Socio-Economic Inequality and Intimate Partner Violence in Sweden: A Municipal-Level Analysis

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is influenced by multi-level factors. This study tests whether municipal-level socioeconomic inequality – operationalized as concentrated disadvantage – predicts variation in police-reported IPV against adult women across Sweden. A cross-sectional analysis of all Swedish municipalities in 2021 was conducted. IPV was measured as assault against women by intimate partners per 100,000 residents. The key predictor was an additive disadvantage index with single-parent households, social assistance recipiency, low income, unemployment, and low education as indicators for socio-economic status (SES). Ordinary least squares models estimated bivariate and multivariable associations with demographic controls, and Moran’s I tested spatial autocorrelation. The disadvantage index was strongly and positively associated with IPV (bivariate B ≈ 27.0, p  < .001; multivariable B ≈ 18.0, p  < .001), accounting for roughly 26–36 percent of variance across municipalities. Controls – including population density, residential mobility, and the proportion of men – were not independently significant. Spatial diagnostics showed no significant residual clustering. Findings align with social disorganization and macro-level strain perspectives, indicating that concentrated socioeconomic disadvantage is an indicator of IPV at the municipal level. Prevention could pair poverty reduction, education, and employment initiatives with investments in informal social control and community cohesion. Cross-sectional design and reliance on police reports warrant caution; future work should examine mediating mechanisms and longitudinal change.