Home > Statistics > Families > 2018 > annual review > 1. Altogether 73 per cent of the Finnish population belongs to a family

1. Altogether 73 per cent of the Finnish population belongs to a family

Families are classified according to whether the spouses are married, cohabiting or in a registered partnership and whether they have children. In addition to this, there are one-parent families as a separate category. In this classification, no limit is set as to the age of a child. Families with underage children, defined as families having at least one child under the age of 18 living at home, are discussed in Section 3. In the following examination, one-parent families are not only single-supporter families, as a person having the status of a child living with his/her mother or father may be of any age.

At the end of 2018, there were 1,468,681 families in Finland. The number is 2,819 lower than in the previous year.

Altogether 73 per cent of the Finnish population belongs to a family. The proportion has decreased by 0.5 percentage points from the previous year. The rate of its decrease has remained at this level since the beginning of the 1990s. The proportion of the family population was at its highest in the 1960s and 1970s, when 87 per cent of the population belonged to a family. The number of persons belonging to a family fell by 21,503 during 2018. The country's total population increased by 4,789 persons. At the end of 2018, the average size of a family was 2.8 persons.

Table 1. Family population and average size of family in 1950 to 2018

Year	Families total	Family population	Popu- lation	Proportion of family population, %	Average size of family
1950	930 572	3 457 474	4 029 803	85,8	3,7
1960	1 036 270	3 855 037	4 446 222	86,7	3,7
1970	1 153 878	3 986 005	4 598 336	86,7	3,5
1980	1 278 102	4 023 091	4 787 778	84,0	3,1
1990	1 365 341	4 101 922	4 998 478	82,1	3,0
2000	1 401 963	4 053 850	5 181 115	78,2	2,9
2010	1 455 073	4 065 168	5 375 276	75,6	2,8
2012	1 465 733	4 075 094	5 426 674	75,1	2,8
2013	1 471 085	4 081 903	5 451 270	74,9	2,8
2014	1 473 666	4 084 001	5 471 753	74,6	2,8
2015	1 475 335	4 084 544	5 487 308	74,4	2,8
2016	1 475 583	4 072 565	5 503 297	74,0	2,8
2017	1 471 500	4 055 224	5 513 130	73,6	2,8
2018	1 468 681	4 033 721	5 517 919	73,1	2,8

The commonest family type in Finland is still a married couple without children, making up 36 per cent of all families in 2018. As recently as in 2004, the most common family type in Finland was a married couple with children of some age living at home. Twenty-eight per cent of all families were families of a married couple with children in 2018. The number of such families has been on the decline for a long time, whereas the number of married couples without children has been rising.

The number of married couples without children grew from the year before but the number of families with a cohabiting couple and children decreased. However, the relative share of families of cohabiting couples in all families was at the same level as in the previous year, 23 per cent. However, cohabiting couples without children still make up only 15 per cent of all families. Today, eight per cent of all families are cohabiting couples with children.

"Mother and children" families represent ten per cent of all families. “Father and children” families are still rare; they number only two in one hundred. Their relative proportion has not changed much over the past few years.

At the beginning of March 2017, an amendment to the Marriage Act entered into force, as a result of which part of registered partners have changed their partnership into marriage and new registered partners can no longer be formed. During 2018, a total of 250 persons converted their registered partnership into a marriage, which was clearly less than in 2017 when the new act entered into force, as then a total of 2,460 persons converted their registered partnership into a marriage. At the end of 2018, there were 586 male couples and 696 female couples in a registered partnership, which in total is 192 fewer than at the end of 2017 but 1,402 couples fewer than in 2016. The number of married male couples was 675 and that of married female couples was 1,305. Thus, there were 1,980 (0,1%) families of same-sex married couples. Of them, 66 per cent were families of female couples. There were 521 families of same-sex married couples with children.

