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This paper explores news media discourse about COVID-19 during the spring of 2020 in Sweden, aiming to provide an understanding of how moralising discourse is employed in narratives about public health risks and responses. We investigate print news media content about the corona virus and COVID-19 during the early stages of the outbreak, guided analytically by framework focusing on the relationship between moral panics and moral regulation. We direct attention, first, to how both moral majorities and villains, i.e., ‘folk devils’, and heroes are constructed in the news. Secondly, we look at how visions for interventions are produced discursively in relation to such constructions. Our findings suggest that moralising discourse largely target risk behaviours and health care claims of middle-class groups. We also find that news media discourse about the pandemic in Sweden is marked by attacks on government interventions that are distinctly different from observations in other contexts. In conclusion, we discuss these observations in relation the political and discursive context, and the potential impact of moralising discourse on the legitimacy of public health interventions and the welfare state. Finally, we also discuss how our findings can inform theoretical discussions about political populism, moralising discourse and public health.

This short paper is a case study of the RCR Lab located at the campus of Mid Sweden University in Northern Sweden. We argue that experimental design thinking in research and higher education in the fields of crisis and emergency management in social studies can ameliorate the post hoc methodological problem and shed light in the decision processes and information flow among first responders as well as public officials of various levels. The RCR Lab may be used as an enhanced, realistic space for the enrichment of role-playing and simulations, to activate students, as well as a sophisticated tool for the collection not only of quantitative, but also of qualitative data. The audience for this paper may be institutions of higher education that have a lab on campus and are looking for new ways of utilizing it, as well as educators in general who are looking for new ways to integrate experimental thinking in their classes.

While previous research in general observes adverse effects of siblings on children, less is known about the ways in which material circumstances condition these effects. Using propensity score matching on longitudinal data, this study estimates the effects of being an only child, being born first, and having a large sibling group on adult earnings. Estimates are made for poor and wealthy children respectively in order to examine whether effects occur for both groups. The results show that being an only child, or having a large sibling group, impacts negatively on adult earnings among poor children. Having one younger sibling furthermore has a positive effect on adult earnings among poor children. No corresponding effects were observed for wealthy children. The results indicate that sibling effects are not linear and that they are dependent on family resources

This thesis addresses to what extent childhood family composition – the number of siblings and whether the parents live together, or whether there are non-parental adults and/or half-siblings in the household or not – contributes to variations in adult earnings. The theoretical perspective suggests that resources mediate the effect. While research has shown that siblings, as well as divorce and remarriage, are negatively linked to child outcomes, there are inconsistencies in previous literature. There has been debate over the unconfoundedness of previous studies, something that is handled here by analyzing large sets of representative data using a robust parameter. The longitudinal dataset used is based on Swedish administrative data and the cohorts analyzed are born in the beginning of the 1970s. The data structure is well suited for the assumptions underlying the semi-parametric method propensity score matching.

The findings show that family size impacts on adult earnings. However, this is not always of concern. For example, no effect of siblings is found in affluent families, and if siblings are closely spaced this results in better outcomes for children. Divorce and remarriage do not seem to lower the future earnings of children. Thus, this thesis shows that some of the most well-established patterns in the sociology of the family, namely the link between number of siblings and adult earnings, and between divorce/family re-formation and adult earnings, can be broken by resources.

This paper examines if stressful events during childhood impact the labour market position in adulthood within the Swedish 1973 birth cohort. Empirical analyses are based on individual, longitudinal register data from the ASTRID database covering the total Swedish population between 1960-2008. We will analyze the different ways in which three specific events; parental separation, death of parent(s) and/or frequent migration, affect labour market outcome in an OLS-regression, controlling for family background characteristics. These events can occur in isola- tion or they can be interrelated. It is of importance to examine the effect of one single event as well as the accumulated effect of several events. The 1973 cohort makes an interesting case, since they both have experienced change in the nuclear family system during their childhood, and a period of recession and youth unemployment as well as cutbacks in social policy programmes during their age of labour market entrance. Our study thus focuses on how stressful events in childhood affect children’s life courses in turbulent times.

It is not unusual with sequential partnerships today, and more children are nowadays living parts of their childhood in families consisting of both biological parents, non-parental adults, full biological siblings, and half-siblings. The aim of this study is to investigate post-divorce family re-formation regarding the effect on future labour market earnings for children. Three factors are investigated: 1) family re-formation, 2) half-siblings and 3) family size. We employ propensity score matching on a population based dataset, a method of advantage when heterogeneity in effects can be suspected. We find no evidence of effects of family re-formation, nor the occurrence of half-siblings, on labour market earnings. We find a substantial negative effect of family size on adult earnings, regardless of re-marriage and half-siblings. This suggests that the childhood circumstances that affect adult earnings are related to the nuclear family and family size – including resource dilution from siblings – regardless of whether these children originate in the nuclear family or in the divorced and re-formed family.

The effects of divorce on children have been a question of significant importance for family researchers for a long time. Employing a resource theoretical perspective, this paper investigates the causal effect of parental divorce on children in the long term – specifically looking at the outcome adult labour market earnings. The analysis includes all firstborn children, born to married parents, in Sweden in 1973 (n=19,578), following them for 35 years onwards. Applying propensity score matching on longitudinal data, the analysis shows no indications of a causal effect of divorce on adult earnings.

While previous research in general observes adverse effects of siblings on children, less is known about the ways in which material circumstances condition these effects. Using propensity score matching on longitudinal data, this study estimates the effects of being an only child, being born first, and having a large sibling group on adult earnings. Estimates are made for poor and wealthy children respectively in order to examine whether effects occur for both groups. The results show that being an only child, or having a large sibling group, impacts negatively on adult earnings among poor children. Having one younger sibling furthermore has a positive effect on adult earnings among poor children. No corresponding effects were observed for wealthy children. The results indicate that sibling effects are not linear and that they are dependent on family resources.