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Published: 24 November 2017

Number of children with foreign background has doubled in ten years

According to Statistics Finland's data, 81,000 or 7.5 per cent of all underage children were of foreign background at the end of 2016. From 2015, the number of underage children with foreign background has grown by nearly seven thousand. In ten years, the number of children with foreign background has doubled.

Underage children with foreign background by origin

Until 2003, there were more children with foreign background in the first generation than in the second generation, but in the following year there were slightly more children with foreign background in the second generation, 51 per cent. At the end of 2016, the share of children with foreign background in the second generation among all children with foreign background was 60 per cent. The relative share has remained unchanged since 2009, which means that the number of children with foreign background in the first generation in the population increased in relative terms at the same rate as the number of children with foreign background in the second generation.

Forty-four per cent of underage children with foreign background were under school age. Although the number of under school-age children with foreign background has grown from 21,000 to 36,000, the share has remained almost unchanged since 2011. In 2016, nearly four out of five under school-age children with foreign background were persons with foreign background in the second generation. The share has remained unchanged since 1999.

Underage children with foreign background are divided very unevenly by region. Fifty-seven per cent of all underage children with foreign background were living in Uusimaa at the end of 2016. The corresponding relative shares of other regions varied from half a per cent to nine per cent.

The shares of underage children with foreign background in the first and second generation vary by region. In 2016, the share of underage children with foreign background in the second generation was biggest in Varsinais-Suomi, where the share was 66 per cent of all children with foreign background. Correspondingly, the share of underage children with foreign background in the second generation was lowest in Kainuu, which means that Kainuu, 40 per cent, has, in relative terms, the most children with foreign background in the first generation, 60 per cent of all underage children with foreign background.

Source: Population and Justice Statistics, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Marjut Pietiläinen 029 551 2798, Timo Nikander 029 551 3250, Joonas Toivola 029 551 3355, info@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

Publication in pdf-format (814.1 kB)

Reviews

• 1. Married couple without children is the commonest family type (24.11.2017)
• 2. Three per cent of families have one Finnish-speaking and one Swedish-speaking parent (24.11.2017)
• 3. Families with children constitute 39 per cent of the population (24.11.2017)
• 4. Generality of family types varies by region (24.11.2017)
• 5. Sixty-four per cent of children live in families of married couples (24.11.2017)
• 6. Share of young people with the status of a child diminished slightly (24.11.2017)
• 7. Living alone is more typical for women (24.11.2017)

Tables

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Appendix tables

• Appendix table 1. Family population and average size of family in 1950 - 2016 (24.11.2017)
• Appendix table 2. Swedish-speaking families by type and number of children of spouses/parents December 31, 2016 (24.11.2017)
• Appendix table 3. Married couples by order of marriage of man and woman on December 31, 2016 (24.11.2017)
• Appendix table 4. Families by language of spouses/parents on December 31, 2016 (24.11.2017)
• Appendix table 5. Families with underage children by language of parents on December 31, 2016 (24.11.2017)
• Appendix table 6. Families by citizenship of spouses/parents on December 31, 2016 (24.11.2017)
• Appendix table 7. Families with underage children by citizenship of parents on December 31, 2016 (24.11.2017)
• Appendix table 8. Families by country of birth of spouses/parents on December 31, 2016 (24.11.2017)
• Appendix table 9. Families with underage children by country of birth of parents on December 31, 2016 (24.11.2017)
• Appendix table 10. Families by type of family and number of children aged 17 or under living at home on December 31, 2016 (24.11.2017)
• Appendix table 11. Families with underage children by number of children aged 17 or under and family type on December 31, 2016 (24.11.2017)
• Appendix table 12. Reconstituted families by family composition and number of children on December 31, 2016 (24.11.2017)
• Appendix table 13. Families by age group of children and type of family on December 31, 2016 (24.11.2017)
• Appendix table 14. Children aged 0 - 24 by type of family, adopted children in families by age on December 31, 2016 (24.11.2017)
• Appendix table 15. Children by age and number of children in the family living at home aged 17 or under on December 31, 2016 (24.11.2017)
• Appendix table 16. Men with a family by age and type of family on December 31, 2016 (24.11.2017)
• Appendix table 17. Women with a family by age and type of family on December 31, 2016 (24.11.2017)

Quality descriptions

• Quality description, families 2016 (24.11.2017)

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Updated 24.11.2017