Villa, Volvo and Internet - there you have it, the typical life of a Medelsvensson (the Swedish equivalent of an Average Joe or Ordinary Jane).
Maria Johansson is 42 years old; she’s married with two children, and is through her computer, hooked up with Internet. She drives a silver-colored Volvo (color more often chosen by her husband) and consumes 1.3 kilos (2.8 lbs) of candy a week, which she shares with her family. (In other words, that is the average candy consumption of an average Swedish household... A lot of candy. Add to that the same amount in "fika bröd" - cakes and pastry. No wonder the average weight among Swedes is increasing as well: (Losing) Battle against obesity)
According to the newly released “Statistisk årsbok” (Statistical Yearbook) by Statistiska centralbyrån (Statistics Sweden), Maria is a typical Medelsvensson. She lives in a villa, works part time in nursing and spends 43 minutes a week on cooking, which is 17 minutes more than her husband Mikael Johansson, who is 40, does. He works full time as an industrial worker and watches TV 140 minutes a week, 22 minutes more than his wife. Both Herr and Fru Johansson are mildly interested in outdoor life, but like sweets and alcohol.
Per person they pay 68 SEK ($10) on alcohol, wine, and beer (though he drinks more) and 30 SEK ($4.40) on candy weekly. Both believe they’re in good health, though Maria sometimes has muscle or joint pains. Their combined income is 47,000 SEK a month ($6.900), with expenses at 35,000 SEK ($5,100). Mikael spends 347 SEK monthly on clothes ($51), his wife a bit more than the double.
Their children Simon, 15 years, and Emma, 12 years, each have their own cell phone and bike. The family’s Internet connection is of the more old-fashioned kind, DSL, and all family members use Internet on a daily basis. Maria will move 12 times throughout her life, her husband will move 11 times. Both remain in the county of their birth. When they retire they will most probably be 68 years old.
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An average week in Sweden looks like this in numbers:
1142 boys are born, and 21 of them are later named Oscar.
1082 girls are born, and 17 of them are later named Maja.
1971 people are getting married, while 900 are getting divorced.
6 murders/manslaughters, 1690 cases of abuse and 330 sexual crimes, of which 115 are rapes reported to police.
For more info see Statistics Sweden Medelsvenssonlivet – villa, Volvo och dator (in Swedish only)
