78 percent of children aged 0–17 with a single mother had a mother who was employed. Ten percent had a mother who was unemployed, and 3 percent had a mother who was a student. Among children with a single father, 90 percent had an employed father, 4 percent had an unemployed father, and 1 percent had a father who was a student. Nine percent of children with a single mother had a mother classified in the “other” category, compared to 5 percent for those with a single father.

53 percent of children whose mother had a pre-upper secondary education, the mother was employed. The corresponding share for children with a father with the same educational level was 80 percent.

Among children with a foreign-born father, 84 percent had a father who was employed, while 68 percent of children with a foreign-born mother had an employed mother. The share of children with an employed foreign-born mother has increased by 6 percentage points since 2021, and the corresponding increase for children with a foreign-born father is 4 percentage points.

SCB’s Child and Family Statistics

The data on parental employment presented above is one example of the information on children’s living conditions that has been updated today in Statistics Sweden’s database. In addition to this, current data is available on children’s families, parental separation, joint and sole custody, the geographical distance between children and parents, and children with Swedish or foreign background. Information is also available on children’s housing, parental employment, and economic conditions.

New data source for parental employment

Statistics Sweden have changed their data source for parental employment. The data is now retrieved from the Population by Labour Market Status, which is based on administrative records and describes the labour supply in Sweden. Previous source was the Labour Force Survey.

The new data source covers the total population registered in Sweden aged 15 to 74. Using BAS as a data source enables more detailed reporting, for example at the regional level or for smaller population groups.

The change of data source reduces the employment categories. As of 2021, parental employment is reported using the following categories:

• Employed
• Unemployed
• Student
• Other

SSD

https://www.scb.se/en/finding-statistics/statistics-by-subject-area/population-and-living-conditions/living-conditions/children-and-their-families/

March 2026