement in the Family – Part 1: Introduction. Journal of Family Issues 35(7): 879-890.

Goldscheider, F., Goldscheider, C. and Rico-Gonzales, A. (2014). Gender Equality in Sweden: Are the Religious More Patriarchal? Journal of Family Issues 35(7): 892-908.

Holland, J. and Keizer, R. (2014). Family Attitudes and Fertility Timing in Sweden. European Journal of Population 31:259-285.

Kaufman, G. and Bernhardt, E. (2014). Gender, work and childbearing: couple analysis of work adjustments after the transition to parenthood. Community Work & Family 18(1): 1-18
Schytt, E. (2014). Agreement in Swedish childless couples’ reproductive intentions in relation to age. Midwifery 30(3): 43-48.

Schytt, E., Nilsen, AVB., and Bernhardt, E. (2014). Still childless at the age of 28 to 40 years: A cross-sectional study of Swedish women’s and men’s reproductive intentions. Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare 5(1):23-29.

Goldscheider, F., Bernhardt, E., and Brandén, M. (2013). Domestic Gender Equality and Childbearing in Sweden. Demographic Research. http://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol29/40/.

Evertsson, M. (2012). The importance of work: Changing work commitment following the transition to motherhood. Acta Sociologica 56(2): 139-153.

Kaufman, G, and Bernhardt, E. (2012). His and her job: What matters most for fertility plans and actual childbearing?  Family Relations 61(4): 686-697.

Goldscheider, F., Goldscheider, C., and Bernhardt, E. (2011). Creating Egalitarian Families among the Swedish Second Generation. International Migration Review 45(1): 68-88

Thomson, E. and Bernhardt, E. (2010). Education, values and cohabitation in Sweden. Marriage and Family Review 46(1-2):1-21.

Wiik, K.A., Bernhardt, E., and Noack, T. (2010). Love or Money? Marriage Intentions among Young Cohabitors in Norway and Sweden. Acta Sociologica 53(3):269-297.

Gähler, M., Hong, Y., and Bernhardt, E. (2009). Parental divorce and union disruption among young adults in Sweden. Journal of Family Issues 30(5): 688-713

Moors, G. and Bernhardt, E. (2009). Splitting up or getting married? Competing risk analysis of transitions among cohabiting couples in Sweden. Acta Sociologica 52(3): 227-247.

Wiik, K.A., Bernhardt, E., and Noack, T. (2009). A Study of Commitment and Relationship Quality in Sweden and Norway. Journal of Marriage and the Family 71(3): 465-477.

Bernhardt, E., Noack, T., and Lyngstad, T. (2008). Shared housework in Norway and Sweden: Advancing the gender revolution. Journal of European Social Policy 18(3):275-288

Goldscheider, F., Goldscheider, C., and Bernhardt, E. (2007). Integrating the Second Generation: Gender and Family Attitudes in Early Adulthood in Sweden. Zeitschrift für Familiensforschung 19(1):55-70

Bernhardt, E. and F. Goldscheider (2006). Gender Equality, Parenthood Attitudes, and First Births in Sweden. Vienna Yearbook of Population Research. Vol. 4. Postponement of Childbearing in Europe, pp. 19-39.

Bernhardt, E., Gähler, M., and Goldscheider, F. (2005). Childhood Family Structure and Routes Out of the Parental Home in Sweden. Acta Sociologica 48(2): 99-115.

Bernhardt, E. (2002). Cohabitation and marriage among young adults in Sweden: Attitudes, expectations and plans. In Carling (Ed.) Nordic Demography: Trends and Differentials. Scandinavian Population Studies, Vol. 13, Oslo:Unipub.

Books and book chapters

Bergnéhr, D. and E. Bernhardt (2013). The non-modern child? Ambivalence about parenthood among young adults. Pp. 102-119 in Anne Lise Ellingsaeter, An-Magritt Jensen and Merete Lie (Eds.). The Social Meaning of Children and Fertility Change in Europe, London and New York: Routledge

Fahlén, S. and Olàh, L. (2013). Work and childbearing intentions in a capability perspective: Young adult women in Sweden. Pp. 28-64 in Olàh, L. and E. Fratczak (Eds.)
Childbearing,Women’s Employment and Work-Life Balance Policies in Contemporary Europe.Palgrave MacMillan publishers.

Goldscheider, F., Goldscheider, C. and Bernhardt, E. (2008). What integrates the second generation? Factors affecting family transitions to adulthood in Sweden. Pp. 225-246 in Corrado Bonifazi, Marek Okolski, Jeanette Schorl and Patrick Simorn (Eds.) International Migration in Europe: New trends and new methods of analysis. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

Bernhardt, E., Goldscheider, F., Goldscheider, C. and Bjerén, G. (2007). Immigration, Gender, and Family Transitions to Adulthood in Sweden. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America. 

Working Papers (not yet published as peer-reviewed articles)

Flood, Lisa (2012). Kvinnors inställning till delad föräldraledighet och karriär -finns det ett samband?. YAPS Working Paper Series   

Lahne, Oscar & Richard Wenne (2012). Hur skapas jämställda attityder? Effekten av egen utbildning, föräldrars utbildning och föräldrars fördelning av hushållsarbete. YAPS Working Paper Series   

Sandström, Karin & Linda Yxner (2012). Attitudes and parental leave. YAPS Working Paper Series   

Ström, S. and E. Bernhardt (2012). First Births in Sweden: Objective and Self-perceived Constraints on Childbearing. Stockholm Research Reports in Demography 

Wanders, F. (2012). Attrition in a Swedish panel-study (YAPS). The Young Adult Panel Study Working Paper Series, YAPS WP 04/12.  Wanders_YAPS_WP_04_12 (2209 Kb)

Fahlén, Susanne (2007). Vem vill inte ha barn? En kvantitativ studie av barnlösa unga vuxnas framtida barnplaner och attityder till föräldraskap. Magisteruppsats i demografi/sociologi, Stockholms universitet

Führ, Åsa och Pernilla Svensson (2005). Karriär eller partner – eller både och? En kvantitativ studie om ambitioner avseende karriär och arbetsliv relaterat till attityder till samboende och äktenskap. Examensarbete inom studieprogrammet mot utredningssociologi. Sociologiska institutionen, Stockholms universitet.