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Published: 9 November 2012

Children have an average of 2.9 grandparents

At the end of 2011, the 1.1 million children in Finland had an average of 2.9 grandparents in the population. In 2005, children had 2.8 grandparents, on average. The number of grandparents is growing as life expectancy is lengthening. Through their reconstituted families children may also have acquired new grandparents, who are, however, excluded from the statistics, as are grandparents living abroad. At the end of 2011, the number of grandparents of children aged under 18 was 468,000 and that of grandmothers 597,000. The number is slightly lower than the total number of children.

Children by age and number of grandparents in the population of Finland in 2011, %

Children by age and number of grandparents in the population of Finland in 2011, %

Thirty-nine per cent of underage children have all four grandparents. Twenty-nine per cent of children have three grandparents and 19 per cent two. Eight per cent of children have only one grandparent.

Six per cent of children had no grandparent in the population of Finland. It should be noted that here included are only the grandparents in the population of Finland, which means that any grandparents living in other countries are excluded from this review. As around ten per cent of children have at least one parent who was born elsewhere than in Finland, grandparents may be assumed to be alive abroad.

During the review period, 58 per cent of children aged under one had all four grandparents in the population, while this is so for only 17 per cent of those aged 17. Correspondingly, four per cent of babies and 11 per cent of 17-year-olds had no grandparent in the population.


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 9.11.2012

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Families [e-publication].
ISSN=1798-3231. Annual Review 2011. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 28.3.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/perh/2011/02/perh_2011_02_2012-11-09_tie_001_en.html