Families with small children on the wane

The number of families with children aged under three decreased by 5,565 families in 2019 from the previous year, according to Statistics Finland.

Compared to 2010, the number of these families has fallen by 18 per cent. Of all family types, the number of families formed by a married couple and children aged under three decreased most, by as much as 26 per cent.

The decrease in the number of families with small children is in line with the decline in the birth rate.

There were 1,467,368 families in Finland at the end of 2019. The number of families continued to decrease in 2019 and declined by 1,313 families.

Examined by family type, 64 per cent of all families were families of married couples. The number of families formed by opposite-sex married couples and children decreased by 8,117 families from the previous year.

The number of families formed by cohabiting couples and children, in turn, decreased by 304 families from the previous year.

By contrast, the number of cohabiting families without children increased by 4,091. Same-sex cohabiting couples are not formed in family statistics, but only cohabiting couples of opposite sexes are taken into consideration here.

The number of opposite-sex married couples without children grew by 1,606 families.

Couples whose children have already moved away from home are also recorded as childless in the statistics, and not only those who are genuinely childless.

The number of one-parent families also grew by 593 families. Unlike in previous years, the number of families consisting of a mother and children no longer grew but diminished by 129 families. In contrast, the number of families consisting of a father and children grew by 722.