Canadian families have become more diverse over the last two
decades as a result of increases in separation, divorce, remarriage,
common-law unions and lone-parent families. The Canadian family
has also been shaped by a decrease in fertility rates. The changing
composition of families, census family structure and the family
status of individuals are measures used by Statistics Canada to
determine some of the trends in the family.
According to Statistics Canada, "Census Family Structure" refers
to the "classification of census families into families of now-married
couples and common-law couples (with or without children) and lone-parent
families. Read more about family persons
The reference to "all husband - wife families" includes families
of both legally married couples and common-law couples. Together
the husband-wife families and lone-parent families make up the total
number of families in Canada. The figure below shows the changes
in the distribution of family structures over a ten-year period.
[D] Click for larger version, 32 KB Figure 1. Family Structure
The married couple family remains the dominant family type in Canada.
Since 1986, however, the proportion of this type of family has decreased
from 80% to 74% of all families, while growth among common-law couple
families saw an increase of 28% from 1991. According to the 1996
Census, 14.5% of all families were lone-parent families. The total
number of lone-parent families in 1996 reached 1 138 000, a 19%
increase from 1991 and a 33% increase from 1986.
The distribution of different
family structure varies across Canada. Married couple families are relatively
more prominent throughout the Prairie Provinces, southern Ontario and Newfoundland,
while families of common-law couples are most prominent in Quebec, Yukon and
the Northwest Territories. Although lone parent families are evident in all
regions of Canada, the highest proportions have been observed in larger urban
communities. The highest proportions of lone-parent families, although evident
in all regions of Canada, are observed in larger urban communities.
The charts below summarize
the distribution of family structure for all of Canada and for each of the provinces
and territories.
[D] Click for larger version, 57 KB Figure 2. Married Couples
[D] Click for larger version, 44 KB Figure 3 : Common-law Couples
[D] Click for larger version, 48 KB Figure 4. Lone Parent Families (Men)
[D] Click for larger version, 116 KB Figure 5. Lone Parent Families (Women)
Married Couple Families – “Marriage Still
Popular”
According to the results of the 1996 Census, “married couple families”
still constitute the large majority of families. Since 1986, the
proportion has declined from 80% of all families to 74%, due to
substantial increases in both common-law and lone-parent families.
In 1996 there were 5.8 million married couple families living in
Canada. The highest proportion of married couple families was in
Newfoundland at 78% of all families. Quebec had the lowest proportion
among the provinces at 64% of all families. All of the provinces
and territories observed a decrease in the proportion of married
couple families for the period 1986 to 1996.
Although legal marriage is still the preferred lifestyle of the
majority of Canadian adults, marriage is now taking place later
in life. There has also been an increase in the number of couples
that have chosen not to marry at all. Research has indicated that
the fluctuating marriage rate has coincided with social and economic
indicators over the last 70 years. As a result there has been the
tendency for individuals without employment or financial security
to postpone marriage or to not marry. This has happened in the past:
the depression of the 1930’s was witness to the lowest marriage
rate at 6 marriages per 1000, compared to 425 per 1000 in 1993.
The highest rates were observed in the 1950's and 1960's with rates
of 950 per 1000 and over. The situation today reflects the growing
popularity and acceptance of common-law unions, re-marriage and,
to a large extent, single lifestyles.
Common-law Couple Families
Since 1981, common-law unions have been steadily increasing. This is particularly
true in the province of Quebec. In 1981, 8% of Quebec couples lived common-law,
compared to 25% in 1996. The rest of Canada has also seen a marked, but
lower, increase from 6% in 1981 to 10% in 1996. Common-law unions are
prevalent among the Aboriginal peoples of Canada. Of the couples living
in the Territories, 31% were in common-law unions in 1996.
[D] Click for larger version, 4 KB Figure 6. Couples in Common-law Unions
Many regional patterns can be noted on this map layer. Common-law
unions are more frequent in northern New Brunswick, in the census
divisions where there is a geographically high concentration of
persons whose mother tongue is French. Ontario, too, has higher
concentrations of common-law unions in census divisions with more
than 25% French mother tongue, for example, Sudbury, Cochrane and
Prescott-Russell. In Quebec, lower proportions of common-law are
found along the Ontario-Quebec border. Montreal shows a clear split
between English and French census divisions. Read
more about Detailed Regional Descriptions
The individuals living in common-law unions have been further grouped
according to their reported "legal marital status" based on 1996
Census data. Refer to figure below:
[D] Click for larger version, 25 KB Figure 7. Distribution of Persons 15 Years of Age or Older Living Common-law, by Marital Status, 1996 Census
Lone-Parent Families - General
Statistics Canada has
defined a lone parent as "a mother or father, with no spouse or common-law partner
present, living in a dwelling with one or more never-married sons and/or daughters."
According to this definition, when a child marries or moves into a common-law
union, the lone parent is no longer considered a member of a census family.
