Research project Unequal families

The expansion of higher education has been a huge change in Swedish society over the last decades, as women tripled (and men doubled) their educational achievements. At the same time, there have been many other changes in Swedish society, which are important for family behavior: changes in the social class structure (as all more workers hold service-level positions), income distribution (as all more have higher incomes, and income inequality has risen), and gender roles (as men and women increasingly strive for similar goals regarding work and family). My research aim is to study the changing importance of socio-economic status for inequality between and within families.

This project includes three studies to further my research aim. First, I will ask: What do Swedish households look like? Who lives alone, who lives with a partner, and who lives with (their own) children? How is household composition related to measures of socio-economic status such as education, income, class, and occupational prestige for men and for women? Here, I will contribute to debates on access to family and to social isolation.

Secondly, I will ask: How important are workplaces and educational institutions for partnership formation? Do individual characteristics or characteristics of schools/workplaces matter for this likelihood? I will contribute to debates on status homogamy. Finally, I will ask: Within households, do men or women have higher status? Does it matter whether status is measured in terms of education, class, or income? Are the observed patterns of (in)equality likely to be a consequence of broader social inequalities or are they driven by preferences? I will contribute to the debate on gender inequality, and the link between gender and resources in our society.