The International Day of Families, celebrated yesterday, is an annual observance that reflects the importance attached to the role of families.

An indication of the composition of families in Malta can be obtained by analysing the distribution of households by household type. In 2005, the number of households without dependent children was estimated to be 1.6 times the number of households with dependent children, the National Statistics Office said yesterday.

Of households with dependent children, the most common type consisted of two adults and two dependent children. The tendency to live alone was higher for women than for men, since 66.9 per cent of one-person households related to female householders. Furthermore, 58.4 per cent of one-person households consisted of people aged 65 and over.

Over the past decade, the number of marriages has fluctuated from year to year, so no particular trend can be identified. In 2005, there were 2,374, of which 66.3 per cent were between Maltese spouses.

The number of live births in 2005 was 3,858, implying a reduction of 55.0 per cent compared to 1960.

The number of births outside marriage has been steadily on the increase. While in 1960 the number of live births outside marriage accounted for 0.7 per cent of all live births, this proportion had increased to 20.2 per cent by 2005.

Shifts in trends can also be observed when considering the ages at which women are bearing children. The preferred age group is no longer 20-24 years, as was the case in 1960. In 2005, the majority of live births, specifically 37.2 per cent of all live births, were to women aged between 25 and 29. This was followed by the 30-34 age group, which accounted for 28.8 per cent of live births. By contrast, the percentage of live births to women aged 40 and over has fallen from 4.6 per cent in 1960 to 2.4 per cent in 2005.

Data from the Survey on Income and Living Conditions 2005 indicate that, overall, people living in households with dependent children were more prone to be at risk of poverty than those in households without dependent children.

For these two categories, the at risk of poverty rates were 17.7 per cent and 11.6 per cent respectively. The highest category at risk of poverty in 2005 emerged as single parent households with one or more dependent children.

With reference to 2005, the at risk of poverty rate ranged from 2.4 per cent in respect of members of households with work intensity equal to 1, to 47.8 per cent in respect of members of households with work intensity equal to 0.