Among the EU Member States, Ireland recorded the highest proportion of households with children (39%), ahead of Cyprus, Poland and Slovakia (all 36%) and Romania (35%). In contrast, the lowest shares were registered in Germany and Finland (both 22%), followed by Sweden (23%), Austria (25%) and Bulgaria (26%).
Share of households with three or more children highest in Ireland
At EU level, almost half of all households with children (47%, or 30.6 million households) consisted of only one child, while 40% of households (25.8 million) had two children, and 13% (8.5 million) three children or more.
The highest share of households with three or more children was registered in Ireland (26%), followed by Finland (19%), Belgium and France (both 18%), the Netherlands (17%) and the United Kingdom (16%). At the opposite end of the scale, less than 10% of households in Bulgaria (5%), Portugal (7%), Spain and Italy (both 8%), Lithuania (9%) and Latvia (10%) had three or more children in them.
Highest proportion of single-parent households in Denmark
At EU level, 15% of households with children were single-parents households.
Denmark (29%) and Estonia (28%) had the highest proportions of single-parent households among households with children, ahead of Lithuania and Sweden (both 25%), Latvia (23%), the United Kingdom (22%) and France (21%). In contrast, the lowest proportions of single-parent households were in Croatia (6% of all households with dependent children), Romania (7%), Greece, and Slovakia and Finland (all 8%).
