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Published: 28 May 2010

Number of families continues to grow

At the end of 2009, there were 1,450,000 families in Finland. The number had grown by 6,100 from the previous year-end. Altogether 76 per cent of the Finnish population, that is, 4,060,000 persons, belonged to a family. There were 1,026,000 persons living alone. Two-thirds of the families were families of married couples. Twenty-one per cent were families of cohabiting couples and 12 per cent were one-parent families. There were 1,396 families of registered same-sex couples.

Families by type 1950–2009

Families by type 1950–2009

Families with children (under the age of 18) numbered 584,000. Their number had fallen by 1,100 from the year before. A total of 40 per cent of the population belong to a family with children. At the turn of the year, the average number of children still living at home in a family with children was 1.83. The commonest family type, which 61 per cent of the families with children belong to, continues to be married couple with children. Eighteen per cent of families with children were families of cohabiting couples. About the same proportion of families with children were families of mother and children. The share of families with father and children continues to be very small. Under three per cent of all families with children consist of just father and children. In 229 families with children the parents are a registered same-sex couple.

At the end of 2009, 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 78,000 of such children. The number of reconstituted families had decreased by 90 from the previous year. Roughly one-half of the parents of reconstituted families were cohabiting and one-half were married.

Families by type in 1990–2009

Type of family      1990 1995 2000 2005 2007 2008 2009 Change    2008–2009
Families total 1 365 341 1 382 970 1 401 963 1 426 002 1 437 709 1 444 386 1 450 488 6 102
Married couple without children 364 452 395 953 436 019 481 209 496 814 504 728 509 916 5 188
Married couple with children 640 062 579 578 514 868 468 266 456 235 452 180 448 897 -3 283
Cohabiting couple no children 123 471 135 996 160 132 180 590 188 172 191 177 193 894 2 717
Cohabiting couple with children 65 896 85 309 102 581 112 847 115 860 115 966 116 797 831
Mother and children 147 297 159 063 159 432 153 024 150 251 149 631 149 823 192
Father and children 24 161 27 071 28 931 29 238 29 288 29 460 29 765 305
Registered male couple 1) . . . 398 527 579 625 46
Registered female couple 1) . . . 430 562 665 771 106
Family population 4 101 922 4 093 038 4 053 850 4 037 753 4 045 561 4 051 662 4 059 511 7 849
Population 31.12. 4 998 478 5 116 829 5 181 115 5 255 580 5 300 484 5 326 314 5 351 427 25 113
Proportion of family population 82.1 80.0 78.2 76.8 76.3 76.1 75.9 -0.2
Averige size of family 3.00 2.96 2.89 2.83 2.81 2.81 2.81 2.80
1) Families of the type “registered couple with children” numbered 240.

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 28.5.2010

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Families [e-publication].
ISSN=1798-3231. 2009. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 22.12.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/perh/2009/perh_2009_2010-05-28_tie_001_en.html