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5. Majority of children live in families with two parents

Families with children can also be examined by taking the child as the statistical unit instead of the family. Then the results are slightly different. For example, 62 per cent of the families with underage children are those of married couples, but 66 per cent of all children live in families of married couples. This is because there are more children in these families, on the average, than there are in families of cohabiting couples and one-parent families. When the children of cohabiting couples and registered couples are included, 83 per cent of underage children live in families with two parents. The proportion has fallen by seven percentage points from 1985.

Table 8. Children aged 0 to 17 by type of family in 1985–2009

Year	Total	Married couple	Registered partnership	Cohabiting couple	Mother	Father
1985	1 136 027	959 580	..	61 386	102 413	12 648
1990	1 135 686	916 855	..	91 164	113 184	14 483
1995	1 150 562	858 255	..	125 222	148 706	18 379
2000	1 116 687	777 447	..	156 411	162 544	20 285
2005	1 084 865	727 638	131	172 898	162 875	21 323
2006	1 080 728	721 911	183	175 516	161 834	21 284
2007	1 076 522	716 804	216	176 801	161 184	21 517
2008	1 071 800	713 202	277	175 986	160 730	21 605
2009	1 068 554	708 684	331	175 951	161 755	21 833
Per cent
1985	100,0	84,5	..	5,4	9,0	1,1
1990	100,0	80,7	..	7,9	10,0	1,3
1995	100,0	74,6	..	10,9	12,9	1,6
2000	100,0	69,6	..	14,0	14,6	1,8
2005	100,0	67,1	0,0	15,9	15,0	2,0
2006	100,0	66,8	0,0	16,2	15,0	2,0
2007	100,0	66,6	0,0	16,4	15,0	2,0
2008	100,0	66,5	0,0	16,4	15,0	2,0
2009	100,0	66,3	0,0	16,5	15,1	2,0

Of all babies aged under one, 92 per cent live with both parents and eight per cent with the mother only (Figure 9). The proportion of children living with their father or mother rises with age. As many as 20 per cent of children aged 17 live with their mother only and four per cent with their father only.

Figure 9. Children by type of family and age in 2009, relative breakdown

5.1 One-third of children have at least two siblings at home

Although 44 per cent of families with children had only one child at the end of 2009, only 24 per cent of the children of families had no siblings. The status of an only child is temporary for many of these children, as some of them will have a sibling later on. Some of these children may also have an older sibling who has already turned 18 or moved away from home.

At the end of 2009, altogether 42 per cent of all children lived with one sibling and as many as 34 per cent of all children had at least two siblings living at home. In 1985, only 27 per cent of all children had at least two siblings at home.

Table 9. Children by number of underage children in the family in 1985–2009

Year	Total	Number of underage children in families
		1	2	3	4-
1985	1 136 027	306 784	518 206	221 211	89 826
1990	1 135 751	286 529	500 680	243 504	105 038
1995	1 150 562	284 915	484 092	257 283	124 272
2000	1 116 687	268 369	461 516	255 075	131 727
2005	1 084 865	255 549	451 758	245 325	132 233
2006	1 080 728	254 705	451 428	242 382	132 213
2007	1 076 522	254 832	450 088	238 782	132 820
2008	1 071 800	253 841	449 016	235 650	133 293
2009	1 068 554	254 457	447 554	232 584	133 959
Per cent
1985	100,0	27,0	45,6	19,5	7,9
1990	100,0	25,2	44,1	21,4	9,2
1995	100,0	24,8	42,1	22,4	10,8
2000	100,0	24,0	41,3	22,8	11,8
2005	100,0	23,6	41,6	22,6	12,2
2006	100,0	23,6	41,8	22,4	12,2
2007	100,0	23,7	41,8	22,2	12,3
2008	100,0	23,7	41,9	22,0	12,4
2009	100,0	23,8	41,9	21,8	12,5

The cross-sectional nature of family statistics is clearly illustrated in Figure 10, which shows children of families by age and by the number of children in the family. Here all children living at home and aged under 18 are taken into account when determining the status of an only child. Of the 0-year-olds, 42 per cent are without siblings, i.e. they are first-borns in their families. The proportion of children without siblings in the age group is the lowest, or 13 per cent, among children aged six to nine.

A second child has apparently born into a family at the latest by the time the first-born is roughly seven years of age. On the other hand, the older sibling has only on rare occasions reached the age of 18. Since it can be assumed that some of the 7-year-old children will still have a sibling and some of them already have one who has left home, it can be concluded that some ten per cent of children will remain permanently without siblings. The same results are attained if the number of children is calculated with a table containing all Finnish women according to the number of children born to them.

Figure 10 indicates that a child’s family is at its largest when he/she is aged eight to nine. In all, 44 per cent of children of this age live in families with at least three underage children.

Figure 10. Children by age and number of children aged under 18 in the family in 2009

5.2 One child in ten live in reconstituted families

In all, 110,700 children (10% of all children) aged under 18 are raised in reconstituted families. Of them, 33,000 are common children of both spouses, that is, the child has been born to a family that previously had only the mother’s and/or the father’s children.

Altogether 43 per cent of reconstituted families have had common children born to the family as well. There are 78,000 actual children of reconstituted families (7% of all children), that is, children who have obtained a new social parent. Of these children, 67,200 were brought into the family by their mother and 10,500 by their father.

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 30.11.2010