SOCIAL INTEGRATION, HETEROGENEITY, AND DIVORCE - THE CASE OF THE SWEDISH-SPEAKING POPULATION IN FINLAND

The study compared marital stability in Finland with focus on the two language groups. The divorce rate was remarkably lower among the Swedi sh-speaking minority than among the Finnish-speaking majority. An expl anation for this may be differences in social integration. The assumpt ion about the effect of social integration was also supported by covar iates measuring urbanization and individual migration. A hypothesis th at marital homogamy reduces the divorce rate found support only with r espect to the language of the spouses but not with respect to level of education or age.