Marriage and individualism - is there a connection? : Highly educated women in Stockholm in 2020

Abstract: This study examines the values underlying marriage formation before childbearing among highly educated women living in Stockholm. This group has been shown in previous research to have increasing propensity to enter marriage before childbearing, due to changing values. Previous studies have suggested a possible connection between rising individualism and gender equality on the one hand, and a new marriage trend on the other hand, noted especially among the highly educated in large cities in Sweden. The values underlying the rise in marriage popularity is yet to be explored which is the aim of the present study based on 20 indepth interviews. The analysis is guided by theories on individualism and gender equality by Anthony Giddens, Ulrich Beck and Gøsta Esping-Andersen. The results show that rising individualism has created a need for relationship stabilizing tools, where marriage works as a practical security measure for relatively new relationships, prior to having children. The results also show that for the group in the study childbearing and marriage are strongly connected. In contrast to individualization theories this  study shows that high marriage propensity can coexist with high levels of individualization.