1 in 8 EU households with children rely on one adult

The proverb ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ rings true, but for many, the reality is that only one adult shoulders the responsibility. In the EU, there were around 6.1 million one-adult families in 2025, making up 12.9% of all households with children.

The share of single-adult families varied significantly across EU countries. In Estonia, 4 out of 10 households with children were single-adult households (40.6%), the highest share among EU countries. Lithuania and Latvia followed, with 32.7% and 28.5%, respectively. The lowest shares were recorded in Slovakia (3.1%), Greece (3.8%) and Slovenia (4.0%).

Source dataset: lfst_hhnhtyc

The overview at EU level shows that most one-adult households had 1 child (60.1%), while 30.9% had 2 children and 9.0% had 3 or more children.

Additionally, one-adult households with children were mostly headed by women (5.0 million), accounting for 81.6% of such households, with men heading the remaining 18.4%.

Source datasets: lfst_hhnhtych and lfst_hhindws

This article marks the Global Day of Parents, marked each year on 1 June, as a day to emphasize the critical role of families, parents and caregivers in the rearing of children, their protection and well-being.