NORDIC FAMILY TIES DON'T MEAN TYING THE KNOT: From USA Today

...In Norway, half of all children are now born to unmarried mothers. In Pettersen's county, 82% of couples have their first child out of wedlock. The numbers are similarly high for Sweden and Denmark. While many couples marry after having the first or second child, it's clear marriage in parts of Scandinavia is dying. ...

In turning away from marriage, Scandinavians have done little to harm their quality of life. Norway ranked first and Sweden second in the United Nations' quality-of-life survey for 2004, which rates per capital income, education levels, health care and life expectancy in measuring a nation's well-being. The USA came in eighth.

But family policies in Scandinavian countries have a downside for women. Female job candidates have a harder time getting work in the private sector. Few rise to the management ranks. The reason: Companies are reluctant to hire or promote women because they take so much time off to raise their children. ...

"You choose a father and then you choose a different husband," says Anne-Maren Hanssen, 25, Nonshaugen's youngest daughter. "It's like, 'You'd be a great dad, but I don't want to marry you.' I've got quite a few friends who've got kids and they decided the kids are their own."

Hanssen doesn't believe the traditional, one father/one mother family model is necessarily best for raising kids. "I've had plenty of parents and I've been pretty happy," says Hanssen, who studied dance in London and now is applying to medical school. ...

Social welfare policies in Scandinavia treat all parents the same, married or not.
"The government does not think it is their place to show people how they are supposed to live," says Maria Lidstrom, a co-coordinator for family policy for Sweden's division of children and family affairs. "Since it was (becoming) more common to live together and have children without marrying, they introduced laws that made it easier for families who were not married."

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posted by Eve at 3:15 PM | link

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