The number of families with children under 18 who live at home has decreased by almost 75 000 during the last 13 years, from 426 100 1s t January 1989 to 350 800 1s t January 2002.
The number of married couples without children under 18 who live at home has increased by almost 23 000 since 1989. There were 482 200 married couples without children on January 1s t 2002 and the number increased slightly since last year.
There were 4 524 1000 persons in Norway on January 1s t 2002. 15 per cent were married without children, 43 per cent in married with children, eight per cent cohabitant couples with common children, and 34 per cent other type of family. The last group includes people who do not have a partner, cohabitant couples without children, mothers and fathers living only with their children and cohabitant couples with no-common children.
The number of cohabitant couples with common children has increased by almost 61 000 families in 13 years, from 35 200 in 1989 to 95 800 in 2002. Many of them live in Northern Norway and relatively few in the south west of the country.
Most married couples with children living at home have two children, followed by one child and finally three or more children. For cohabitant couples it is almost as usual to have one child as two children, but more seldom three children or more.
The reason why there are so few cohabitant couples with three and more children is that some of them get married after a while, and they change type of family. Another reason is that cohabitation is quite new, and we will have to wait and see if this would change the picture.
For more information, please contact: christina.lyle@ssb.no, tel. +47 62 88 52 20 and oppdragbefolkning@ssb.no, tel. +47 62 88 54 00.
Published 29 November 2002 © Statistics Norway