Life and fam­ily forms

The indicator life and family forms shows how family life in Germany has changed from the mid-1990s to today.

The data is based on the microcensus carried out by the Federal Statistical Office. In its survey of 1996 the Federal Statistical Office switched to the family form concept. Since then it no longer focuses solely on legal family status but on how people in a household are living together. For example, two people living together where one person is still married is considered to be a non-marital partnership.

Different life and family forms include couples (married couples and those in civil partnerships living with or without unmarried children), single parents with children in the household and single people (without partners or children). Minors and children who have come of age are included if they still live with their parents or one parent and are unmarried.

The indicator takes into account different kinds of families at the main place of residence based on the annual Microcensus.

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Family forms and life forms 1996 and 2017
Proportion of unmarried children within their parents’ household by family form 1996 and 2017
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