Category Archives: Life

American travel market eyes Chinese tourists

 BEIJING, March 18(Greenpost) — If there was just one thing the world’s two largest economies could agree on both wanting, tourism would be it.

China and the United States announced this week in Beijing that 2016 will be the year of mutual tourism promotion, one of the outcomes of President Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States last year.
The focus on tourism between the two countries come as overseas travel booms in China, in fact more Chinese vacation abroad than any other nation. More than 120 million Chinese traveled abroad last year, up 12 percent year on year, and they spent 104.5 U.S. billion dollars, up 16.7 percent over the same period.

“The scale and the speed with which the market [has] grow[n] is quite remarkable,” said Fred Dixon, CEO of NYC & Co., the agency responsible for promoting New York City, the top U.S. destination city for Chinese travelers.
Despite New York being the top destination less than 3 percent of Chinese outbound tourists go to the United States. The Republic of Korea, Japan and Thailand are much more popular choices, partly because of their proximity.
Despite this, Chinese visitors to the United States has been growing at a double digit rate over the past few years.
In 2015, 2.67 million Chinese visited the United States, compared with less than 400,000 in 2007. Goldman Sachs estimates that the number of Chinese visitors will almost double to 5 million by 2025.
This growth prospect has excited tourism players across the States. Many have sent delegations to China and the news about the tourism exchange will no doubt see them double down their promotional efforts.

Dixon said his organization’s budget for promoting New York inChina has risen in recent years, and is outpacing growth of marketing expenditure for other destinations.

Travel agencies and tourism promoters say a more powerful boost to Chinese tourists inflow to the U.S. is visa relaxation. In November 2014, the two countries extended visa validity for tourists from one to 10 years.
This policy has pushed up the share of Chinese travelling to the United States purely for leisure. Data compiled by various popular destination cities in the United States show that for Chinese visitors, leisure travelers have begun to outnumber business travelers in many places.

“The 10 year visa extension is really a game changer,”  Dixon said, adding that the relaxation has paved the way for more Chinese to visit the United States for pure leisure and on their own, instead of on business trips or organized group tours.
Chinese online travel service provider Ctrip also reported a surge in U.S. visa application through its platform between January to August last year following the visa relaxation.
With more tourists heading to American shores on their own, tourism promoters say they are reviewing their messages here in China. While travel agencies are still valuable partners, they have begun to engage with prospective travellers directly.

“In the very beginning our work was very much about working closely with the trade [travel agencies] on the group side, but now we are seeing a move toward independent travel,”  Dixon said.

That shift led promoters to prioritize their online presence, as websites, social media and apps have become prime channels for information and planning.
More than 259 million Chinese booked their travel online last year, of which 80 percent did so on their mobile devices, according to ChinaInternet Network Information Center.
The demographics are changing too. China’s outbound travel boom is fueled mostly by a new generation of travelers. 67 percent of China’s overseas tourists in 2014 were born after 1980s, data compiled by Goldman Sachs show.
All these changes impact travel decisions. Promoters say group travelers want to see iconic sites and things they have seen on TV and in the movies. But reaching out to the new generation of savvy Chinese outbound travelers takes more than that.
The appeal for them, Dixon said, lies beneath the surface, in lesser known communities, parks and museums that add more personal character to their travel experience.

“This is an exciting time,” he said. “You don’t often see a market emerge the way China has. And we probably won’t see anything like this again.” Enditem

Source: Xinhua

Chinese Pianist Wang Yujia will perform in Stockholm in August

By Xuefei Chen Axlesson

STOCKHOLM, March 14(Greenpost)– World famous pianist Lang lang has just played in Stockholm with a great success.  Then Chinese Pianist Wang Yujia is scheduled to play in Berwaldhallen in Stockholm in August during the Baltic Sea Festival.

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Michael Tyden, General Manager of the Baltic Sea Festival said the Baltic Sea started in 2003 at the launching ceremony on Monday.

“It was ten years after the war and we decide to have a festival and since then we did it every year.” said Tyden.

DSC_7988Tyden said the Baltic countries include nine countries and 90-100 million people, even though it is not as many as Chinese, any how it is a lot of people.

DSC_7986Being asked about inviting Chinese pianist Wang Yujia to perform at the opening concert, Tyden said China has so many fantastic pianists. Lang Lang has played in Stockholm many times. He just played in the Concert Hall on Sunday with all the tickets sold out.

