Register-based estimates of parents' coresidence in Sweden, 1969-2007

We generated estimates of parental coresidence in Sweden from 1969-2007 using administrative registers. Register-based estimates compare very well to census reports that are more precise in terms of dwelling unit and date. Throughout the period, less than ten percent of births occurred outside cohabiting or marital unions and virtually all of the dramatic increase in non-marital childbearing consisted of births to cohabiting couples. Among children born in a union, life-table estimates of parental separation by age 15 increased to about 35 percent in 1998 with a modest decline thereafter. Comparisons with estimates from retrospective sample surveys suggest that nonresponse and reporting biases produce underestimates of family instability in Sweden.