Families, Relationships and Social Networks

Families and social networks shape people’s everyday lives and wellbeing throughout the life course. Family structures, kinship networks, and the ways we stay connected are changing rapidly as population structures, technology, and cultural norms evolve. These changes influence the kinds of support available to people at different stages of life and how family relationships are formed and maintained.

This page brings together research conducted within the DEMOGRAPHY programme that examines families and social networks from multiple perspectives, ranging from kinship and family structures to digital communication, wellbeing, and the social contexts of family life.

The findings provide up-to-date and reliable knowledge to support decision-making and to inform everyone interested in changes in family relationships, social networks, and everyday interaction. They help explain how families and networks affect wellbeing and how social relationships and the diversity of family life can be supported.

Publications

Andersson, L., & Kolk, M. (2023). Kinship and socio-economic status: Social gradients in frequencies of kin across the life course in Sweden. Population Studies, 78(3), 371–392. https://doi.org/10.1080/00324728.2023.2266403   

Andersson, L. (2023a). A novel macro perspective on family dynamics – The contribution of partnership contexts of births to cohort fertility rates. Population and Development Review, 49(3), 617–649. https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.12579 

Andersson, L. (2023b). The role of gender differences in partnering and re-partnering for gender differences in completed fertility. Population Research and Policy Review, 42, 17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-023-09767-1  

Andersson, L. (2024).  Suomalaiset saavat lapsen yhä todennäköisemmin vasta toisessa liitossaan [Tietoa päätösten tueksi 4/2024]. FLUX-konsortio. Turun yliopisto. https://fluxconsortium.fi/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/PB-FI-Andersson.pdf    

Andersson, L., Saarela, J., Jalovaara, M., & Uggla, C. (2023). A matter of time: Batemans principles and mating success as count and duration in contemporary Finland. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 290: 20231061 http://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.1061 

Artamonova, A., Sorsa, T., Berg, V., Hägglund, A. E., & Rotkirch, A. (2024a). Social resources are associated with higher fertility intentions in contemporary Finland. Comparative Population Studies, 49. https://doi.org/10.12765/CPoS-2024-04   

Artamonova, A., Sorsa, T., Berg, V., Hägglund, A. E., & Rotkirch, A. (2024b). Counting on parents or others? The role of social support for fertility intentions in Finland. Finnish Yearbook of Population Research, 57, 165–190. https://doi.org/10.23979/fypr.131297 

Auvinen, T., Linnosmaa, I. & Rijken, M. (2024). Do people’s health, financial and social resources contribute to subjective wellbeing differently at the age of fifty than later in life? Wellbeing, Space and Society, 7, 100219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wss.2024.100219 

de Bel, V. (2023). Multi-Functional Ties and Well-Being in Family Networks before and after Parental Divorce. Social Sciences, 12(11), 586. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12110586 

de Bel, V., & Widmer, E. D. (2024). Positive, negative, and ambivalent dyads and triads with family and friends: A personal network study on how they are associated with young adults’ well-being. Social Networks, 78, 184–202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socnet.2024.02.004 

Danielsbacka, M., Tammisalo, K., & Tanskanen, A. O. (2022a). Digital and traditional communication with kin: displacement or reinforcement? Journal of Family Studies, 29(3), 1270–1291. https://doi.org/10.1080/13229400.2022.2040575   

Danielsbacka, M., Tanskanen, A.O., & Billari, F.C. (2022b). Meeting online and family-related outcomes: evidence from three German cohorts. Journal of Family Studies, 28(4), 1390-1415. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13229400.2020.1835694   

Helle, S., Tanskanen, A. O., Coall, D. A., Perry, G., Daly, M. & Danielsbacka, M. (2024). Investment by maternal grandmother buffers children against the impacts of adverse early life experiences. Scientific Reports, 14, 6815. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-56760-5 

Iñiguez, G., Heydari, S., Kertész, J., & Saramäki, J. (2023). Universal patterns in egocentric communication networks. Nature Communications 14, 5217. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40888-5  

