GLOBAL SOCIOLOGY
Table of Contents
The Weakest Families on Earth? A Report from Sweden
The Swedes have managed to avoid many of the social problems that plague us in the United States. Swedish cities have little of the violent crime, drug abuse, and grinding poverty that blight whole communities from New York to Los Angeles. Instead, this Scandinavian nation seems to fulfill the promise of the modern welfare state, with an extensive and professional government bureaucracy that sees to virtually all human needs.
But one drawback of an expanding welfare state, according to David Popenoe, is that Sweden has the weakest families on earth. Because people look to the government, not spouses, for economic assistance, Swedes are less likely to marry than members of any other industrialized society. For the same reason, Sweden also has a high share of adults living alone (more than 20 percent, as opposed to 13 percent in the United States). Moreover, a large proportion of couples live outside of marriage (25 percent versus 7 in the United States), and half of all Swedish children (compared to about one in three in the United States) are born to unmarried parents. Average household size in Sweden is also the smallest in the world (2.2 persons versus 2.6 in the United States). Finally, Swedish couples (whether married or not) are more likely to break up than partners in any other country. According to Popenoe, the family "has probably become weaker in Sweden than anywhere else-certainly among advanced Western nations. Individual family members are the most autonomous and least bound by the group . . ." (1991:69).
Popenoe contends that a growing culture of individualism and self- fulfillment, along with the declining influence of religion, began eroding Swedish families in the 1960s. The movement of women into the labor force also played a part. Today, Sweden has the lowest proportion of women who are housewives (10 percent versus about 25 in the United States) and the highest percentage of women in the labor force (77 percent versus 60 in the United States).
But, most important, according to Popenoe, is the expansion of the welfare state. The Swedish government offers its citizens a lifetime of services. Swedes can count on the government to deliver and school their children, provide comprehensive health care, support them when they are out of work, and, when the time comes, pay for their funeral.
Many Swedes supported the growth of welfare, thinking it would strengthen families. But with the benefit of hindsight, Popenoe explains, we can see that, with expanding benefits, government actually has been replacing families. Take the case of child care: The Swedish government operates public child-care centers, staffed by professionals and available regardless of parents' income. At the same time, however, the government offers no subsidy for parents who desire to care for children in their own home. In effect, then, government benefits operate as incentives for people to let the state do what family members used to do for themselves.
But if Sweden's system has solved so many social problems, why should anyone care about the erosion of family life? For two reasons, says Popenoe. First, it is very expensive for government to provide many "family" services; this is the main reason that Sweden has one of the highest rates of taxation in the world. Second, can government employees in large child-care centers provide children with the level of love and emotional security available from two parents living as a family? Unlikely, says Popenoe, noting that small, intimate groups can accomplish some human tasks much better than large organizations.
Popenoe concludes that the Swedes have gone too far in delegating family responsibilities to government. But, he wonders, have we in the United States gone far enough? With the birth of a child, a Swedish parent may apply for up to eighteen months' leave at 90 percent of regular salary. In the United States, the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act guarantees workers only ninety days-without pay-to care for newborns or sick family members. Should our society follow Sweden's lead? And if we look to government to help working parents care for children, will it strengthen or weaken families?
In Sweden, unmarried women bear half of all children, twice the rate of births by single women in the United States.
Early to Wed: A Report from Rural India
Sumitra Jogi cries as her wedding is about to begin. Are they tears of joy? Not exactly. This "bride" is an eleven-month-old squirming in the arms of her mother. The groom? A boy of six.
In a remote, rural village in India's western state of Rajasthan, two families gather at midnight to celebrate a traditional wedding ritual. It is May 2, in Hindu tradition, an especially good day to marry. Sumitra's father smiles as the ceremony begins; her mother cradles the infant, who has fallen asleep. The groom, dressed in a special costume with a red and gold turban on his head, gently reaches up and grasps the baby's hand. Then, as the ceremony reaches its conclusion, the young boy leads the child and mother around the wedding fire three-and-one-half times, as the audience beams at the couple's first steps together as husband and wife.
Child weddings are illegal in India, but in the rural regions, traditions are strong and marriage laws are hard to enforce. Thus, experts estimate, thousands of children marry each year. "In rural Rajasthan," explains one social welfare worker, "all the girls are married by age fourteen. These are poor, illiterate families, and they don't want to keep girls past their first menstrual cycle."
For the immediate future, Sumitra Jogi will remain with her parents. But in eight or ten years, a second ceremony will send her to live with her husband's family, and her married life will begin.
If the responsibilities of marriage lie years in the future, why do families push their children to marry at such an early age? Parents of girls know that the younger the bride, the smaller the dowry offered to the groom's family. Then, too, when girls marry this young, there is no question about their virginity, which raises their value on the marriage market. Arranged marriages are an alliance between families. No one thinks about love or the fact that the children are too young to understand what is taking place.
Source: Based on Anderson (1995).
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