Households

22. Dec 2021
1 in 4 households composed of one person

Close to 6,500 households in the Faroe Islands (36%) consist of at least one child. 630 households, or 3.5%, include one adult with one or more children.

Almost 28,800 people, or 56% of the population, live in households consisting of one or more children.

1,680 people, or 3% of the population, live in one-adult households consisting of one or more children.  

14,700 people, or 29% of the population, live in two-adult households that include children. 12,400 people, or 24% of the population, live in households consisting of three or more adults with children.

Young adults aged 18 or over are regarded as adults, many of whom live in the same household as their parents. For instance, households consisting of at least three adults with children might include two parents, children aged under 18, as well as children aged 18 or over, with the latter regarded as adults.

Specifications of the terms households and population can be found at the bottom of this article. This survey is from year 2019.

64% of households without children - households including children make out 56% of the population

The graph above shows a significant difference in the figures for households compared to individuals and household types. Approximately 64% of households include no children. In contrast, 56% of the population live in households that include children.

The graphs below compare the years 2009 and 2019. A break-down of age-sex composition and household types in 2019 follows.

Age distribution among people living alone

In most of our neighbouring countries, one-person households have a particular interest due to the growing number of people living alone. However, our data shows a departing trend as the number of young adults (aged 18-24) living alone saw a decline. It should be noted that the same age group has also decreased somewhat in size.

All of the other groups have seen an increase, which corresponds to the population growth. In terms of people who live alone, the group that has seen the largest growth are persons aged 67 years and over.

Three times more single men than women

In terms of percentage distribution by sex, there is a stark contrast between specific age groups for individuals living alone, with the very few young single adults being the exception. In the age group 25-54, men living alone (1,051) overwhelmingly outnumber women (358). However, in the age group 67 and over, the trend is reversed, with 757 men compared to 1,199 women.

In summary, young and middle-aged men make out a large majority of individuals living alone. In term of older citizens, women are the majority.      

One adult with children

In comparing the total number of one-adult households with children in the years 2009 and 2019, the graph below shows no considerable changes other than the population trend.

On the other hand, there are stark differences in the percentage distribution by sex. For obvious reasons, the numbers of individuals aged under 18 are roughly equal between both sexes as they are regarded as children. In the age group 18-24, there are very few lone-parent households with children. In all of the lone-parent households with children, however, the parent is a woman. Similarly, in the age group 25-54 the percentage distribution by sex is 90% women and 10% men.   

Two or more adults with children

One-third of all households is composed of two or more adults with children, accounting for just over half the population (53%). Roughly speaking, all two-adult households with children are represented in the age groups 25-54 (largely parents) and individuals aged under 18 (their children). In this household type, no more than approximately 250 people are from the age group 18-24 and 55 and over.

In terms of households with three or more adults with children, the number of households is significantly lower compared to two-adult households with children. The age distribution for the latter household type also differs significantly. In households with three-or-more adults with children, adults outnumber children significantly. In comparison, the number of people in the age group 18-24 is notably higher (2000). The reason for this discrepancy could be that a fraction of these adults are in fact children over the age of 18, and therefore they are not registered as children.

Two or more adults without children

The number of households composed of two or more adults without children is relatively high, accounting for 39% of all households, and 33% of the total population.

The graph below shows the age distribution for two-adult households without children (left) in contrast to three or more adult households without children (right). The graph on the right also shows a notable contrast in the distribution by sex.

For two-adult households, the number of household members increases gradually from the youngest age group to the oldest.

In contrast, this trend is reversed for three-or-more-adults households, both in terms of age distribution and distribution by sex. The age group 18-24 is significantly bigger, while the age group 25-54 is the biggest by a margin. The older age groups saw a gradual decline. Notably, in terms of the distribution by sex in the age group 25-54, men (just over 2,200) significantly outnumber women (just over 1,300). A large portion of this age group are likely to be young adults aged over 18 that live with their parents, thus regarded as adults. As the graph below shows, these young people are mostly men.

Average number of persons per household

The average number of persons per household is obtained by comparing the number of households in each household type with the number of persons in each household type.

The graph below shows some more obvious figures, for example that 'one-adult households with one child' consist of two individuals, and 'one-adult households without children' consist of one person. More notable is that the 'one-adult with children' group averages 2.7 individuals, meaning that there are 1.7 children for each single person.

The group 'two-adult household with children' averages 4.2 individuals, or upwards of two children in each household. The group 'three or more adults without children' averages 3.4 individuals. On average, the group 'three or more adults with children' accounts for 5.3 individuals, which is the highest score. It is also notable that one-in-four individuals in the Faroe Islands live in this household type.