ABSTRACT
The Swedish family sociologist Jan Trost maintains that nonmarital cohabitation has become an institution fully equivalent to that of marriage; "the two social institutions do not 'compete' with each other but they exist along side each other." In other words, both have identical functions. This also seems to be the view of the Swedish government. It has been government policy since the change in divorce laws of the early 1970s, according to the interpretation of some Swedish experts, to be officially neutral between the two forms of living together. In Sweden, precisely such a social expression is disappearing. It is reasonable to say that most Swedish young people today are merely drifting away from their families of orientation, usually in stages, and eventually settling with someone else, all seemingly without any form of public or social recognition whatsoever. Gone for the most part are engagement parties, weddings, and even an appropriate time at which one can say "congratulations.".
