Home > Canada, children and families, social and cultural issues, TD Economics > Data Release: The changing nature of families in Canada

Data Release: The changing nature of families in Canada

October 4, 2012

Data Release: The changing nature of families in Canada (PDF)

Source: TD Economics

  • Statistics Canada released another snippet of Census information this morning. The data series included families, households and marital status. While this trio might seem like an odd combination, the collective data provide insight on the family dynamic in Canada.
  • The number of total private households increased by 7.1% between 2006 and 2011. This pace is slightly slower than the 7.6% rate seen from 2001-2006.
  • Married couples, as a share of all census families, declined from 2006-11, but still represented 67% of all families in 2011. Increases in common-law couples and lone-parent families were also noted and for the first time, the former exceeded the latter. Same-sex couples also tripled between 2006 and 2011 and accounted for 0.8% of all couple families in 2011.
  • Couples without children (29.5%) continue to outnumber couples with children (26.5%). This trend was first noted in 2006 and the gap between the two segments widened in the 2011 Census edition.
  • During recessionary times, we usually see an uptick in the number of adult children who move in with their parents. This behaviour did not seem to take place to a large extent during or after the global financial 2008-09 crisis, although we do not have the annual data to confirm this hypothesis. About 42% of all people aged 20-29 lived in their parental home in 2011, roughly the same as what was seen in the 2006 Census.
  • Living as a couple is the most common family arrangement for seniors. In 2011, 56% of seniors lived as a couple, slightly more than 54.1% share seen in 2001. Longer life expectancies and better medical care likely contributed to the increase in two-person households. In addition, the vast majority of seniors live in private dwellings as opposed to collective dwellings like nursing homes.
About these ads
Categories: Canada, children and families, social and cultural issues, TD Economics
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 517 other followers

%d bloggers like this: