Number of families continued to decline

Corrected on 20 June 2019. The corrections are indicated in red.

According to Statistics Finland's data, there were 1,469,000 families in Finland at the end of 2018. In 2018, the number of families continued on the downward path that started last year and declined by 2,800 families. The contraction is almost at the same level as the annual growth in the number a couple of years ago.

Families by type in 1992–2018

1) Including registered partnerships from 2002 on and same-sex married couples from 2017 on.

In family statistics, families are formed based on the data of the Population Information System of persons living in the same dwelling. There are some limitations to forming a statistical family based on register data alone. One such limitation is that a family of a cohabiting couple is only formed for persons of opposite sexes. Another limitation is related to new family types, like ones where the couple does not live together but who otherwise live like a couple. The formation of statistical families is described in more detail in the quality description.

Number of childless couples grew

Sixty-four per cent of families were families of married couples. The number of families formed by opposite-sex married couples and children fell by 7,960 families from the previous year. The number of families formed by cohabiting couples and children, in turn, decreased by some 600 families. Same-sex cohabiting couples are not formed in family statistics, but only cohabiting couples of opposite sexes are taken into consideration here. By contrast, the number of families formed by childless cohabiting couples increased by 2,530 and that of opposite-sex married couples by 1,900 families. The number of one-parent families increased slightly, that of families formed by a mother and children by 428 and that of a father and children by 676.

The number of same-sex cohabiting couples increased by 321, while the number of registered couples decreased by 192. The development is a natural continuum of the amendment to the Marriage Act that entered into force at the beginning of March 2017, as a result of which part of registered partners have changed their partnership into marriage and new registered partners can no longer be formed. The number of families of registered couples was 1,282, or 192 lower than one year previously. There were 1,980 families of same-sex married couples (0.1%). Of them, 66 per cent were families of female couples. Twenty-three per cent of families were still families of cohabiting couples and 13 per cent one-parent families, which is the same as in the previous year. In 2018, there were 1,191,297 persons living alone, or 28,989 more than in 2017.

The average size of a family was 2.75. As late as in 1990, the average size of a family was three persons. Seventy-three per cent of the population, or 4,034,000 persons, belonged to a family, which is 21,503 fewer than in the year before. The share of persons who belong to a family has been falling steadily. As late as in 1990, their share of the population was still 82 per cent.

In all, 4,300 fewer families with children

The total number of families with children was 562,000. The number declined by 4,300 from the year before. The decrease is bigger than last year and clearly bigger than on average in a good decade, when the annual decrease has been around 2,000. A family with children has at least one child under the age of 18. The decrease in the number of families with children mainly indicates that the age groups of children coming of age is larger than the new age groups being born.

A total of 38 per cent of the population belonged to a family with children. The commonest family type of families with children is still a family formed of a married couple of opposite sexes, making up 58 per cent of families with children. One-fifth of families with children were families of cohabiting couples. There were almost equally many families of a mother and children, whose share was 19 per cent. The number of families with a father and children was still very low, three per cent. A same-sex married couple was a parent in 500 families with children and a registered couple in 285 families with children. Many factors have an effect on the number of families with children, such as the sizes of age groups being born and those turning 18, as well as international migration.

There was a total of 1,038,000 underage children in families with children, 4,300 down from the previous year. The average number of children was 1.85 in families with children. The figure has remained stable, although the number of children has declined. Of families with children, 43 per cent had one child, 39 per cent two children and 13 per cent three children. Five per cent of families with children had at least four children aged under 18. The shares have remained unchanged.

In family statistics, children are included in a family based on where they are registered. So, in case of divorce, the child is only included in the family of one parent even if the parents would in practice have joint custody. Children’s shared residence was studied in the ad hoc module of Statistic Finland's 2018 Labour Force Survey. Data on shared residence will be published on 17 June 2019.

Family statistics describe the size of families in Finland at a given moment and thus do not concern with the eventual number of children in families.

Number of reconstituted families decreasing, proportion unchanged

At the end of 2018, there were 50,700 reconstituted families. The number of reconstituted families went down by 598 from the previous year. The share of reconstituted families in families with underage children has remained at nine per cent since 2004. Roughly one-half of the parents of reconstituted families were cohabiting and one-half were married. Only families of opposite-sex couples are taken into account in reconstituted families.

On average, reconstituted families have two children or slightly more than families with children in general. Fifty-nine per cent of the children were brought into the family by their mother. The share has remained at the same level for a quarter century. A reconstituted family is a family with at least one child aged under 18 of only one of the parents.

Families by type in 1990–2018

Type of family	1990	1995	2000	2005	2010	2015	2016	2017	2018	Change 2017–2018
Families total	1 365 341	1 382 970	1 401 963	1 426 002	1 455 073	1 475 335	1 475 583	1 471 500	1 468 681	-2 819
Married oppsosite-sex couple without children	364 452	395 953	436 019	481 209	513 889	528 539	529 697	530 404	532 304	1 900
Married opposite-sex couple with children	640 062	579 578	514 868	468 266	446 433	424 185	418 032	412 102	404 142	-7 960
Married same-sex couple, men ¹⁾	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	524	675	151
Married same-sex couple, women ¹⁾	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	1 042	1 305	263
Cohabiting opposite-sex couple no children	123 471	135 996	160 132	180 590	195 967	215 620	218 439	217 644	220 179	2 535
Cohabiting opposite-sex couple with children	65 896	85 309	102 581	112 847	117 254	122 657	123 321	123 234	122 614	-620
Mother and children	147 297	159 063	159 432	153 024	149 651	150 274	151 459	152 460	152 888	428
Father and children	24 163	27 071	28 931	29 238	30 278	31 452	31 951	32 616	33 292	676
Registered male couple ¹⁾	..	..	..	398	706	1 023	1 052	640	586	-54
Registered female couple ¹⁾	..	..	..	430	895	1 585	1 632	834	696	-138
Family population	4 101 922	4 093 038	4 053 850	4 037 753	4 065 168	4 080 544	4 072 565	4 055 224	4 033 721	-21 503
Population 31.12.	4 998 478	5 116 829	5 181 115	5 255 580	5 375 276	5 487 308	5 503 297	5 513 130	5 517 919	4 789
Proportion of family population	82,1	80,0	78,2	76,8	75,6	74,4	74,0	73,6	73,1	-0,5
Average size of family	3,00	2,96	2,89	2,83	2,79	2,77	2,76	2,76	2,75	–0,01

1) Families of the type ” married same-sex couple with children” numbered 521 and registered couple with children” 301 in 2018.

Source: Families 2018, 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

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Tables

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Appendix tables

Appendix table 1. Families by type in 1950 - 2018 (22.5.2019)
Appendix table 2. Familiy population and average size of family in 1950 - 2018 (22.5.2019)
Appendix table 3. Families with underage children by type in 1950 - 2018 (22.5.2019)
Appendix table 4. Reconstituted families 1990 - 2018 (22.5.2019)

Figures

Quality descriptions

Quality description, families 2018 (22.5.2019)

Updated 22.5.2019

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Families [e-publication].
ISSN=1798-3231. 2018. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 18.4.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/perh/2018/perh_2018_2019-05-22_tie_001_en.html