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7. Prevalence of living alone or as a twosome is growing

At the end of 2010, Finland had 2,537,200 household-dwelling units. A household-dwelling unit is formed by all persons living permanently at the same address. Those permanently resident in institutions do not form household-dwelling units and are not included in the household population. This applies also to persons whose dwellings do not meet the definition of a dwelling (see Concepts).

The number of household dwelling-units grew by 19,800 from the previous year. The number went up by 1,700 more than in the year before. As before, the number of household-dwelling units of one or two persons increased whereas that of household-dwelling units of three persons decreased slightly. The number of household-dwelling units of at least seven persons grew by a couple of hundred. The numbers of other household-dwelling units fell.

The commonest household-dwelling unit today consists of one person. In the 1975 population census two-person household-dwelling units were still the most numerous. By the next population census in 1980, one-person household-dwelling units had already become the most numerous. One-person household-dwelling units make up 41 per cent and two-person household-dwelling units almost one-third of all household-dwelling units. Household-dwelling units larger than this make up the remaining 26 per cent.

Table 11. Household-dwelling units by the number of persons living in them in 1960–2010

Year	Household- dwelling units total	Household-dwelling unit by number of persons							Persons in household- dwelling units	Average size of household- dwelling units
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7+
1960	1 204 385	188 995	245 921	229 824	211 473	141 526	84 147	102 499	4 396 398	3,34
1970	1 420 723	288 970	323 640	284 336	252 696	140 089	69 293	61 699	4 540 945	2,99
1980	1 781 771	482 476	457 667	345 769	313 626	118 678	40 681	22 874	4 708 299	2,64
1985	1 887 710	532 094	514 825	347 127	324 365	117 290	33 895	18 114	4 839 696	2,56
1990	2 036 732	646 229	597 928	332 295	300 429	112 714	30 596	16 541	4 927 430	2,42
1995	2 180 934	766 636	652 608	323 921	278 102	110 370	31 616	17 681	5 040 600	2,31
2000	2 295 386	856 746	722 437	312 646	254 707	103 339	29 328	16 183	5 081 354	2,21
2005	2 429 500	964 739	789 950	297 276	240 517	96 607	26 202	14 209	5 153 727	2,12
2006	2 453 826	983 626	801 068	294 518	239 413	95 056	25 882	14 263	5 172 922	2,11
2007	2 476 505	999 812	811 596	292 140	239 151	93 746	25 639	14 421	5 195 414	2,10
2008	2 499 332	1 014 974	822 639	290 820	238 628	92 316	25 408	14 547	5 219 284	2,09
2009	2 517 393	1 025 658	830 843	291 056	238 529	91 368	25 327	14 612	5 242 156	2,08
2010	2 537 197	1 040 378	837 234	290 767	238 135	90 845	25 025	14 813	5 246 580	2,07
Per cent
1960	100,0	15,7	20,4	19,1	17,6	11,8	7,0	8,5	-	-
1970	100,0	20,3	22,8	20,0	17,8	9,9	4,9	4,3	-	-
1980	100,0	27,1	25,7	19,4	17,6	6,7	2,3	1,3	-	-
1985	100,0	28,2	27,3	18,4	17,2	6,2	1,8	1,0	-	-
1990	100,0	31,7	29,4	16,3	14,8	5,5	1,5	0,8	-	-
1995	100,0	35,2	29,9	14,9	12,8	5,1	1,4	0,8	-	-
2000	100,0	37,3	31,5	13,6	11,1	4,5	1,3	0,7	-	-
2005	100,0	39,7	32,5	12,2	9,9	4,0	1,1	0,6	-	-
2006	100,0	40,1	32,7	12,0	9,8	3,9	1,1	0,6	-	-
2007	100,0	40,4	32,8	11,8	9,7	3,8	1,0	0,6	-	-
2008	100,0	40,6	32,9	11,6	9,5	3,7	1,0	0,6	-	-
2009	100,0	40,7	33,0	11,6	9,5	3,6	1,0	0,6	-	-
2010	100,0	41,0	33,0	11,5	9,4	3,6	1,0	0,6	-	-

Figure 12. Household-dwelling units by size in 1990–2010

Figure 13. Household-dwelling unit population by size in 1990–2010

Household-dwelling units can also be studied from the population perspective in order to ascertain how many people in Finland live in each household-dwelling unit size class. The proportion of those living alone of the total population has gradually grown from 13 per cent two decades ago to today's one-fifth. The majority (32%) of the population live in two-person household-dwelling units. At least one-half of the population aged 55 to 79 live in two-person household-dwelling units, in other words the children have already flown the nest and both spouses are still alive.

All in all, women live alone more often than men do. In percentages, one-quarter of the women and 22 per cent of the men aged over 15 live alone. The gendered proportional distribution of living alone is somewhat different when examined against age. Changes are the most drastic in the life cycle of women, who live alone when young and most probably again when old. The proportion of women living alone is the lowest when they are about 40 years old; this is when 11 per cent of women in this age group live alone. Like young women, young men live alone. However, the number of men living alone does not fall with age to a level as low as that of women living alone. Twenty-three per cent of 33-year-old men live alone and the proportion remains almost unchanged right up to the age of 75. The number of men living alone is partly explained by divorces. In a divorce, the children usually stay with the mother and the father lives alone, at least temporarily. One-third of the men aged at least 80 live alone.

When comparing living alone today with the situation in 1990 we find that living alone has increased strongly expressly in the youngest age groups of women and men as well as among both old men and old women. In terms of numbers, 64-year-old women are the largest age group of those living alone.

Figure 14. Men and women living alone as a proportion of age group in 1990 and 2010

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