What are families like in the Basque Country today?
One third of households are single-person, and more than 100,000 are single-parent.
The Basque Country is in the midst of change, as well as its family map. As the State and Basque regulations on single-parent families are progressing, the latest data published by Eustat have put on the table what the households of the Basque Country are like and how we live.
The total number of dwellings in the CAE is 937,737, with 2,201,462 residents, with a birth rate of 1.28 children per woman in the Basque Country.
The most common family, then, is that of a single person (290,497), followed by "nuclear with children" (289,361) and "nuclear without children" (203,190).
The number of households has decreased from 2.48 persons per household in 2015 to 2.35 in 2023, reflecting a tendency towards smaller and more fragmented households.
When did the change come?
If we look at the data, there is no decisive moment; that is, the nuclear houses did not cease to be the majority at some point, but it has been a gradual process.
- Inthe late 80s and early 90s, the number of single-person families increased considerably.
- 2001: single-person families accounted for approximately 20% of the total.
- 2023: single-person households account for 31%, and for the first time they outnumber nuclear households with children.
One third of the houses are inhabited by one person.
In the Basque Country, of the 937,737 registered dwellings 290,497 , only one person lives da. They account for 31% of the total number of dwellings and are the most common type of unit. Society has grown older, which means that life expectancy is higher, so that changes in living habits explain this sustained growth.
Families with children are still key, but they're not dominant.
Nuclearhouseholdswith children are 289,361 (30.9%), very similar to single-person households.
Nuclearhouseholds without children dira, 203,190 (21.7%). This category includes all couples who live without children, either because they have no children, or because they have decided not to have them, or because their children do not live in their homes.
Over 100,000 single-parent families.
Single-parent families are now 101,050 (10.8 per cent), so we can say that this is a large group today, most of which are headed by women, which explains why the decree in question uses the term single-parent families headed by mothers as a specific category for access to rights and assistance.
This group includes some of the greatest weaknesses, such as lower disposable income, greater difficulties in reconciling work and family life, and greater risk of poverty, so administrative recognition and economic support measures are one of the main points of institutional debate.
Family models "unusual", but significant
There are, though in a smaller proportion, less numerous but more significant realities;
- Multicore is 18,002 (1.9%).
- Several unrelated persons, 24,647 households (2.6%): non-family units; it is common to distribute rent.
- Families without nucleus 10,990 (1.2%): households made up of relatives without parents (siblings, uncles, etc.).
Social transformation and new challenges
The Basque family map reflects a profound process of transformation: more people live alone, there is more diversity in the models of coexistence and the growing need to adapt public policies to complex realities.
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