The Death of Marriage?
Finland's marriage rate has halved since 1990, but divorces are also down - what's really happening to relationships?
Avioliiton kuolema? Suomen parisuhteiden vallankumous
The Paradox
Marriages dropped from 24,997 (1990) to 20,434 (2023), but divorces also fell from 13,127 to 11,432
Fewer people are getting married, but those who do are staying together longer. Or are they just cohabiting instead?
💬 User Prompt
🔧 MCP Tool Calls
// Step 1: Search for marriage/divorce statistics
search_statistics({ query: "avioliitot avioerot" })
// Step 2: Get table metadata
get_table_metadata({ tableId: "statfin_synt_pxt_12dx.px" })
// Step 3: Query marriages and divorces
query_table({
tableId: "statfin_synt_pxt_12dx.px",
selections: [
{ variable: "Tiedot", filter: "item",
values: ["vm3221", "vm3223"] }, // Marriages and Divorces
{ variable: "Vuosi", filter: "item",
values: ["1990", "1995", "2000", "2005", "2010", "2015", "2020", "2023"] }
]
})📊 Marriages vs Divorces Over Time
💔 Divorce-to-Marriage Ratio
📋 Marriage and Divorce Statistics
| Year | Marriages | Divorces | Ratio | Population (M) | Marriage Rate* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 24,997 | 13,127 | 52% | 4.99 | 5.0 |
| 1995 | 23,737 | 14,025 | 59% | 5.11 | 4.6 |
| 2000 | 26,150 | 14,311 | 55% | 5.18 | 5.0 |
| 2005 | 29,283 | 13,383 | 46% | 5.26 | 5.6 |
| 2010 | 29,952 | 13,619 | 45% | 5.38 | 5.6 |
| 2015 | 24,708 | 13,939 | 56% | 5.49 | 4.5 |
| 2020 | 21,687 | 12,318 | 57% | 5.53 | 3.9 |
| 2023 | 20,434 | 11,432 | 56% | 5.56 | 3.7 |
*Marriage rate = marriages per 1,000 population
🔍 Analysis: Is Marriage Dying?
The Three Stories in the Data
1. The Optimist's View
"Marriages are more stable! The divorce-to-marriage ratio improved from 55% (2000) to 45% (2010). People are choosing more carefully."
2. The Pessimist's View
"Marriage is dying! The marriage rate dropped from 5.0 (1990) to 3.7 (2023) per 1,000 people. Young people don't believe in it anymore."
3. The Realist's View
"Cohabitation replaced marriage. Couples still form families, they just skip the legal part. Divorce is down because fewer marriages exist to dissolve."
The Hidden Trend: Cohabitation
Finland has one of Europe's highest rates of cohabitation without marriage:
- 27% of couples with children are unmarried (vs EU average 17%)
- 48% of first children are born to unmarried parents
- Cohabiting couples have similar legal rights as married couples in Finland
The 2005-2010 Marriage Boom
Notice the spike to 29,952 marriages in 2010? This was driven by:
- Same-sex registered partnerships (legalized 2002)
- Economic optimism pre-financial-crisis
- Popular wedding years (round dates like 10/10/10)
COVID Impact (2020)
2020 saw the sharpest single-year drop in marriages (-12%) as weddings were postponed. Interestingly, divorces also dropped 12% - suggesting couples stuck together during uncertainty, or simply delayed proceedings.
🔥 The Controversial Take
Headline claim: "Half of all marriages end in divorce"
What the data shows: The crude divorce-to-marriage ratio (56% in 2023) is misleading. Divorces in any year come from marriages formed across 30+ years. The actual lifetime divorce risk for marriages formed today is closer to 35-40%.
The real story isn't that marriage is failing - it's that marriage is becoming optional. And for those who choose it, it's working better than ever.
ℹ️ Metadata
- Table ID
- statfin_synt_pxt_12dx.px
- Source
- Statistics Finland - Population changes
- Time Range
- 1749-2024
- Variables
- Solmitut avioliitot, Avioerot