The interconnection of homeownership, marriage and childbearing in the life courses of young male and female adults, by country of origin and generation in Sweden

Background The transition to adulthood entitles several interconnected events such as becoming a parent, getting married and acquiring a house. The relationships with these events may vary across population sub-groups. Objectives We examine the likelihood of three demographic events by age 30, separately for males and females: first-time homeownership, marriage, and becoming a parent, and their one-year co-occurrences conditional on experiencing selected pairs of events, by countries of origin and generations of descendants of immigrants to Sweden. Methods Individual-level register data from Sweden in 1997–2016 are analysed. We focus on individuals who immigrated to Sweden before turning 18, and on Swedish-born individuals, distinguishing between those with no, one, and two foreign-born parent(s). Results More than four-fifths of the Swedish population experience at least one event of moving into homeownership, marriage, or childbearing by age 30, with men experiencing all the three events by age 30 at a lower percentage compared to women. The fractions of populations with a migration background that had experienced none of these events at that age were considerably higher than for native Swedes. We find significant between-groups differences in the rates of marriage, homeownership and becoming a parent. Native Swedes stand out with lower rates of marriage and higher homeownership-childbirth rates than most other groups. Across generations of descendants to migrants, we see more homeownership entries and less entries into marriage. We also notice gender differences with women from Nordic, European, and Asian origins experiencing at a higher percentage both homeownership and childbirth by age 30 compared to men, which is not the case for women from Turkish, Middle eastern and African origins. Women experience both homeownership and marriage or marriage and childbirth at a higher percentage than men, whereas men experience a higher percentage of only homeownership by age 30 compared to women. Contribution The study highlights significant differences in the proportions and co-occurrences of homeownership entry, marriage, and childbearing in the early life courses of male and female descendants of immigrants in a Nordic immigration context. It highlights the influences of gender (being a male versus female), the Swedish context, and those of different parental origins.