Home > Statistics > Families > 2010 > Annual Review > 1. Married couple without children is still the commonest family type in Finland

1. Married couple without children is still the commonest family type in Finland

Families are classified according to whether the spouses are married, cohabiting or in a registered partnership and whether they have children. In addition to this, there are one-parent families. In this classification, no limit is set as to the age of a child. Families with children, defined as families having at least one child under the age of 18 living at home, are discussed in Chapter 3. Where families with underage children are concerned, parents are also referred to as supporters. In the following examination, one-parent families are not only single-supporter families, as a person having the status of a child living with his/her mother or father may be of any age. In these statistics, the oldest person with the status of a child is 78 years old.

At the end of 2010, there were 1,455,000 families in Finland. Their number grew by 4,600 from the year before. The increase was 1,500 smaller than in the previous year.

Altogether 76 per cent of the population in Finland belong to a family. The proportion decreased by 0.3 percentage points from the previous year. The rate of its decrease has remained at this level since the beginning of the 1990s. The proportion of the family population was at its highest in the 1960s and 1970s, when 87 per cent of the population belonged to a family. The number of persons belonging to a family rose by 5,700 during 2010. Total population increased by 23,800 persons. At the end of 2010, the average size of a family in Finland was 2.79 persons.

Table 1. Family population and average size of family in 1950–2010

Year	Families total	Family population	Population	Proportion of family population, %	Average size of family
1950	930 572	3 457 474	4 029 803	85,8	3,7
1960	1 036 270	3 855 037	4 446 222	86,7	3,7
1970	1 153 878	3 986 005	4 598 336	86,7	3,5
1980	1 278 102	4 023 091	4 787 778	84,0	3,1
1990	1 365 341	4 101 922	4 998 478	82,1	3,0
2000	1 401 963	4 053 850	5 181 115	78,2	2,9
2005	1 426 002	4 037 753	5 255 580	76,8	2,8
2006	1 431 376	4 039 944	5 276 955	76,6	2,8
2007	1 437 709	4 045 561	5 300 484	76,3	2,8
2008	1 444 386	4 051 662	5 326 314	76,1	2,8
2009	1 450 488	4 059 511	5 351 427	75,9	2,8
2010	1 455 073	4 065 168	5 375 276	75,6	2,8

The commonest family type in Finland is still a married couple without children, which made up 35 per cent of all families in 2010. As recently as in 2004, the most common family type was married couple with children of some age living at home. In 2010, 31 per cent of all families were families of a married couple with children. However, the number of such families has been on the decline for a long time, whereas the number of married couples without children has been rising. The yearly changes in this have been continually diminishing. For example, the number of married couples living with their children decreased by 2,500 from the previous year, whereas from 2005 to 2006 the number decreased by 6,700. Because the yearly changes are small, it is difficult to clearly pinpoint the reasons for the decreases and increases in the numbers of the different family types.

The number and proportion of cohabiting couples among families is also growing. However, cohabiting couples without children make up only 14 per cent of all families. Today, eight per cent of all families are cohabiting couples with children. The number has been growing slowly in recent years.

The number of “mother and children” families has declined now for the eleventh consecutive year. “Father and children” families are still rare; they number only two in one hundred. Their relative proportion has hardly changed at all in the past few years.

