Two research projects were funded this year in Fortes annual call for project. Forte is the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare

Linda Kridahl (SUDA), Marianne Abramsson, Ann-Zofie Duvander (SUDA), Sofi Ohlsson-Wijk (SUDA) and Jani Turunen (SUDA): Divorce in old age: Predictors and consequences of late life divorce. Abstract below

Eva Andersson, Ida Borg and Bo Malmberg: Spatial integration and segregation: Disadvantaged groups in Sweden in the 2000s. Abstract below

Abstract Divorce in Old Age

Over the last 20 years, the divorce rate has doubled among women and men aged 60 and older in Sweden, in contrast to the flat trend in the rest of the adult population. A similar increase has been observed in several other countries. This development is unexpected and puzzling according to previous knowledge and theories on divorce. Increasing late life divorce generates a potentially economically vulnerable population among those of advanced age, especially women. Yet, little is known about causes and consequences of late life divorce and the recent development. The project investigates late life divorce in five sub-projects, with the potential of making theoretically and empirically important contributions. The project is focused on that different life experiences create different conditions for and after late life divorce.

The first two sub-projects, examine the probability of experiencing late life divorce, more specifically the role of spouses’ economic resources and that of complex family structures, e.g. having stepchildren/stepgrandchildren. Three of the sub-projects focus on consequences of late life divorce, where we first examine residential outcomes. We also assess the economic consequences of late life divorce for people in Sweden as well as compare the situation in France and Germany.

The project predominately utilizes Swedish register data, which due to its size, richness, and high quality allows detailed studies of divorce in this age group. The data cover the entire resident population of individuals born 1920-1956, who reached age 60 before or during the past two decades of increasing late life divorce. Shedding light on this topic provides a knowledge-base with implications for policies on pension, labor market, housing, and elderly care and their potential for providing adequate living standards for a growing part of the population. It will also contribute to the theoretical development as late life divorce must   be understood from new angles.

Abstract Spatial Integration and Segregation

It can be argued that a society is never better than how individuals at its spatial outskirts are treated: a society benefits socially and economically on equality and loses on inequality. The purpose of the project is to study, from a life course trajectory perspective, how vulnerable groups are affected by spatial segregation. What role does spatial segregation and integration play in the risk of being linked into vulnerability trajectories or the opportunities to leave vulnerability? What factors influence the spatial integration and separation of vulnerable groups?
In the area of welfare policy, integration has been a guiding principle, as has the ideas of equal upbringing and welfare. Recently, however, the development of income in Sweden has shown increasing gaps. An important part of the integration has always been the spatial integration, both to create equal living conditions and to promote the social cohesion needed for socially sustainable societies. Thus, integration is a basic idea of welfare policy.
In recent years, the idea of integration has met various challenges: new population groups, a liberalization of housing policy (sales, financialization), and disadvantaged housing areas. In parallel with these changes, interest in understanding how spatial segregation affects people's vulnerability has increased.
In the project, we will map the spatial dimensions of vulnerability using partially new methods. To identify life trajectories associated with vulnerability in registry data, we will use latent class analysis. This means that we find classes with life courses that are similar to each other and that can give a better picture of spatial segregation than before. The spatial sorting of vulnerable individuals will then be analyzed using individualized neighborhoods, a method where one can examine tailored neighborhoods for each individual, which can be varied in scale according to what one analyzes and which may be composed of multiple variables.