Lone parents are not a new phenomenon in Canada, however an increase
of 33% has been observed between 1986 and 1996. Today there are
approximately 1 138 000 lone-parent families, and families headed
by women continue to outnumber those headed by men by four to one,
or 83% of all lone-parent families. Lone parent families make up
22% o all families with children.
Prior to 1960, the death
of a spouse was the primary cause of lone-parenthood accounting for 60% of these
families. As of 1996 a spouse's death accounted for 20% of all lone parent families.
Changes to the Canadian Divorce Law in 1968 and 1985 have directly influenced
the increase of divorce rates. Divorce now accounts for one-third of all lone-parent
families and separation accounts for one-fifth. A further trend indicates that
in 1996 nearly 24% of all female lone parents had never been married, an increase
of 22% from 1986.
[D] Click for larger version, 5 KB Figure 8. Marital Status of Male and Female Lone-parents (1991)
Results of the National
Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) indicated that common-law
families, particularly outside of Quebec, were more likely to experience a family
breakdown. An example of this is shown by the higher proportion of lone parent
families in the northern Prairie Provinces and the Northwest Territories where
there are also high proportions of common-law unions. The agricultural regions
of western Canada show smaller proportions of lone parent families. In comparison,
significant concentrations of lone parent families are found in major urban
centres such as Montréal, Toronto and Ottawa-Hull.
For additional information,
see the "Family Structure" series of maps, specifically the Common-law Couple
Families.
Lone Parent Families Headed by Women
The majority of lone
parent families in Canada are headed by women, where they outnumber those headed
by men four to one. The 1996 Census data indicate that these families increased
by 20% between 1991 and 1996 as compared to families headed by men (a 16% increase).
The overall proportion of lone parents who had never married increased from
14% in 1986 to 22% in 1996. In 1996, 24% of all female lone parents reported
a marital status of "single".
The number of children living with a lone mother increased by 20%
as compared to children living with a lone father (11%). This increase
of female lone parents is closely tied to the increase of families
living below the poverty line. The National Longitudinal Survey
of Children and Youth (NLSCY,
1994 to 1995) indicated that 92% of all children living in a lone
parent family, lived with their mother.
The highest concentrations
of female lone parent families, as a proportion of all lone parent families,
are found in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and the Atlantic Provinces. The
proportion of married couples also tends to be relatively high in these areas.
In the case of the Atlantic Provinces, the percentage of births to single mothers
is the highest in Canada (NLSCY, General Social Survey 1990). The reverse is
true for Quebec, where fewer births to single mothers were reported, and fewer
children experienced lone-parenthood very early in life. However, by the time
Quebec children reached the age of 4, they were as likely to be living in a
lone parent family as other children in Canada. By the age of 10, Quebec children
were more likely to be living with one parent than other children in Canada.
Common-law Couple Families: Detailed Regional Descriptions
In New Brunswick, the
proportion of couples living common-law was 12.6% in 1996 – slightly more than
the proportions in the other provinces, except Quebec. The map indicates that
common-law unions are more frequent in northern New Brunswick, in the census
divisions where there is a geographically high concentration of persons whose
mother tongue is French. The proportion of couples living common-law is 19.4%
in Gloucester, 16.9% in Madawaska, and 16.0% in Restigouche (regions in which
most people have French as their mother tongue).
In Ontario, 9.1% of couples were in common-law unions in 1996. Although such
unions are less popular there than in Quebec or New Brunswick, the
proportion of persons living common-law is higher in the census
divisions in which persons whose mother tongue is French make up
at least one quarter of the population. This type of union was higher
in Cochrane (15.6%); Prescott-Russell (15.4%); Timiskaming (13.6%)
and Sudbury (13.5%). In the Kenora census division (16.2%) and the
Manitoulin census division (12.8%), the proportion of couples living
common-law is higher than that for the province, which may be attributable
to the high concentration of Aboriginal persons.
In Quebec, the propensity
to be in common-law unions is highest in the Vallée de l'Or region, at
36.8%. In most of the other census divisions, the frequency of common-law unions
varies between 20% and 34%. However, in the Pontiac region of southern Quebec,
on the Ontario border, the proportion of persons living common-law is only 13.7%.
This is related to the large concentration in this division of persons who have
English as a mother tongue.
The differences between the Francophone and Anglophone population, with
regards to common-law unions, are even more marked in the Montréal
Island census subdivisions. In the Montréal urban community
as a whole, 20.3% of couples were living common-law in 1996. In
all the subdivisions in which Anglophones account for a large majority
of the population, the propensity to live in common-law unions is
lower than 11%. Examples of such subdivisions include Westmount,
West Montréal, Côte Saint Luc, Hampstead, Pointe-Claire,
Kirkland, Beaconsfield, Baie D'Urfé and Dollard des Ormeaux.
However, when the population having English as the mother tongue
accounts for less than one quarter of the subdivision’s total population,
common-law unions increase to more than 20%. Examples of such subdivisions
include Anjou, North Montréal, Montréal, Saint-Pierre
d'Outremont and East Montréal. Return
to Common-law Couple Families
To properly interpret this map, please consult the text Data
and Mapping Notes. |