This thesis consists of three papers on the economics and structure of Swedish families. Paper [I] examines the determinants of children’s educational achievement in Sweden. Special attention is given to the labour market work by mothers and fathers in terms of its influence on the educational...

The role of financial surprises and match quality in the dissolution of relationships is explored. The analysis is carried out both for surprises in the short term earnings and surprises in the long-run earnings capacity. It is found that positive surprises in short term earnings have a...

In this paper, the impact of divorce ­­­on individual financial behavior is empirically examined. Evidence that divorcing individuals increase their saving rates before the divorce is presented. This may be seen as a response of the increase in background risk. After the divorce, negative...

Paper [I] studies equality of opportunity in Sweden. The distinction between circumstances that constrain an individual’s opportunities and the individual choices also affecting a particular outcome is the main idea of theories of equality of opportunity. In this study, equality of opportunity...

In this study, the consequences of unemployment for a Swedish sample of couples are analyzed. The purpose is to estimate the possible income replacement that a spouse can provide. Unemployment can also affect the probability that the couples split up. Since not all couples remain in the...

The purpose of this study is to reveal the importance of unobserved heterogeneity on marital status. The results for monozygotic (identical) and dizygotic twins indicate an important genetic component in marital status. Simply controlling for marital status could be misleading