Table 2. Families by type in 1950–2010

Year	Total	Married couple without children	Married couple with children	Cohabiting couple with children	Cohabiting couple without children	Mother and children	Father and children	Registered male couple 1)	Registered female couple 1)
1950	930 572	176 650	593 763	..	..	137 803	22 356	..	..
1960	1 036 270	207 897	678 822	..	..	129 706	19 845	..	..
1970 2)	1 153 878	260 562	722 001	6 800	19 100	126 394	19 021	..	..
1980 3)	1 278 102	302 818	711 226	36 200	65 900	140 725	21 233	..	..
1990	1 365 341	364 452	640 062	65 896	123 471	147 297	24 161	..	..
2000	1 401 963	436 019	514 868	102 581	160 132	159 432	28 931	..	..
2001	1 407 759	446 404	501 981	105 399	166 601	158 440	28 934	..	..
2002	1 411 947	454 977	492 524	107 443	170 368	157 143	29 093	207	192
2003	1 415 104	462 561	483 140	109 672	174 144	156 235	29 352	271	275
2004	1 420 781	471 962	475 705	111 294	177 095	154 851	29 192	325	357
2005	1 426 002	481 209	468 266	112 847	180 590	153 024	29 238	398	430
2006	1 431 376	488 880	461 569	114 671	184 732	151 475	29 101	455	493
2007	1 437 709	496 814	456 235	115 860	188 172	150 251	29 288	527	562
2008	1 444 386	504 728	452 180	115 966	191 177	149 631	29 460	579	665
2009	1 450 488	509 916	448 897	116 797	193 894	149 823	29 765	625	771
2010	1 455 073	513 889	446 433	117 254	195 967	149 651	30 278	706	895
%
1950	100,0	19,0	63,8	..	..	14,8	2,4	..	..
1960	100,0	20,1	65,5	..	..	12,5	1,9	..	..
1970 2)	100,0	22,6	62,6	0,6	1,7	11,0	1,6	..	..
1980 3)	100,0	23,7	55,6	2,8	5,2	11,0	1,7	..	..
1990	100,0	26,7	46,9	4,8	9,0	10,8	1,8	..	..
2000	100,0	31,1	36,7	7,3	11,4	11,4	2,1	..	..
2001	100,0	31,7	35,7	7,5	11,8	11,3	2,1	..	..
2002	100,0	32,2	34,9	7,6	12,1	11,1	2,1	0,0	0,0
2003	100,0	32,7	34,1	7,8	12,3	11,0	2,1	0,0	0,0
2004	100,0	33,2	33,5	7,8	12,5	10,9	2,1	0,0	0,0
2005	100,0	33,7	32,8	7,9	12,7	10,7	2,1	0,0	0,0
2006	100,0	34,2	32,2	8,0	12,9	10,6	2,0	0,0	0,0
2007	100,0	34,6	31,7	8,1	13,1	10,5	2,0	0,0	0,0
2008	100,0	34,9	31,3	8,0	13,2	10,4	2,0	0,0	0,0
2009	100,0	35,2	30,9	8,1	13,4	10,3	2,1	0,0	0,1
2010	100,0	35,3	30,7	8,1	13,5	10,3	2,1	0,0	0,1

1) Families of the type "registered couple with children" numbered 281.
2) The breakdown of the census by type of family has been revised on the basis of interview surveys. (Aromaa, Cantell & Jaakkola: Avoliitto (Consensual Union), Research Institute of Legal Policy 49, Helsinki 1981).
3) The breakdown of the census by type of family has been revised on the basis of the 1981 register-based material on families and cohabiting couples.

1.1 Commonest family type for young women with family is cohabiting couple without children

Women's family type varies by age. The most typical family type for young women aged under 28 with family is cohabiting couple without children. The commonest family type for 28-year-old women is already “married couple with children”. “Married couple without children” only becomes the most typical family type for women once they have turned 52. The families of the oldest women (at least 89 years of age) tend to include a child rather than a husband. Only nine per cent of women of this age still belong to the family population. In the light of family statistics, old age is rather different for men. For example, 46 per cent of the men aged 89 belong to families. Then the family is typically a married couple without children living with them.

Figure 1A. Families by type and age of wife/mother in 2010 (families with father and children by age of father)

Figure 1B. Families by type and age of wife/mother in 2010 (families with father and children by age of father), relative breakdown

1.2 Number of registered partnerships is still low

At the end of 2010, 706 male couples and 895 female couples lived in a registered partnership, which is a total of 205 couples more than in 2009. In most of the tables in this publication these families are included in married couples. In some of the tables on the whole country these families form a group of their own. For reasons of privacy protection, this information can be given by municipality only if the couples number at least five. Figure 2 shows the age distribution of registered male and female couples according to the younger partner. It shows that male couples are older than female couples. In the other figures registered couples are given among married couples. There are still so few of them that they would not be distinguishable as a separate group.

