Finns spent about 20 percent more time alone in 2009 to 2010 than 10 years ago, while Finnish parents spent around 10 percent less time with their children, showed the latest data released by Statistics Finland Thursday.
Finns spent around seven hours of waking time alone per day in average in 2009 to 2010, while the figure was 5.9 hours in 1999 to 2000, showed the latest statistical data issued by Statistics Finland, Xinhua reported.
The increase of being alone is obvious for both men and women and in all age cohorts.
Particularly women aged over 65 years spent most time alone, compared to the other groups. The figure was as high as 9.6 hours per day.
At the same time, Finnish parents in average spent 5.5 hours with their under 10-year-old children in 2009 to 2010, while 10 years ago the figure was six hours. Mothers in particular, spent nearly one hour less than 10 years ago, even though they spent more time with their children than fathers.
Statistics Finland said that being alone also refers to seeking solitude in one's own room even when there are other family members at home.
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"Certainly one of the most obvious reasons was the increasing use of the internet," said Riitta Hanifi, researcher from Statistics Finland.
In addition to the development of internet and mobile communication in the recent 10 years,the reasons behind the phenomena could also be attributed to stubbornly high divorce rate, population aging and longer life expectancy of women than men in Finland.