Three in the boat, not counting the dog

On May 15, at the initiative of the United Nations, the International Day of Families is celebrated annually. The basic cell of society is the object of close attention of various international organizations and national statistical offices. The main trends – in the material “Kommersant”.

Marriages are down, divorces are on the rise

A common place for residents of most countries of the world has become an independent choice of a partner “for love”, organized marriages are becoming a thing of the past. At the same time, the total number of concluded unions has been decreasing in recent decades. The trend is more pronounced in developed countries, although it is not limited to them. In Russia and China, it manifested itself later – the peak values ​​in these countries occurred in the early 2010s.

The divorce rate, on the other hand, is on the rise. By data According to the United Nations, the global average of people aged 35-39 who are divorced or separated has doubled from 2% in the 1970s to 4% in the 2000s. At the same time, in developed countries in the 2000s, 11% of women and 9% of men were divorced, and in developing countries – only 2%. On the other hand, remarriage has become more common in developed countries, and men do it more often than women.

People started getting married later

The difference is especially noticeable in developed countries. For example, in Sweden and Spain in 2020, the average age of first marriage for men exceeded 37 years, for women it approached 35 (the highest rates among OECD countries). For comparison, in Russia, the average age at first marriage over the past ten years (from 2012 to 2022) increased from 21.9 to 23.2 years for women, from 24.2 to 25.4 for men.

The statistics are spoiled by some countries in South Asia (Bangladesh) and Sub-Saharan Africa (Niger), where child marriage is still common. However, they are rather an exception in the global trend.

Illegitimate children and single parents are the new normal

Relationships become more diverse. Along with official marriage unions, various forms of cohabitation (the so-called civil marriages) are becoming more widespread. In some cases, they precede the formalization of relations, in others they are its independent alternative. Particularly in OECD countries, data as of 2011, 60% of adults lived with a partner, of which 10% simply cohabited. Among young people (20–34 years old), the ratio was 40% and 17%, respectively.

Due to later marriages, an increase in divorce rates, and the spread of unmarried cohabitation, an increasing number of children are being born out of wedlock. The trend can be seen in almost all OECD countries, where the share of extramarital births has increased from less than 10% in the 1970s to 40% by 2020. Among the few exceptions is Japan, where this proportion remains consistently low.

The number of single parents also growing. In the vast majority of cases (over 80% globally), children live with their mothers, not their fathers. Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as Sub-Saharan Africa, are the regions where households with single mothers are most common (9.5% and 8.8% of all households, respectively). In Europe and North America, the share of such households is only slightly higher than the global level (6.9%).

The number of family members living together is declining

The rise in the number of one-person households is forcing experts speak about the epidemic of loneliness. They are especially common in high-income countries in Europe and North America. For example, in Sweden, Denmark and Lithuania, the share of such households exceeds 50%. The number of childless couples is also on the rise. Together, these categories account for a quarter of all households in the world.

However, the most common type of family is still a couple with children (of any age). These families now account for four out of ten of all households. In second place are extended households, in which, along with parents and children, other relatives (grandparents, uncles, aunts, etc.) live. Such families predominate in developing countries. In Russia, by data UN, most often 2-3 people live under one roof.

Our little brothers

In addition to people, pets are full members of many families. Global study, conducted by GFK in 2016, showed that more than half of the population of the countries surveyed have pets. The first place in popularity is occupied by dogs (33%), the second – by cats (23%). Russia is one of the exception countries in which there are more cat owners. This is confirmed and data Mars Petcare. Their survey showed that 59% of Russian households have pets. The number of cats in 2020 reached 40.8 million, dogs – 22.6 million.