Two centuries of disability disadvantages in Swedish partnerships.

Autor: Vikström, Lotta, Junkka, Johan, Karhina, Kateryna
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Zdroj: Disability & Society; Jul2024, Vol. 39 Issue 7, p1629-1655, 27p
Abstrakt: Partnership signifies a key transition for social recognition in society. This study identifies long-term trends of disability and partnership in Sweden evidenced by the chances to marry or cohabit during two centuries (1800s–2010s). We compare results from studies within one comprehensive disability project, making use of quantitative life-course analysis and population records. Our findings uncover a remarkably persistent trend from the 1800s until the 2010s. Disability impeded both men and women's partnership chances significantly (by about 60%), with some variations across disability types, genders, and periods. That disabled people did not enjoy greater access to a partner relative to others while Sweden moved from a poor country to a wealthy welfare state, suggests that disability persistently affords fewer possibilities to participate in social life and society. Our study is exceptional by combining disability with partnership and comparing recent results with the past. Partnership is a milestone for becoming an adult and for social recognition in society. In this article, partnership refers to marriages between a man and a woman, or when living together as a couple, both among people with disabilities and without using Swedish population records from the 1800s until 2000s. The most important result of the article is that people with disabilities kept being about half as likely to experiencing partnership compared to others no matter of time period studied. This result suggests that negative attitudes from the past not recognizing disabled people as potential partners persisted over time when Sweden moved from a poor country in the 1800s to becoming internationally known for its welfare in the 1900s creating more equal opportunities for all citizens. This result reveals inequality in that people with disabilities still today do not experience partnership on an equal basis with others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Databáze: Complementary Index