Who are the parents that have children with shared residence? The case of Sweden

Lotta Persson, Statistics Sweden
Anna Nyman, Statistics Sweden
Pia Fagerström, Ministry of Health and Social Affairs
Jessica Löfvenholm, Ministry of Health and Social Affairs

During the last decades shared residence has increased among children with separated parents in Sweden. When a child has shared residence the child lives equal time with both parents alternating between the mother’s and the father’s household. Today around 35 percent of children with separated parents have shared residence. The study, based on a survey conducted in 2012/13, aims to give insight about the characteristics of parents choosing shared residence for their children. The results from logistic regression models using survey data shows that shared residence is more common if the child is 6–12 years, compared to younger and older children. Mothers have shared residence more often if the child is a boy than if it is a girl. This does not apply for fathers. Furthermore, native born parents are more likely than foreign born parents to choose shared residence after a union dissolution. Another pattern is shared residence being less common among those who were young when the first child was born. The results also indicate that shared residence is more common if the separation occurred the last few years than if it occurred longer time ago. This might reflect the trend over time in shared residence. In general it seems that the relationship between socioeconomic factors and shared residence is stronger for fathers than for mothers.