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Social stratification of men and women in Sweden 1880-2015

van Dongen, Elien LU orcid (2022) Research Committee 28 on Social Stratification and Mobility 2022 meeting
Abstract
I describe changes in the social structure of the Swedish workforce over the long term. Occupational coding from nine full count censuses from 1880 until 1990 and 2001-2016 occupational registers is aligned to comprehensively map social stratification for birth cohorts born 1820-1985. We show occupational upgrading for working women and men over the past 150 years. The male and
female workforce converge to a similar ‘big class’ structure by the 2000s, while important ‘horizontal’ gender differences remain at the level of microclasses. Before 1900 social class was intertwined with marital status for many: men transitioned from farm work to farming, and women from domestic
service to housework upon marriage. In the second half of the... (More)
I describe changes in the social structure of the Swedish workforce over the long term. Occupational coding from nine full count censuses from 1880 until 1990 and 2001-2016 occupational registers is aligned to comprehensively map social stratification for birth cohorts born 1820-1985. We show occupational upgrading for working women and men over the past 150 years. The male and
female workforce converge to a similar ‘big class’ structure by the 2000s, while important ‘horizontal’ gender differences remain at the level of microclasses. Before 1900 social class was intertwined with marital status for many: men transitioned from farm work to farming, and women from domestic
service to housework upon marriage. In the second half of the twentieth century marital status and social class became disentangled, as farming classes were decimated. Occupational upgrading of the workforce was limited to the higher social strata after 1960. Professional and supervisory classes grew at the cost of skilled manual classes and self-employed farmers. The size of lower social strata, increasingly composed of immigrant groups, has been constant since 1960. In contrast, immigrant groups formed a small elite in Sweden around 1900. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to conference
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Social Stratification, Gender, Migrant Status, Social Class, Marital Status, Long-term development
conference name
Research Committee 28 on Social Stratification and Mobility 2022 meeting
conference location
London, United Kingdom
conference dates
2022-04-21 - 2022-04-23
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e9b5c05a-cb5e-402e-b81b-a108ec0ebfe8
alternative location
https://www.lse.ac.uk/social-policy/Assets/Documents/RC28/AbstractBook.pdf
date added to LUP
2022-06-09 09:38:21
date last changed
2022-06-09 11:34:11
@misc{e9b5c05a-cb5e-402e-b81b-a108ec0ebfe8,
  abstract     = {{I describe changes in the social structure of the Swedish workforce over the long term. Occupational coding from nine full count censuses from 1880 until 1990 and 2001-2016 occupational registers is aligned to comprehensively map social stratification for birth cohorts born 1820-1985. We show occupational upgrading for working women and men over the past 150 years. The male and<br/>female workforce converge to a similar ‘big class’ structure by the 2000s, while important ‘horizontal’ gender differences remain at the level of microclasses. Before 1900 social class was intertwined with marital status for many: men transitioned from farm work to farming, and women from domestic<br/>service to housework upon marriage. In the second half of the twentieth century marital status and social class became disentangled, as farming classes were decimated. Occupational upgrading of the workforce was limited to the higher social strata after 1960. Professional and supervisory classes grew at the cost of skilled manual classes and self-employed farmers. The size of lower social strata, increasingly composed of immigrant groups, has been constant since 1960. In contrast, immigrant groups formed a small elite in Sweden around 1900.}},
  author       = {{van Dongen, Elien}},
  keywords     = {{Social Stratification; Gender; Migrant Status; Social Class; Marital Status; Long-term development}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{04}},
  title        = {{Social stratification of men and women in Sweden 1880-2015}},
  url          = {{https://www.lse.ac.uk/social-policy/Assets/Documents/RC28/AbstractBook.pdf}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}