Jalovaara, M., & Andersson, L. (2023). A register-based account of period trends in union prevalence, entries, and exits by educational level for men and women in Finland. Demographic Research, 48(14), 373–386. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2023.48.14 

Karhunen, O. A., Jokela, M. & Golovina, K. (2023). Associations between early family environment and ideal number of children. International Journal of Psychology, 58(6), 574-583. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.12933  

Kolk, M., Andersson, L., Pettersson, E., & Drefahl, S. (2023). The Swedish Kinship Universe: A Demographic Account of the Number of Children, Parents, Siblings, Grandchildren, Grandparents, Aunts/Uncles, Nieces/Nephews, and Cousins Using National Population Registers. Demography, 60(5), 1359–1385. https://doi.org/10.1215/00703370-10955240   

Lahdenperä, M., Salonen, M., Hiraoka, T., Seltmann, M.W., Saramäki, J., & Lummaa, V. (2025). Close and more distant relatives are associated with child mortality risk in historical Finland. Evolutionary Human Sciences 7, e5, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1017/ehs.2024.47  

Lehti, H. & Tanskanen, A.O. (2024). The Structure of Child Adoption Based on the Relationship Between Adoptive Parents and Adoptive Children in Finland. Evolutionary Psychological Science, 10, 378–382. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40806-024-00420-4  

Pettay, J. E., Danielsbacka, M., Helle, S., Perry, G., Daly, M. & Tanskanen, A. O. (2023). Parental investment by birth fathers and stepfathers. Human Nature, 34(2), 276–294. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-023-09450-6  

Ponkilainen, M., Einiö, E., Pietiläinen, M., & Myrskylä, M. (2024). Educational differences in fertility among female same-sex couples. Demography, 61(6), 2053–2079. https://doi.org/10.1215/00703370-11687583   

Ponkilainen, M., Einiö, E., Pietiläinen, M., & Myrskylä, M. (2024).  Naisparien todennäköisyys saada lapsia on kasvanut, mutta vain korkeasti koulutetuilla [Tietoa päätösten tueksi 6/2024]. FLUX-konsortio. Turun yliopisto. https://fluxconsortium.fi/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/PB-FI-Ponkilainen-ym.pdf 

Rahnu, L., & Jalovaara, M. (2023). Partnership dynamics and entry into parenthood. Advances in Life Course Research, 56, 100548. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcr.2023.100548 

Rees, A., Schnor, C., & Jalovaara, M. (2025). Partnership pathways associated with lifetime childlessness in Belgium and Finland. Finnish Journal of Social Research. https://doi.org/10.51815/fjsr.146184   

Silventoinen, K., Korhonen, K. & Martikainen, P. (2022). Changing associations of coronary heart disease incidence with current partnership status and marital history over three decades. SSM – Population Health, 18, 101080. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2022.101080 

Suulamo, U., Remes, H., Tarkiainen, L. & Martikainen, P. (2025). Long-term trends in mortality by living arrangements and the role of socioeconomic factors, Finland 1991–2020. European Journal of Public Health, 35(5), 814–820. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckaf068 

Tammisalo, K., & Rotkirch, A. (2022). Effects of information and communication technology on the quality of family relationships: A systematic review. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 39(9), 2724 – 2765. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075221087942   

Tammisalo, K., Danielsbacka, M., Andersson, E., & Tanskanen, A. O. (2022). Predictors of social media use in two family generations. Frontiers in Sociology, 6, Article 813765. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2021.813765 

Tammisalo, K., Danielsbacka, M., Tanskanen, A. O., & Arpino, B. (2023). Social media contact with family members and happiness in younger and older adults. Computers in Human Behavior, 152, 108103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2023.108103 

Tanskanen, A. O., Danielsbacka, M., & Hämäläinen, H. (2023). Child-rearing: Gender roles. In T. K. Shackelford (Ed.), Encyclopedia of sexual psychology and behavior. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08956-5_61-1  

Tuominen, M. & Tikkanen, J. (2023). Adolescent social capital: An intergenerational resource? Journal of Adolescence, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1002/jad.12215