Mother’s Day | The typical Finnish mother is a nurse with two children

in Finland According to Statistics Finland, there are almost 1.6 million mothers, i.e. women who have biological or adopted children. 65 percent of women aged 15–88 have children.

The majority of Finnish mothers are mothers of two children. There are almost 683,000 of them, or 44 percent of all mothers. Every fourth mother has one child, every fifth has three children. Every tenth mother has at least four children.

In 2022, women in Finland gave birth to their first child in their early thirties. Statistics for 2023 have not yet been published. Women were most often 29–34 years old when they gave birth. A total of 187 children were born to women over 45 years old.

Deaths caused by pregnancy or childbirth are rare nowadays. In 2022, four women died in Finland from these related causes. In 1924, a hundred years ago, 3.4 per thousand of all women who gave birth died. During the years 1921–1925, 254 mothers died in childbirth.

A hundred years ago, more children were also born. In 1924, more than 78,000 children were born, while in 2022, just under 45,000 children were born.

Adoption 72 women became mothers for the first time in 2022. At that time, 96 children born abroad were adopted in Finland, of which 85 were under 18 years of age. 30 children were adopted from Thailand to Finland, 15 from India, 13 from South Africa and 12 from the Philippines.

There were 173 adoptions of children born in Finland, of which 78 were adoptions of minors.

in Finland the most common occupation of mothers in 2021 was nurse. The next most common occupational groups of mothers were salesperson, social worker and childcare worker in a kindergarten or other institutions.

The employment rate of mothers in families with children is slightly higher (81.4 percent) than that of childless women (78.9 percent). Having more than two children seems to significantly reduce mothers’ employment. While 83 percent of mothers with one and two children were employed, only 74 percent of mothers with three children were employed.

In 2002, 80,000 people received support for home care, and almost 92 percent of them were women. According to Kela’s family leave comparison, in a two-parent family it is usually profitable for both parents to use parental allowance days.

Nowadays, about half of the children are born in marriage, half out of wedlock. A hundred years ago, 91 percent of children were born in marriage and 9 percent out of wedlock.

Correction May 12, 2024 at 1:33 p.m.: In the story, it was first erroneously stated that a salesperson, a social worker, and a nanny in a kindergarten or other institutions were the next most common occupations for mothers after nurses. It was about professional groups, not professions.