DSC_8002Tyden said Wang Yujia is an amazing pianist. She has been in Sweden several times too.

Tyden said the themes also involve environmental issues and welfare issues because the Baltic Sea was very polluted and needed more attention.

DSC_8006Tyden said the festival will begin with a newly written opera about the hospital activity.

The host of the festival will be Berwaldhallen Concert Hall and Radio Sweden.

DSC_8010The participating performers include Swedish Radio’s symphony orchestra and orchestra from Finland,  Lativia, Poland and Sweden.

 

 

 

If you have any questions and suggestions, write to us, at chenxuefei7@hotmail.com, or chenxuefei@greenpost,se

Premier Li draws a comprehensive blueprint, action plan for China

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

Beijing, March.5(Greenpost)–China’s Premier Li Keqiang made a very comprehensive and down to earth blueprint and action plan to China for the next five years and this year.

This year marks the beginning of the 13th five year plan period for China. China has set up a goal of realising the comprehensive wealthy and healthy society by 2020.

“We shall eradicate poverty all over the country by 2020,” said Premier Li.

He stressed economic development again as the first important task, but he also emphasised the importance of environment and the balance of structure.

He said China must restructure its economy so that it can be sustainable.

Li said the important task in the following five years will be to treat the filthy air pollution and water pollution. In 2015 China has outdated 1.26 million vehicles and it plans to outdate three million in the following five years.

He also emphasised the equal treatment between the state-owned enterprises and private sectors.  The government will further reduce tax for industries.

Modern agriculture is encouraged to help eradicate poverty.

Li stressed the completion of social security so that all the people in China can benefit from the social security.

He almost mentioned all the areas that need to be done in the country which draws a very promising picture for China.

Tove Lo wins Swedish Music Export Prize(图沃露获得2016瑞典音乐出口奖)

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

STOCKHOLM, March 1(Greenpost)–Swedish singer and song writer Tove Lo has won 2016 Swedisn Music Export Prize.

DSC_7815The 28 year old singer is currently working in Los Angles, USA. Her father Mangnus Nilsson received the prize for her.

DSC_7770Swedish Minister of Enterprise and Innovation Michael Damberg issued the prize.

“Music has become an important sector for Swedish to export.  Last year the music export is 29 percent higher than that in 2014.”

DSC_7805He praised Tove Lo for her efforts to export Swedish music to the USA.

Talking about Swedish experience, he said Sweden tried to improve its culture and music from ground school education. A lot of investment has been invested in attracting young people’s interest in music. This has been a long process.

DSC_7823 In an interview with Green Post, Nilsson said Tove Lo was her daughter’s nick name. It was a place where she liked very much. Later she took this name as her art name.

She really focused on singing and writing songs when she was 15 years old and her songs have been always among the top 25 near Hollywood and she has been cooperating with those artists there.

She is good at team building and team work and has been very creative.

DSC_7842Ander Hillberg won honorary prize for his modern music.

Swedish ABBA and Roxette and so on have been famous for their world influence in music world.

Sweden has been very generous in supporting music talents to work.

Photo by Xuefei Chen Axelsson

Midwifery should be recognized as a profession in South Asia

Stockholm, Feb. 9(Greenpost)–In several South Asian countries, midwifery is not an established profession.

As a result, complications in both mothers and newborns are extremely common. Sweden researchers is presenting a new strategy on how the midwifery profession can be established in low-income countries is presented, which could also improve the health of mothers and newborns. 

The goal of increased maternal survival is one of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals with the lowest degree of fulfillment.

An important strategy for improving maternal and child health is well-educated midwives. However, in many of the low-income countries, the profession does not even exist or competence is insufficient – something that contributes to complications and injuries to both the delivering mother and the newborn child.

Since 2007, doctoral candidate Malin Bogren has received different assignments in South Asia from the UN. In her thesis that is being presented at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, she has mapped the midwifery situation in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Butan, India, Nepal and Pakistan – all countries with a high maternal mortality ratio.

In none of these countries does midwifery fulfill the criteria for being an independent profession. In Nepal, educated midwives as per international standards are entirely lacking.

“There, nurses conduct midwifery work without any formal competence,” says Malin Bogren.

