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Published: 27 May 2011

Growth in the number of families slowed down

At the end of 2010, there were 1,455,000 families in Finland. The number had grown by 4,600 from the previous year-end. However, the growth amounted to slightly less than in the previous year when it was 6,100 families. Altogether 76 per cent of the Finnish population, that is, 4,065,000 persons, belonged to a family. In 1990, the respective share was still 82 per cent.

Families by type 1950–2010

Families by type 1950–2010

Two-thirds of the families were families of married couples. Twenty-two per cent were families of cohabiting couples and 12 per cent were one-parent families. There were 1,601 families of registered same-sex couples. Persons living alone numbered 1,040,000.

There were 582,000 families with children (family has children aged under 18). Their number decreased by 1,800 from the year before. Forty per cent of the population belong to a family with children. At the turn of the year, the average number of children still living at home in a family with children was 1.83. The commonest family type, which accounts for 61 per cent of all families with children, is still married couple with children. Eighteen per cent of the families with children were families of cohabiting couples. About the same share of all families with children were families of mother and children. The number of families with father and children continues to be very small. Under three per cent of all families with children consist of just father and children. In 267 families with children, the parents are a registered same-sex couple.

At the end of 2010, there were 53,000 reconstituted families in Finland. A reconstituted family is a family with at least one child aged under 18 of just one of the parents. There were 77,000 of such children. The number of reconstituted families decreased by 319 from last year. Roughly one-half of the parents of the reconstituted families were cohabiting and one-half were married.

Families by type in 1990–2010

Type of family      1990 1995 2000 2005 2008 2009 2010 Change    2009–2010
Families total 1 365 341 1 382 970 1 401 963 1 426 002 1 444 386 1 450 488 1 455 073 4 585
Married couple without children 364 452 395 953 436 019 481 209 504 728 509 916 513 889 3 973
Married couple with children 640 062 579 578 514 868 468 266 452 180 448 897 446 433 -2 464
Cohabiting couple no children 123 471 135 996 160 132 180 590 191 177 193 894 195 967 2 073
Cohabiting couple with children 65 896 85 309 102 581 112 847 115 966 116 797 117 254 457
Mother and children 147 297 159 063 159 432 153 024 149 631 149 823 149 651 -172
Father and children 24 161 27 071 28 931 29 238 29 460 29 765 30 278 513
Registered male couple 1) . . . 398 579 625 706 81
Registered female couple 1) . . . 430 665 771 895 124
Family population 4 101 922 4 093 038 4 053 850 4 037 753 4 051 662 4 059 511 4 065 168 5 657
Population 31.12. 4 998 478 5 116 829 5 181 115 5 255 580 5 326 314 5 351 427 5 375 276 23 849
Proportion of family population 82.1 80.0 78.2 76.8 76.1 75.9 75.6 -0.3
Averige size of family 3.00 2.96 2.89 2.83 2.81 2.81 2.79 -0.02
1) Families of the type “registered couple with children” numbered 281.

Source: Population and Cause of Death Statistics, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Marjut Pietiläinen (09) 1734 2798, Timo Nikander (09) 1734 3250, vaesto.tilasto@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

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Updated 27.5.2011

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Families [e-publication].
ISSN=1798-3231. 2010. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 29.3.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/perh/2010/perh_2010_2011-05-27_tie_001_en.html