In French households, the traditional family is gradually being replaced by


The classic household composition of the 20th century tends to be replaced by a new composition that reflects the changes in family situations as the transition to the 21st century takes place.

In this evolution of household type in metropolitan France (1982-2010) in percentage terms, 5 situations have been identified:

  1. Single person
  2. Couple without children
  3. Couple with one or more children
  4. Single parent family: a single parent and one or more single children (no children)
  5. Complex household

Finally, it is important to understand what a household is in the INSEE sense: a household refers to all the occupants of the same dwelling, without these people necessarily being linked by family ties

Source: INSEE, data for metropolitan France

Fewer couples with children…

While nearly 40% of French households were a couple with children in 1982, which corresponds to the “traditional family”, they were only 26% in 2010.

… and more single people

On the contrary, one-person households concerned a little less than 25% of households in 1982, against 34% in 2010.

During this 30-year period, the number of single-parent families increased slightly, the number of complex households decreased slightly, and the number of couples without children increased slightly.