Partner Choice in Sweden Following a Failed Intermarriage

the Monday 04 December 2017 at l’Ined, salle Sauvy de 11h30 à 12h30

Presented by : Ognjen Obućina (Ined) ; Discussant : Ariane Pailhé (Ined)

Abstract This paper is based on the assumption that divorced and separated individuals
bring with them the experience of a failed union which may shape their future
choices on the marriage market. It aims to contribute to our knowledge of intermarriage,
and social interaction in Sweden in general, by comparing the repartnering
choices of immigrants and natives in Sweden who had made what is still considered
an atypical choice of entering a native-immigrant union with the partner choices of
natives and immigrants whose previous union was endogamous. The empirical
analysis in this paper is based on the Swedish register data from the STAR data
collection (Sweden over Time: Activities and Relations) and covers the period
1990–2007. All the analyses in the paper include individuals aged 20–55 at the time
of union dissolution. The multivariate analysis is based on discrete-time multinomial
logistic regression. The results show that for all four groups defined by sex and
nativity (native men, native women, immigrant men, and immigrant women), there is
a positive association between the previous experience of intermarriage and the
likelihood of initiating another intermarriage after union dissolution. Another
important finding is that the magnitude of this positive association increases with the
degree of social distance between the groups involved in the union. Gender differences
are modest among natives and somewhat more pronounced among immigrants.

Ognjen Obućina

Ognjen Obućina is a researcher at INED. He joined INED in October 2017, and is affiliated to two research units: International Migrations and Minorities, and Economic Demography. Ognjen holds a PhD in Sociology from the University Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona. During his doctoral studies he was mainly interested in different aspects of well-being among immigrants in Europe. He defended the thesis titled “Dynamics of well-being among immigrants“ in 2012 and joined the Demography Unit of Stockholm University’s Department of Sociology (SUDA) as a postdoctoral researcher, and later also as a research fellow. His research interests during five years spent in Sweden were located at the intersection of immigrant integration and family dynamics among immigrants and their children. Over the previous years, Ognjen has gathered a considerable experience in the study of intermarriage. Between 2013 and 2017 he was also active as a teacher at Stockholm University, at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. He has published a number of articles in the journals such as European Journal of Population, Demographic Research, Social Indicators Research, Acta Sociologica.