Table 2. Families by type in 1950 to 2018

Year	Total	Married couple without children 1)	Married couple with children 2)	Co-habiting couple with children	Co-habiting couple without children	Mother and children	Father and children	Regis- tered male couple 3)	Regis- tered female couple 3)
1950	930 572	176 650	593 763	..	..	137 803	22 356	..	..
1960	1 036 270	207 897	678 822	..	..	129 706	19 845	..	..
1970 4)	1 153 878	260 562	722 001	6 800	19 100	126 394	19 021	..	..
1980 5)	1 278 102	302 818	711 226	36 200	65 900	140 725	21 233	..	..
1990	1 365 341	364 452	640 062	65 896	123 471	147 297	24 161	..	..
2000	1 401 963	436 019	514 868	102 581	160 132	159 432	28 931	..	..
2010	1 455 073	513 889	446 433	117 254	195 967	149 651	30 278	706	895
2011	1 460 570	518 550	442 257	118 054	200 171	149 196	30 534	773	1 035
2012	1 465 733	523 221	439 194	118 136	203 334	149 143	30 714	829	1 162
2013	1 471 085	525 933	434 571	120 040	208 264	149 110	30 955	905	1 307
2014	1 473 666	527 238	429 811	121 499	211 673	149 668	31 342	991	1 444
2015	1 475 335	528 539	424 185	121 657	215 620	150 274	31 452	1 023	1 585
2016	1 475 583	529 697	418 032	123 321	218 439	151 459	31 951	1 052	1 632
2017	1 471 500	531 575	412 497	123 234	217 644	152 460	32 616	640	834
2018	1 468 681	533 763	404 663	122 614	220 179	152 888	33 292	586	696
%
1950	100,0	19,0	63,8	..	..	14,8	2,4	..	..
1960	100,0	20,1	65,5	..	..	12,5	1,9	..	..
1970 4)	100,0	22,6	62,6	0,6	1,7	11,0	1,6	..	..
1980 5)	100,0	23,7	55,6	2,8	5,2	11,0	1,7	..	..
1990	100,0	26,7	46,9	4,8	9,0	10,8	1,8	..	..
2000	100,0	31,1	36,7	7,3	11,4	11,4	2,1	..	..
2010	100,0	35,3	30,7	8,1	13,5	10,3	2,1	0,0	0,1
2011	100,0	35,5	30,3	8,1	13,7	10,2	2,1	0,1	0,1
2012	100,0	35,7	30,0	8,1	13,9	10,2	2,1	0,1	0,1
2013	100,0	35,8	29,5	8,2	14,2	10,1	2,1	0,1	0,1
2014	100,0	35,8	29,2	8,2	14,4	10,2	2,1	0,1	0,1
2015	100,0	35,8	28,8	8,3	14,6	10,2	2,1	0,1	0,1
2016	100,0	35,9	28,3	8,4	14,8	10,3	2,2	0,1	0,1
2017	100,0	36,0	28,0	8,4	14,8	10,4	2,2	0,0	0,1
2018	100,0	36,3	27,6	8,3	15,0	10,4	2,3	0,0	0,0

1) Of families of the type “married couple without children”, 665 were families of male couples and 794 families of female couples in 2018.
2) Families of the type “same-sex married couple with children” numbered 621 in 2018.
3) Families of the type "registered couple with children" numbered 301 in 2018.
4) The breakdown of the census by type of family has been revised on the basis of interview surveys. (Aromaa, Cantell & Jaakkola: Avoliitto (Consensual Union), Research Institute of Legal Policy 49, Helsinki 1981).
5) The breakdown of the census by type of family has been revised on the basis of the 1981 register-based material on families and cohabiting couples.

1.1 The commonest family type for women aged 30 is married couple with children

Women's family types differ at different life stages. The most typical family type for women aged under 30 with family is "cohabiting couple without children". Already for women aged 30, the commonest family type is “married couple with children”. This is natural, as nowadays women give birth to their first child at the average age of 29.4 and contract their first marriage at the average age of 31.7. “Married couple without children” becomes the most typical family type for women only once they have turned 53. The families of the oldest women (at least 90 years of age) tend to include a child rather than a husband. However, only slightly over one-tenth (11%) of women of this age belong to the family population. In the light of family statistics, old age is different for men than for women. Forty per cent of the men aged at least 90 belong to families. Then the family is typically a married couple without any children living with them.

Figure 1. Families by type and age of wife/mother in 2018 (families with father and children by age of father)

Figure 2. Families by type and age of wife/mother in 2018 (families with father and children by age of father), relative breakdown

Source: Population and Justice Statistics, Statistics Finland

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

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Updated 31.01.2020