22 July,2011 01:32 PM IST | | ANI
A new study from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, has revealed that families today stay together not for traditional or romantic reasons, but for more rational purposes.
"The number of divorces in Sweden and other countries increased dramatically during the 1960s and 70s," said Thomas Johansson, Professor of education specialising in child and youth studies at the Department of Education, Communication and Learning.
"The new relationship takes a rational approach, where people ask what the relationship is giving them and what they get in exchange emotionally, financially, intellectually and socially," he added.
Some 70 percent of the population live in a nuclear family, according to the research. The heterosexual nuclear family is the dominant structure.
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"But there are many variations, including homosexual families and rainbow families. Thirty percent is quite a high proportion of people not living in a nuclear family," said Johansson.
The family structure of the 2000s also embraces a global aspect - everything from the unaccompanied refugee children who come to Sweden, to the rich, mobile and transnational family that perhaps lives in Australia, where someone works in Holland for example, and they have relatives in Sweden.
