Swedish parents want to have many children
Swedish parents prefer to have a mix of boys and girls as offspring, according to a study from Statistics Sweden. And parents who have two children of the same sex more often have a third child, especially if their first two children are boys.
"If the parents are a man and a woman it's likely that they want to have a child so they can project themselves," says Gunnar Andersson, a demographer at Stockholm University, to Swedish Radio News. "These couples want both boys and girls".
The study's findings are not unique to Sweden, but results vary from country to country when it comes to whether it is two boys or two girls that cause a family to have another child.
And it can depend on how the society is structured. In some countries sons take care of their parents when they get old.
"In China the son's family takes care of the parents," says Andersson. "Then it's important to have a son."
The study shows signs of a strong new trend here. Sweden has a strong two child norm that more and more people are choosing to leave behind. Three children and more have become trendy.
Per Snoder, a father of two on paternity leave with his daughter Signe, says many of his friends are now talking about having three or four children. "Maybe people see it as an ideal to have many children, many siblings to grow up with," he says.
