As societies age and late-life divorce becomes more common, older adult divorcees will constitute an increasingly important demographic group. Yet, divorce for older adults differs from mid-life divorce. In this paper, we look at housing tenure transitions around the time of divorce and examine the extent to which housing patterns observed for late-life divorce resemble those among mid-life divorcees. We use Swedish register data to analyze housing shifts during divorce for older adults aged 60–78. Using data on the discontinuation of marriages or civil partnerships between 1995 and 2013, we identify 30,000 late-life divorces. We analyze gender differences in the probability of residential mobility and the likelihood of ownership and rental tenure. We find that women are more likely to move. Our study also highlights gender differences in the effects of late-life divorce on homeownership, showing that women are more likely to be tenant owners, while men are more likely to be owners of single-family housing units.

The aim of the article is to use survey evidence of school choice and educational attitudes in Sweden to explore how spatial polarization and liberal school reforms have affected the way parents, pupils, and school management think about education. The authors identify a possible polarization of attitudes in Sweden towards the importance of education in general and schools in particular, against the background of a highly liberalized school market, including school choice and rural-urban regional differences in the population’s education level. The basis for the analysis is TIMSS 2015 data for pupils in Grade 4 (age group 10–11 years). The results showed that localization of the school was a very important factor in school choice and that localization was more important than parental education and social class. Additionally, the authors tested the association between maths results and the variables attitudes, location, school, and household, and found that a household with a lower proportion of tertiary-educated parents in less central locations could make it difficult for pupils to perform well in mathematics. The authors conclude that in Sweden neoliberalization has been a geographically uneven process with a concentration in the metropolitan areas.

A number of smaller municipalities have decreasing population rates. Generally, the young move out, increasing the proportion of older people. To increase our understanding of the living conditions of an ageing population in small municipalities, a postal survey was conducted in three small, semi-rural municipalities in southern Sweden. In the survey the respondents answered questions about their living situation and their housing plans. The aim of this study was to investigate the housing situation and housing plans of the very old in semi-rural areas and research questions analysed for this study concerned the current housing situation and plans for future housing. A total of 1386 surveys were sent out in March 2014, to all inhabitants aged 80 years or more, residing in the ordinary housing market in the three municipalities, the response rate was 60%. The results show that most of the respondents were firmly rooted in the area as most of them had lived in the municipality for more than 20 years and 60% had lived in their current dwelling for more than 20 years. Ageing in place was the dominating plan, although one quarter of the respondents answered that they did not know what would happen in the future. Those who planned to move wanted to move to housing that required less maintenance and to a more central location. Residential mobility is at play also in old age as 27% of the respondents had moved at some point during the last 10 years, i.e., after the age of 70.

The design of assisted living facilities is an issue that has engaged architects and contractors since they began building the first residential homes. Previous research has shown that participation in everyday activities promotes wellbeing in older people. Many assisted living facilities have locked units that limit the individual’s ability to move freely. Our interest is directed towards older people’s opportunities to be physically active in assisted living facilities and how the physical environment affects these opportunities. The aim of this study was to increase the understanding of the importance of the physical environment to enable physical activities in assisted living facilities. The empirical material consists of observations and semistructured interviews with thirteen residents and seventeen staff in four assisted living facilities in Sweden. The results show how the physical environment influences the opportunities for physical activity. Certain factors in the physical environment can be both promoting and limiting. An unsuitable environment limits the ability of older people to be physically active.

Many municipalities in Sweden have decreasing population rates combined with an increasing proportion of older people. Such a demographic shift will influence the way life is led as the foundation for service provision and social activities becomes undermined. This leads us to question the extent to which shrinking municipalities can be considered socially sustainable. The aim of the paper was to investigate older people's participation in the local community and to study the perceived changes in the local community as reported by older people and how these are experienced. A postal survey was sent out to all inhabitants aged 80 years and older living in their own household in three small, semi-rural municipalities in southern Sweden, in total 1386. The response rate was 60%. Thus, focus was on the experiences of the oldest individuals. The research questions analysed for this study concerned the ageing population's social networks, community involvement, car dependence and service provision. The results are used to discuss the social sustainability of the societies in which these people have lived for a long time.