MPIDR Working Paper

The demographics of same-sex „marriages“ in Norway and Sweden

Andersson, G., Noack, T., Seierstad, A., Weedon-Fekjær, H.
MPIDR Working Paper WP-2004-018, 28 pages.
Rostock, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (May 2004)
Also published in: Same-sex couples, same-sex partnerships, and homosexual marriages: a focus on cross-national differentials; proceedings of the Stockholm conference, Stockholm University, 25-26 September 2003, (Eds.) M. Digoix and P. Festy. INED: Paris 2004, 247-264 (Documents de travail; 124).
Open Access

Abstract

The present study provides an investigation of the demographics of same-sex marriages, or registered partnerships (“registrerade partnerskap”), in Norway and Sweden. We give an overview of the demographic characteristics of such spouses, and study patterns in divorce risks. A comparison with similar dynamics of heterosexual marriages is provided. Our study is based on longitudinal information from the population registers of the two countries covering all persons in partnerships. Our demographic analyses involve information on characteristics such as age, sex, geographical background, experience of previous opposite-sex marriage, biological parenthood, and educational attainment of the partners involved. We find that in many respects the distributions of married populations over these characteristics differ by the sex composition of couples. Patterns in divorce risks are quite similar in same-sex and opposite-sex marriages, but divorce-risk levels are considerably higher in same-sex partnerships. The divorce risk in female partnerships is practically double that of the risk in partnerships of men.
Keywords: Norway, Sweden, divorce, homosexuality
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