Through questionnaires and individual interviews with key persons, observations at delivery wards and analyses of policy documents, Malin Bogren has formulated a strategy for supporting the establishment of a competent midwife profession in Nepal – a strategy that can also help with establishment in other developing countries.

“Midwifery in South Asia lacks national legislation that recognizes midwifery as an independent profession. The most important recommendations for improving the midwife profession in the studied countries are, therefore, legislative development and a comprehensive approach to strengthening the formal educational preparation for both midwifery students and midwifery teachers, which then raises the profession’s status,” Malin Bogren.

It is a long road, but according to Malin Bogren, not an impossible one. Different political interests and priorities, competing interest from the nursing profession and different opinions as to what academic level midwifery should be put at, are some of the barriers. But, to succeed requires a close and open collaboration and communication between the decision makers, civil society, academia and the donors.

“My thesis provides recommendations for different levels of decision makers, civil society, academia and donors. Hopefully, this information can help to establish midwifery as a profession in South Asia and thus improve and promote maternal and newborn health.” Bogren said.

 

Winter in Sweden

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

Stockholm, Jan. 27(Greenpost)–Hi, I’m a Chinese, but I came to Sweden ten years ago. Why? Because my name is Snow. Xue means snow. I was born in this month 49 years ago. It was snowing and cold.

So actually I feel like at home in Sweden. In winter, the snow makes it feel better. The worst time I tell you is november. But Swedes are used to this kind of weather. Those who cannot tolerate it choose to go to Thailand for a few months.

That is why in 2005 Christmas time, more than 400 Swedes died during the Trunami in Thailand.  Many people go to Spain to have a winter house too. I mean over there it is always warm!

But Sweden is not bad. I mean in winter you can stay inside and the heating is very even. That temperature is better than anywhere else. It is neither too cold nor too warm.

People can go to the north to ski and live in the wooden house.  You can go to skate outside and swim inside a swimming pool. There are a lot of gyms.

To deal with the dark winter, Stockholm city lighted brighter lights in the city center. It hosts international film festival in November.

Christmas makes everybody happy and be busy with presents and food, visiting relatives and friends.

The sun sometimes is too bright because it is low, just hanging above the buildings.

Snow makes it very beautiful and the trees look like paintings. A lot of exhibitions are held indoor.

But this winter has a lot of accidents that make people feel upset. The problem was that a 22 year old girl who worked in an immigration center was stabbed to death by a 15 year old boy who migrant to Sweden.

The boy belongs to those thousands of single boy who has no parents or relatives to accompany them to Swedish border.  Do they really have no parents or relatives? No one knows.

But they came and stay together, sometimes they have problems. Now the police said they need more resources. They got more calls from immigration center and immigrants related issues.

Is this winter different from the previous one? Yes, it gets cold later than before and it gets warmer earlier. Just about lest than two weeks below zero, now it is above zero. The ice and snow all melt.

More people go to gym to exercise and many shops closed. I guess the gym will be a good business in the future.  One can get everything on website but you can’t exercise on internet.

Swedish winter is not too cold, it is around zero, sometimes above and sometimes below.

 

Chinese Students in Sweden Celebrates Year of Monkey

Click to see the next picture

Peking Opera is one of the most welcomed program during the Chinese Students’ celebration of Chinese Year of Monkey in Stockholm on Sunday. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com/Chen Xuefei]

Chinese students at universities across Sweden have been marking the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year with a special concert in the grand surroundings of the Karolinska Hall in Stockholm, which is normally the home to Nobel prize presentations.

The Year of the Monkey officially gets underway on February 8th.

CRI’s Chen Xuefei reports from Stockholm.
“Recalling the past year which marked the 65th anniversary of establishment of Sino-Swedish relations, we felt quite relieved that a lot of important events took place. Chinese navy ships held a voyage to Sweden and we are very proud that Chinese scientist Tu Youyou has won the Nobel Prize in Medicine. Academic circles have celebrated the event and a lot of seminars have been held to encourage students to go back to China to create their own business.”Speaking at the opening of the celebration, Chinese Ambassador Chen Yuming says there are many treasurable achievements in the year of 2015.

Chen Yuming says the Royal Swedish Technology Institute and Karolinska Institute have signed cooperation agreements with China.

This is the eighth year that Chinese students have organized the Spring Festival celebration concert.

Education Counselor Dou Chunxiang explains why.

