The challenge of new families.

• Author: Ryrstedt, Eva
• Position: Sweden

Today there are many new and different types of families--not only families with one biological parent and one step-parent, but also families with same-sex parents or with two sets of same-sex parents who together with the child form a household.

These new families pose many new challenges for society. One such challenge is how to allocate different social benefits that were traditionally designed for the nuclear family or for a single parent with sole legal custody of a child. Families with a single parent and a non-custodial or joint custodial parent who spends some time with the child and families with one biological parent and one stepparent already pose certain problems. Such families mean there may be other parental figures out there claiming that the child is part of their family. As even more complex families emerge, the potential for problems is readily apparent.

The problem is further amplified in Sweden through the existing National Registration, which can determine what social benefits are granted to the family. This means that the child's primary family is determined by the address at which the child is registered. This would not be the large problem it is today if not for the fact that the child can be registered at only one address. This fails to consider the fact that today's families are more flexible. The legislation simply has not kept up with the changes in society.

Even though the phenomenon of National Registration seems to be restricted to the Nordic countries, the problem that arises from determining to which family a certain child belongs--and thus who is entitled to the different social benefits associated with the child--is a common problem that may be solved in different ways.

This Article aims to map out the different legal perspectives of families in Sweden today and to discuss the

allocation of social benefits, while considering the challenge of the new diversity of family types and the problems that are caused by benefits that cannot be divided. Gender issues are closely connected with the above-mentioned problems.

1. THE ACCEPTED FAMILY

1. The Diversity of New Families

   Just a few years ago, a family normally was understood as the nuclear family, consisting of a married man and woman who are parents to their children, even though in earlier times an older generation often was part of the picture. Today the word "family" is understood in a broader way. In Sweden we use the term "rainbow families" (1) to describe these different family structures which are inconsistent with the nuclear family, such as a family with same-sex parents. A child might also alternate between living with one set of two fathers and one set of two mothers.

   The most recent development in Sweden occurred in the spring of 2009 when the parliament passed an act amending the Marriage Code, which legalized gender-neutral marriages as of May 1, 2009. (2) This is not the first law regarding homosexuals that has taken rather a long time to gain acceptance.

   The new social development of nonconventional families has thus--sometimes reluctantly--been accepted into the family legislation, at least in part. The following Section will give an overview of the different family types now recognized in the Swedish legislation.

2. Cohabitees

   The first civil law on cohabitees came into force in 1974, and was an answer to the increase in cohabitation out of wedlock and the greater societal acceptance of cohabitation as a way to live together in a family. (3) This first law on cohabitees concerned the joint dwelling, consisting of a tenant-owner's flat or a tenancy flat. (4) The regulation, however, only gave a possible right to take over the dwelling on the ending of the relationship; it did not allow for the division of the value of the dwelling.

   Fourteen years later, as cohabitation became even more frequent, the law developed to include a possible division of the net-value of the goods shared by the couple. (5) The property that the law considered was extended to nearly all types of joint dwellings, with the exception of property primarily used for the purpose of leisure. (6) Further, to be included in a property division, the property also had to be acquired for the use of both the cohabitees. (7)

   The old legislation remained, with only small changes, in a paragraph in the new law, with seemingly the same purpose as before--to look out for a cohabitee in need of protection. This is especially important since the cohabitees could agree that they should not apply the paragraph on division to their cohabitation. (8)

   The first articulation by the parliament about the acceptance of homosexual cohabitation took place in 1973. (9) Nevertheless, the law on homosexual cohabitees (10) did not come into force until 1988. Through this legislation, the law on heterosexual cohabitees became applicable to homosexual cohabitees as well. Sweden then became the first country in the world to include same-sex couples in regulation regarding family law. (11)

   In the...