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Smålanders best Swedes at staying together

The Local/ms
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Smålanders best Swedes at staying together
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Worried about being single or keeping your marriage alive? Research suggests you're less likely to end up divorced if you live in Småland in southern Sweden than anywhere else in the country.

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Only 16 percent of Småland residents aged between 30 and 59 are divorced, compared with 25 percent in Sweden's largest cities - Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö.
 
Sweden's average divorce rate among this age group is 21 percent. Across all age brackets, more than 50 percent of marriages end in divorce, according to research discussed in the Swedish media on Monday.
 
Some relationship experts in the region argue that a higher proportion of practising Christians in Jönköping and other towns in the region is the reason that fewer marriages fail.
 
Family therapist Marie Olsson told Sveriges Radio that alongside the region's strong faith, it also has a community feel with many people living close to friends and family that they have grown up with. This is in contrast to in Sweden's major urban centres, where many people do not know their neighbours.
 
"If people have a good support network around them, it is easier to live a good life and marriages tend to work better," she said.
 
Olsson works for St Lukas, a voluntary organization which links different churches around Sweden and focuses on counselling from a Christian point of view.
 
"Laughter, talking and sex are great for keeping up marriages," she told the radio station.
 
She argued that couples who could "have a fun time together, keep the conversation going, share thoughts, enjoy doing things together and enjoy each other sexually," stood the strongest chance of going the distance.
 
 

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