“The students prepared all the programs by themselves in order to learn from each other, make friends with each other, and spend the long winter together.”

About 150 students and scholars from many universities, including the Royal Swedish Business School, participated in the three hour performance.

The programs included dance, Peking Opera, folk music performances, and comic cross-talk.

The last part of the performance tells of China’s history in the fight against Japanese military fascism.

Erik Björklund, a student at Royal Swedish Technology Institute, says he enjoyed the shows very much.

“Ja, it was very nice and I like to see the performances like I think the Peking Opera right? I enjoyed it. ”

Over 1000 students and people from Chinese communities and Chinese companies attended the concert held in the Karolinska lecture hall where Tu Youyou was given her Nobel presentation in early December.

For CRI, this is Chen Xuefei reporting from Stockholm.

 

Source CRI

2022 Beijing Winter Olympics plenty of business opportunities for Swedes

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

STOCKHOLM, Jan. 21(Greenpost)—An event organized by EU-China Winter&Outdoor Sports Alliance  on Thursday focusing on networking and finding opportunities for both Swedish and Chinese upon the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

 

With the presence of many CEOs and Executives of Sports&Outdoor industry guests in Sweden and Taishan Sports Industry Group delegation, delegates exchanged ideas in Winter and Outdoor Sports opportunities.

DSC_6463Investment adviser and Executive Director of the Alliance Vanessa Folkesson made a presentation about the vision and mission of the alliance and the 300 billion RMB cross-border business opportunities to engage 300 million Chinese people to participate in winter sports and outdoor travel in EU and mainland China prior to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

“How can we bring in the brands and products the Chinese have never seen and never know, how do we bring those products to China and how can we help, those are our ambition and goals to achieve, and we see a lot of opportunities in winter&outdoor sports activities, ” said Folkesson.

DSC_6467Executive Chairman of EU-China Culture & Economy Commission William Zhang Yi also said that there is great opportunity in bilateral cooperation in economic, cultural fields.

DSC_6479Four time Olympics official equipment provider Taishan Sports Industry Group’s vice Chairman Bian Qingfeng gave an introduction about his group.

“Established in 1978, Taishan is one of the largest sport products producer and supplier,” said Bian. “We are very proud that we provide equipment and products for 40 percent of the Beijing Summer Olympics Gold medals. We are very good in producing summer sport equipment , but we are still new in producing winter sport equipment, so the main purpose for us to come is to learn from you and find cooperation partners,” said Bian.

Bian said Taishan sincerely look for working partners in developing winter Olympics products.

DSC_6488Per-Erik Holmström made a presentation about Nordic Viking, Ice Hockey and Bandy playing team.

“Nordic Viking is still the best players I believe China’s lady Bandy team will win the 2022 Winter Olympics, but there will be a lot to do. I have great confidence in them,”

During the event, many Swedish sports & outdoor industries CEOs presented their products.

DSC_6562DSC_6558Ingemar Holmberg, Director of International Sales for CRAFT presented various kinds of clothes for the skier or skaters.

World famous Swedish telecommunication giant Ericsson also presented how they can cooperate with Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022.

With the past experience, Ericsson can provide the network for people all over the world to choose to see whatever part of the Olympic Games just by clicking on the internet.

Folkesson said this was a kicking off event and they will organise another event in Beijing next month for similar purposes.

About 50 CEO and Chairpersons of Winter&Outdoor Sports related industries attended the meeting.

Bolife takes part in Stockholm Formex Exhibition

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

STOCKHOLM, Jan. 21(Greenpost)—Bolife, a newly established 100 percent natural dyeing technology user and brand has shown up at the Nordic largest interior design exhibition Formex Spring 2016 in Stockholm.

Bolife is the only brand developed by a Chinese company to display its product and present its technology here at the Formex exhibition.

DSC_6214As a new immigrant to Sweden, CEO Zhang Yu told Green Post that his purpose to take part in the exhibition is to let Swedish and the Europeans to recognise this brand and the Chinese green technology.

”We know that Swedish people pay great attention to sustainability and green technology. Since we now live in Sweden, we like to find a product or a technology that can fit for the Swedes. We have looked for it in Japan and South Korea, but in the end we found it in China,” said Zhang.

 

”This technology has 13 patents protected in China and no one has really made any products out of it. So we talked with the owner and developed this product for the first time within six months, and now we made it here to the last minute,” said Zhang.

