Marriage and Family

Many people choose to live together rather than get married. Often, a couple marries after they have lived together for several years, or when they have a child. Unmarried couples who live together have nearly the same rights and obligations under the law as married couples. Families generally have only one or two children. Most women (48 percent, 1999) work outside the home.Young children are cared for at day-care centers while parents are at work. The nuclear family is the basic social unit, but extended family relationships are maintained through gatherings and holiday visits. Elderly individuals generally rely on the social system or themselves for their care and support.

Many families in urban areas live in apartments or single-family homes, while most people in smaller towns and rural areas have single-family dwellings. Sweden is known for its red wooden farmhouses, built in the 18th and 19th centuries, that still dot the countryside.

Eating

Swedes today are generally health conscious and aware of the nutritional content of what they eat, although young people also enjoy fast food, which is increasingly available. The typical Swedish breakfast includes coffee, fruit juice, knäckebröd (crisp bread) or smörgåsar (open sandwiches) with ham or cheese, eggs, and filmjölk (buttermilk). Lunch is usually a hot meal, even in schools. On weekends and special occasions it may be more elaborate. Typical Swedish food is herring, meatballs, gravad lax (raw pickled salmon), potatis (potatoes), and pancakes. During the last three weeks of August (the crayfishing season), crayfish parties are a favorite tradition. On special occasions it is common to have a smörgåsbord, a lavish buffet. In addition to traditional fare, Swedes also enjoy a variety of ethnic foods, including French, Italian, Thai, Chinese, and Mexican.

Swedes generally eat three meals a day. Many eat a light breakfast around 7 am and might have a coffee or tea break at midmorning. The main meal (middag) was traditionally eaten at midday. This is still the case in most rural areas, but urban residents have only a light, hot lunch at noon and the evening meal around 6 pm. At festive dinners, it is usual for people to wait until the host has made a toast (Skål) before drinking. It is also important to make eye contact before taking your first drink and again before putting the glass back on the table. It is usual to help oneself from the dishes placed on the table, and it is therefore bad manners to leave food on one’s plate.

Socializing

Swedes usually shake hands upon meeting. People generally address each other by their first names; titles are used only in very formal situations. More formal greetings include God dag (“Good day”) or God morgon (“Good morning”). Among friends, most people are more casual and simply say Hej (“Hi”). Swedes generally answer the phone by stating their names, but say Hallå if they cannot hear the caller. Goodbye is Adjö or, more casually, Hej då.

Swedes entertain often at home, and punctuality is important. During the winter or rainy weather, guests generally remove their shoes when entering the home, unless the gathering is formal. They usually stay after the meal for coffee and conversation, which can last for hours.

Recreation

Swedes greatly enjoy the outdoors, and many own or have access to summer cottages for weekends or vacations. Swedes enjoy jogging, hiking, birdwatching, fishing, hunting, boating, and orienteering, which is a cross-country race requiring participants to use a map and compass to navigate an unfamiliar course. Soccer, tennis, golf, swimming, skiing, skating, ice hockey, and bandy—a game believed to be ice hockey's prototype—are important sports. Other popular recreational activities include watching television, socializing, reading, and going to the cinema. Many people enjoy making handicrafts and singing in choirs.

Holidays and Celebrations

The Swedes celebrate both New Year’s Eve (31 December) and New Year’s Day (1 January) as public holidays. The Epiphany, or the day the Three Wise Men are said to have come to the baby Jesus, is observed on January 6. Easter (Påsk) is celebrated from Good Friday through Easter Monday. Children dress up like Easter witches, paint their faces, and collect candy from the homes of friends and neighbors. Walpurgis Night (30 April), now celebrated with bonfires and fireworks, is a festival dating from Viking times, celebrating the return of spring. Labor Day is observed on 1 May. Ascension Day, 40 days after Easter, is said to be the day Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven. Whitsunday, 50 days after Easter, and Whitmonday, the day following Whitsunday, are both observed.

Sweden’s grandest festival, Midsommar (Midsummer) is celebrated on the weekend closest to June 21, which is Summer Solstice. This holiday also dates from Viking times, when it was a fertility rite meant to ensure a good harvest in the autumn. Nowadays, traditional songs are sung, and people dance around maypoles, which are decorated with birch leaves and flowers. The custom of wearing traditional regional dress to the celebration has regained popularity in recent years. Because the sun never sets in the northernmost part of Sweden on 21 June, it is known as “the day that never ends.”

All Saints’ Day is on 2 November. A particularly lovely holiday in Sweden is Lucia, on 13 December. Traditionally, on this day the oldest girl in each family would don a white dress, a crimson sash, and a crown of candles. She has become Saint Lucia, a fascinating saint closely associated with both light and seeing. The girl dressed as Lucia, followed by her sisters and brothers (called maidens and star-boys), who would be dressed in similarly magical white garments, served coffee and buns to members of the household early in the morning of 13 December. Nowadays, Lucias are also chosen in their schools or day-care centers, and they might visit hospitals, factories, and offices, serving coffee, lussekatt (saffron buns), glögg (hot spiced wine), and gingerbread cookies. In Stockholm a contest is held to choose the “Stockholm Lucia.”

Lucia begins the Jul (Christmas) season, which reaches its pinnacle on Christmas Eve with a smörgåsbord and the exchange of gifts. The Jultomten (Swedish Santa Claus) was traditionally known as a kind of gnome who lived under the house and left gifts for the children at the door. Today, children eagerly await his knock at the door on Christmas Eve. Some families keep the old tradition of “dipping in the pot”—dunking slices of bread in the broth from a boiled ham. The Christmas tree, placed in the house a couple of days before Christmas Eve, is not taken down until Saint Knut’s Day on 13 January. On this day a party for children is held and the tree, having served its purpose, is tossed out an open window as the celebrants sing a song about the end of the Christmas holiday.

Source: Encarta Interactive World Atlas

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