Home > Statistics > Families > 2008 > Forty-one per cent of the population belong to families with children

Published: 29 May 2009

Forty-one per cent of the population belong to families with children

At the end of 2008, there were 1,444,000 families in Finland. The number had grown by 6,700 from the previous year-end. Altogether 76 per cent of the Finnish population, that is 4,051,000 persons, belonged to a family. Persons living alone numbered 1,015,000. Two-thirds of the families were married couples. Twenty-one per cent were families of cohabiting couples and 12 per cent were one-parent families. There were 1,244 families of registered same-sex couples.

Families with children (under the age of 18) numbered 585,000. Their number had fallen by 2,500 from the year before. A total of 42 per cent of the population belong to a family with children. The commonest family type, which 62 per cent of the families with children belong to, continues to be married couple with children. There were almost equal proportions of families of cohabiting couples with children and single mothers with children: 18 per cent of the former and 17 per cent of the latter among all families with children. A single carer father is still a rarity, for under three per cent of all families with children consist of just father and children. In 187 families with children the parents are a registered same-sex couple.

At the turn of the year, the average number of children still living at home in a family with children was 1.83. At present the final mean number of children in families with children is 2.4 today.

At the end of 2007, there were 54,000 reconstituted families in Finland. A reconstituted family is one where at least one child under the age of 18 is the child of one parent only. There were almost 78,000 of such children. The number of reconstituted families had gone up by approximately 200 from the year before. Roughly one-half of the parents of reconstituted families were cohabiting and the other half were married.

Families by type in 1990–2008

Type of family	1990	1995	2000	2005	2006	2007	2008	Change    2007–2008
Families total	1 365 341	1 382 970	1 401 963	1 426 002	1 431 376	1 437 709	1 444 386	6 677
Married couple without children	364 452	395 953	436 019	481 209	488 880	496 814	504 728	7 914
Married couple with children	640 062	579 578	514 868	468 266	461 569	456 235	452 180	-4 055
Cohabiting couple no children	123 471	135 996	160 132	180 590	184 732	188 172	191 177	3 005
Cohabiting couple with children	65 896	85 309	102 581	112 847	114 671	115 860	115 966	106
Mother and children	147 297	159 063	159 432	153 024	151 475	150 251	149 631	-620
Father and children	24 161	27 071	28 931	29 238	29 101	29 288	29 460	172
Registered male couple	.	.	.	398	455	527	579	52
Registered female couple	.	.	.	430	493	562	665	103
Family population	4 101 922	4 093 038	4 053 850	4 037 753	4 039 944	4 045 561	4 051 662	6 101
Population 31.12.	4 998 478	5 116 829	5 181 115	5 255 580	5 276 955	5 300 484	5 326 314	25 830
Proportion of family population	82.1	80.0	78.2	76.8	76.6	76.3	76.1	-0.2
Averige size of family	3.00	2.96	2.89	2.83	2.82	2.81	2.81	0.00

Source: Families 2008, Population and Cause of Death Statistics, Statistics Finland

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

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

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Appendix tables

• Families by type in 1950 - 2008 (29.5.2009)
• Family population and average size of family in 1950 - 2008 (29.5.2009)
• Families with underage children by type in 1950 - 2008 (29.5.2009)
• Reconstituted families 1990 - 2008 (29.5.2009)

Figures

• Families with underage children by type and age of wife/mother in 2008 (families with father and children by age of father) (29.5.2009)
• Structure of reconstituted families 2008 (29.5.2009)
• Families by type and age of wife/mother in 2008 (families with father and children by age of father) (29.5.2009)

Quality descriptions

• Quality description: Families (29.5.2009)

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Updated 29.5.2009