Zhang explained that the technology they used is to use dyeing material from herbs and plants without adding any chemicals. Plus supersonic vibrations. There will be no need to use chemicals to make the form or soften the clothes.

DSC_6205”The natural dyeing method makes the fabric look a bit rough, but if you see the fabric is shining or too soft, it must contain some chemicals to make it like that,” said Zhang.

The natural dyeing method is very traditional Chinese method plus supersonic technology so that people can mass produce the fabric.

This will avoid the problems of being irritated in the skin or allergic for the chemicals in certain material.  So it is pure organic and natural material.

Zhang Yu stressed that they like to develop this in Sweden and Europe first and once it is recognised with the European quality standards for green product, then they can consider to have more sales in China too. They will use the Chinese dyeing technology with Swedish design and European suppliers to make 100 percent natural product for the customers.

DSC_6230Hans Krylander, consultant of  Bolife explained the uniqueness of the Bolife technology.

”This is a new method to use supersonic viberation, they only dye for 30 degrees and before they use 60 degrees, so you save a lot of energy. But the main purpose and the best thing is that you don’t need to have chemical fixation material, you can use tree material. The supersonic technology has existed for many years, but it is the first time to use it this way.  This is the first time in the world history that you can have an ecological dyeing in organic cotton, and it stays with organic fixation material as well, so it is a unique Chinese product,” Krylander said.

DSC_6362During the exhibition, they also cooperate with Swedish Handcraft Friends to present the dyeing method. The presentation also attracted a lot of attention from the visitors. They even practice dyeing themselves during the presentation.

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Janne Liang and Lotta Ahlvar, President of Handcraft Friends presents the natural dyeing method.  Photo by Xuefei Chen Axelsson.

Zhang Yu created a home product brand Day & Me and had opened more than 40 shops in China within a year. He felt this was not challenging enough. So now he likes to develop a completely green brand. The brand has been recognised by American SGS certification, the next step is to get the European eco product certification.

Formex is the largest interior design exhibition in Nordic region. It opens twice a year in Stockholm in January and August. Almost all the interior design companies come to participate in the exhibition.

During the exhibition, designer Lotta said the Nordic style is not just simple, it is a combination of both beautiful and useful.

Traditional Chinese medicine hospitals on the increase

BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) — The number of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) hospitals in China has increased by 500 in five years, a rise of 15.5 percent, a TCM official said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the number of TCM outpatient departments and clinics increased by 531 and 5,890, said Wang Guoqiang, director of the State Administration of TCM at the 2016 national TCM meeting.

In 2014, there were 530 million visits to TCM hospitals, accounting for 17.9 percent of total hospital visits across the country, Wang said.

In addition, the TCM industry became a 730 billion yuan (110.8 million U.S. dollars) industry in 2014, representing one third of the total industrial output of China’s medical industry.

The import and export revenues for the TCM industry amounted to 4.63 billion U.S. dollars in 2014, according to Wang.

China has been promoting the modernization of TCM and has been pushing for TCM to be accepted and popular worldwide. Tu Youyou’s winning the Nobel Prize with a TCM-based anti-malarial drug served as a boon to the industry.  Enditem

 

Swedish Spring Film Premiere 2016 held in Stockholm

STOCKHOLM, Jan 13. (Greenpost)–Swedish Spring Film Premiere 2016 was held on Monday in Stockholm.

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Kristina Börjeson, Head of Film Support speaks at the opening.

IMG_9852Kristina Börjeson,  Head of Film Support said that since the beginning of the 1990s, Swedish government has decided to support film production in the country. The funding almost all comes from the Film Support. For example 12 of the 16 films are supported by Swedish Film Support.  Directors can apply for many kinds of subsidies to produce films. There has always been a great enthusiasm in making films in Sweden.

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Erik Gandini directed The Swedish Theory of Love which was also screened in the International Film Festival in Stockholm in November.

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Suzanne Osten directed The Girl, Mother and Demons describing a lonely and psycologically problematic mother with her daughter who is just 7 years old.  Esther Quigley is seen as a young star.

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Linda Hambäck, director of Bajsfilmen-Dolores och Gunnellens värld said this was the first time she directed a film wholly by herself.  She was South Korean origin and adopted by Swedish parents.

