This dissertation is about the experiences of low-paid single mothers in sustaining their families in Sweden in the early 2000. The investigation builds upon interviews with twenty low-paid single mothers living and working in Stockholm. Ten of the women are Swedish-born and the other ten are Iranian-born but have been residing in Sweden for several years. A majority of the Swedish-born women belong to the working class, while most of the Iranian-born mothers are from a middle class background. This study is based on an extended definition of sustenance that encompasses support for livelihood and meeting the family needs that conform to socially accepted norms. Sustenance requires incomes to cover expenses and care work. The informants sustain their families mostly from wage work. However, they also seek allowances from the social security system to buy goods and services that they combine with care work to sustain the family. The care work for younger children demands much time and physical work, while caring for older children requires more mental and emotional work. Sustenance for these mothers implies fulfilling all these demands and also to ensure that the children’s’ needs are met. Several factors influence the mothers’ sustenance. Low wages and the single responsibility for children means less money and more time devoted to care work. Few fathers take significant responsibility for their children’s sustenance. The mothers get support from their social networks, often from other women and from the welfare system. Ethnic background negatively affects sustenance for the Iranian-born mothers mostly in the form of reduced cultural and social capital. Children are the highest priority among all the families. However, the priorities may differ among the families and are connected to the mothers’ class, ethnic background and their access to cultural capital.

Over the past decades, the world has witnessed significant social and demographic changes, including a declining fertility rate in Europe, a decrease in job security and flexibilisation of the labour market, and an increasing flow of migrants to the Global North. Especially migrants have been affected by precarious work arrangements. However, little research has been conducted on the specific impact of employment uncertainty on migrant fertility intentions. Using binary logistic regression models, this study looks at the effect of both objective and subjective indicators of a precarious employment situation on short-term fertility intentions using the Swedish GGS-II survey data. The analysis includes both migrants and Swedish-born individuals and covers men and women separately, which is rare in previous research that has focused chiefly on women only. The findings suggest that the impact of unemployment on fertility intentions differs between migrant and Swedish-born women and men. Specifically, being an unemployed migrant, compared to being unemployed and Swedish-born appears to increase the likelihood of expressing a positive fertility intention. The time since arrival for female migrants does not moderate the effect of employment status. However, for female migrants in education who have resided in Sweden for at least five years, the probability of stating a positive fertility intention is substantially reduced compared to newly arrived migrant women. Moreover, the probability of expressing a positive fertility intention increases when a migrant woman perceives job loss as likely in the near future relative to Swedish-born women with similar job security perceptions. Regarding men, the results are less conclusive, with no substantial differences observed in the impact of the likelihood of job loss on fertility intentions between migrant and Swedish-born men. The study suggests that despite the importance of the institutional setting for fertility decision-making, other mechanisms are at play, too: migrants and Swedish-born individuals seem to respond differently to labour market uncertainties and especially unemployment.

Bakgrund: Postpartum är en utmanande tidsperiod med ökad risk för psykisk ohälsa hos föräldrar. De flesta studier som har genomförts har undersökt inrikesfödda mödrar. Det saknas studier som undersöker postpartum-relaterad psykisk ohälsa hos utrikesfödda föräldrar i Sverige. Syftet med den aktuella studien var därför att undersöka välmående hos utrikes-och inrikesfödda mödrar och fäder i Sverige. Studien syftade också till att undersöka potentiella riskfaktorer för utveckling av psykisk ohälsa och om riskfaktorerna skiljde sig mellan utrikes och inrikesfödda föräldrar. Metod: 1847 mödrar och fäder inklusive 483 (26.2%) utrikesfödda och 1364 (73.8 %) inrikesfödda föräldrar besvarade skattningsskalorna the Swedish Parenthood Stress Questionnaire och Välmåendeskalan. Data analyserades med Student’s t-test, envägs-ANOVA, Pearson’s korrelationsanalys och Multipel regressionsanalys. Resultat: Utrikesfödda föräldrar rapporterade statistiskt signifikant lägre välmående jämfört med inrikesfödda föräldrar. Bland utrikesfödda föräldrar var social isolering, hälsoproblem, känsla av inkompetens och låg utbildningsnivå riskfaktorer för psykisk ohälsa. Bland inrikesfödda föräldrar var känsla av inkompetens, hälsoproblem, social isolering, relationsproblem och rollrestriktion samt låg utbildningsnivå, riskfaktorer för psykisk ohälsa. Slutsats: Resultatet i denna deskriptiva och explorativa studie indikerar att utrikesfödda föräldrar upplever sämre välmående och löper större risk för utveckling av psykisk ohälsa under postpartum-perioden. Studien visar också att riskfaktorerna skiljer sig åt beroende på födelse inom eller utanför riket. / Background: The postpartum is a challenging period with an increased risk for parental mental illness. Most studies conducted have been performed on Swedish-born mothers. At present, there are no studies examining postpartum related mental illness in foreign-born parents in Sweden. The purpose of this study was therefore to examine the mental wellbeing of foreign-born mothers and fathers in Sweden and whether it differs from Swedish-born parents. The aim of the study was also to investigate potential risk factors for the development of mental illness, and whether the risk factors differ between foreign- and Swedish-born parents. Method: 1847 mothers and fathers, including 483 (26.2%) foreign-born and 1364 (73.8%) Swedish-born parents, answered the Swedish Parenthood Stress Questionnaire and the Well–being scale. Data was analyzed using the Pearson’s correlation analysis, One-way-ANOVA and Standard Multiple Regression analysis. Results: Foreign-born parents reported statistically significant lower mental well-being compared to Swedish-born parents. The study shows that among foreign-born parents, social isolation was a significant risk factor for mental illness during the postpartum period followed by health problems, feeling incompetent as a parent, and a low level of education. Among Swedish-born parents, health problems, social isolation, low levels of education, feeling incompetent as a parent, role restriction and relationship problems were risk factors for mental illness. Conclusion: The results of this descriptive and exploratory study indicates that foreign-born parents experience poorer mental well-being and are at greater risk of developing mental illness during the postpartum period. The study also shows that the risk factors differ depending on birth within or outside the country.