One out of five Maltese families led by a single parent

The 2021 census enumerated 128,313 different families living in Malta and Gozo of which 71% included married parents, 19% single parent families and 10% cohabiting partners.

In the Census a family nucleus is defined as two or more persons who live in the same household and who are related as husband and wife; a married same-sex couple; cohabiting partners; or as parent and child.

Thus, a family comprises a couple without children, a couple with one or more children, or a single parent with one or more children.    Different families can also live in the same household.

Husband, wife and child

The most common family form still consists of a husband, a wife and at least one child. The Census found 56,445 of these family nuclei, which account for 44% of the total number of Maltese families. These included 15,274 families where the oldest child is older than 25 years of age.

The Census also records 34,562 families consisting of a husband and wife with no dependents, which account for 27% of the total number of families living in Malta.

Single parent families

The third most common family type in Malta consists of a single mother with at least one child. The Census found 18,166 such families, which included 6,031 families in which the son or daughter is over 25 years of age. These accounted for 14% of the total number of families.

Another 5,940 families consisted of a father and at least a child, accounting for 5% of the total number of families. These included 2,074 families in which the youngest child was over 25 years of age.

Sames-sex families

The Census also records 968 families which included a same sex couple.  Of these, 287 were married while 681 were cohabiting. Meanwhile, 323 of these family units had resident children living in the same household.

Families which included same sex partners accounted for just under 1% of the total number of families.

The Census also records that there are 25,261 separated people and 7,291 divorced people living in Malta.