Figure 2. Registered partnerships by age of younger partner in 2010

1.3 Women aged under 40 without children are more often cohabiting than married

Cohabitation is the form of family life chosen by young couples without children. Up to the age of 40, women without children tend to prefer cohabitation to marriage. Where mothers are concerned, the only ones to favour cohabitation over marriage are in the small group of mothers aged under 25. The majority of mothers older than this living with their spouses are married. The older the woman, the more likely she is to be married to her spouse.

Married couples account for 66 per cent of all families and for 75 per cent of all married and cohabiting couples. Cohabiting couples make up 22 per cent of all families. Of the families consisting of spouses living together, 25 per cent are cohabiting couples.

In 82 per cent of all married couples both spouses are married for the first time. Thus the conventional form of family can still be considered to prevail in Finland. In 67 per cent of cohabiting couples neither spouse had been previously married. Hence, on the average, there are clearly more couples where one of the spouses has been married before among cohabiting couples than among married couples. In 84 per cent of the registered male couples neither partner has been married before, the figure for female couples is 75 per cent.

1.4 More cohabiting women than cohabiting men are widowed

In the past, a person's marital status revealed quite a lot about his or her family. Today, hardly any conclusions can be drawn from a person’s marital status. In the Nordic Countries, marital status is losing meaning as a demographic variable.

Seventy-four per cent of the women and 75 per cent of the men living with a cohabiting partner without children are unmarried. More cohabiting women than cohabiting men are widowed.

Slightly more of the men than of the women living with children and a cohabiting partner are unmarried. Correspondingly, slightly fewer of the men than of the women are divorced. The probable explanation to this is reconstituted families where a new partner has moved in to live with a divorced mother. More cohabiting mothers than cohabiting fathers are also widowed.

Table 3. Marital status of the man/woman/father/mother in a cohabiting partnership and in a one-parent family in 2010

Marital status	Type of family
	Cohabiting man no children	Cohabiting woman no children	Cohabiting man with children	Cohabiting woman with children	Father and children	Father and children aged under 18	Mother and children	Mother and children aged under 18
Unmarried	75,0	73,9	78,3	77,3	18,1	26,7	31,4	40,8
Married	0,8	0,7	0,4	0,5	13,0	14,6	9,8	12,0
Divorced	22,4	21,3	20,7	20,9	51,6	53,1	42,8	44,2
Widowed	1,8	4,2	0,6	1,3	17,4	5,7	16,0	3,0
Total	100,0	100,0	100,0	100,0	100,0	100,0	100,0	100,0
N	195 929	195 922	117 248	117 237	30 265	15 833	149 543	101 863

Mothers and fathers in one-parent families differ in their marital status. More than one-half of the fathers but clearly fewer of the mothers are divorced. Altogether, 31 per cent of the mothers but only 17 per cent of the fathers are unmarried. However, it should be noted here that no limit is set on the age of a child, i.e. we are not referring to single supporters. The child of a one-parent family can be of any age, meaning that families formed by old widowed mothers and their grown-up children, for example, are included.

Table 3 also contains columns for one-parent families, that is, fathers and mothers whose children are underage. Their marital status structure differs most clearly from the group of all one-parent families. They include fewer widowed persons and more persons representing other marital status groups. It is noteworthy that almost twice as many single fathers as single mothers are widowed, although fewer fathers than mothers become widowed. In divorces, children usually stay with their mother, but there is no choice in the case of death. Already as many as 41 per cent of single mothers are unmarried; some having been single parents from the outset but a larger number as the result of a divorce.

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 30.11.2011