A family is formed by people living together in a married or cohabiting union and their children, by a mother or a father with their children, and by married and cohabiting partners without children. A family can at most consist of two successive generations. Thus a father, a mother and their children constitute a family. If e.g. a grandmother is living together with the family, she does not belong to the family according to the concept of demography (see household, household-dwelling unit).
The above-described family formed by parents and children is called a nuclear family.
In many cultures the family is conceived as a much larger unit than the conventional nuclear family. The family may include several wives or it is understood as a broad family composed of relatives.
A family with children refers to a family with at least one child under the age of 18 living at home.
| 5.1 | 5.2 | 5.3 | 5.4 | 5.5 | 5.6 | 5.7 | 5.8 | 5.9 | 5.10 |
| 5.11 |
Statistics Finland
 Telephone +358 9 17 341
Contact information
Copyrights and Terms of Use
Feedback |