 

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“I have got some flavor of my own background in the film, it’s about friendship. When one of the two friends wants to go outside world, the other was almost mad,” said Linda Hambäck to Green Post.

IMG_9938In the film, she shows one girl with western face and the other with an Asian face.

Famous TV host Cecilia Nilsson was the MC of this premiere.

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Another film aroused our attention was The last Generation. It is about Sami culture and Sami people.  Petri Storlöpare who directed the film told Green Post that he lived around many Samis.  He was born in Finland but lives in Sweden all his life.  He was luckily able to follow the main charactor in the film for a year to experience his life as a reindeer herdsman.

He wanted to show the sami people, sami culture and hope that they will not disappear so soon.

A  lot of funds were invested in promoting sami culture during the 2014 European Cultural Festival.

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CREW of Rubbish Helicoptor were interviewed by Cecilia.

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Similar documentary about Swedish famous singer and her colleague famous singer BABs  was also screened.IMG_9913

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Cecilia Nilsson, Petri Storlöpare.

Another film aroused our attention was The last Generation. It is about Sami culture and Sami people.  Petri Storlöpare who directed the film told Green Post that he lived around many Samis.  He was born in Finland but lives in Sweden all his life.  He was luckily able to follow the main charactor in the film for a year to experience his life as a reindeer herdsman.

IMG_9960He wanted to show the sami people, sami culture and hope that they will not disappear so soon.

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Henrik Andersson talks about his daily life as a sami.

A  lot of funds were invested in promoting sami culture during the 2014 European Cultural Festival.

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This was a very heavy film describing relationship between father and daughter.IMG_9995Sixteen films were introduced during the spring film premiere.

Photo/text   by Xuefei Chen Axelsson

Relationships between parents and small children

Stockholm, Jan.13(Greenpost)–Statistics show that 30 percent of all parents of young children in Sweden separate.

Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have mapped the most important factors behind the separations and divorces – and offer five tips that can save the relationship. 

 According to 2012 statistics from Statistics Sweden, one out of three Swedish couples that have small children get separated. The average age of the first child at the time of the separation or divorce is 4 years and 8 years.

In a study at the Sahlgrenska Academy of the University of Gothenburg, 452 parents answered a scientific questionnaire that measures relationship quality in five different dimensions:

Consensus,  Cohesion, Satisfaction, Sensuality and Sexuality. The questionnaire was answered at three occasions, when the first child was 6 months old, 4 years and finally when the child was 8 years old.

Of the respondents, 23 couples had separated after four years, and after eight years, another 16 had separated. In the study, the researchers measured the separated parents’ relationships quality before they went separate ways, and compared the results with those who still lived together.

The study found certain similarities:

“When the child was 4 years old, both sexuality and sensuality were at constant low levels both among the couples who separated and those who had not,” says Malin Hansson, doctoral student at the Sahlgrenska Academy.

The largest statistically significant differences were seen in the dimensions of Satisfaction,  Consensus and  Cohesion: when the child was 6 months old, the separated respondents agreed less about different matters, they were less satisfied with the relationship, and felt less togetherness and lower quality in their sexual lives compared with those who did not separate.

The study showed that the risk of separating was twice as high among co-habitating partners as married spouses. A low level of education and unemployment were also risk factors (which agrees with Statistics Sweden’s statistics from 2012).

Using the parents’ answers to the question “What factors do you think contributed to your current situation (both positive and negative)?”, the Gothenburg researchers were able to formulate seven factors that contribute to separation. They were: strains from parenthood, stressful conditions,  lack of intimacy, insufficient communication, differing personalities and interests, no commitment (in the relationship), and negative effects of addiction.

“If you were to generalize, you coud say that the separated fathers wanted to have more time for themselves, while the mothers wanted more time together with both their partner and with their children,” says Malin Hansson:

“It is not always bad that parents separate. But there are “unnecessary divorces” that are a result of communication problems or a temporary downturn in the relationship, which could be avoided with more support. The healthcare system also has a responsibility here. Healthcare staff come into contact with most prospective and new parents, and should take on the task of supporting them in the relationship by for example emphasizing the importance of sharing responsibility for the home and the children, arranging relief and emphasizing the importance of maintaining sensuality and a shared sex life.”

The article Factors contributing to separation/divorce in parents of small children in Sweden was published online in Nordic Psychology in October.