Freedom Canadian
09-16-2007, 01:27 PM
Interesting new data from the 2006 Census reveals tendencies that might worry some people.
Quebec leads change
Married people a minority in Canada for first time; province emerges as a world capital for common-law unions
RENE BRUEMMER
The Gazette
Thursday, September 13, 2007
The institution of marriage and the fabled nuclear family are being redefined in Canada, and as usual, Quebec is at the forefront of the charge against tradition.
New data made public yesterday by Statistics Canada from the 2006 census show a surge in same-sex couples, more couples without children, an increase in the number of people living alone, and a rise in single-parent households.
For the first time in Canada's history, married people are in the minority - 51.5 per cent of the adult population is not married.
And for the first time in its history, the census recorded the number of people in same-sex marriages.
Above all, the census noted a surge in common-law unions nationwide, and painted Quebec as a world leader in the area, with 35 per cent of couples here opting to live together without getting married. In Sweden and Finland, long considered kings of the common-law union, the rates are 25 and 24 per cent, respectively.
But while Quebec has long led the non-matrimonial pack, seen as a backlash initially against an overbearing Catholic Church starting with the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, its provincial brethren are beginning to follow suit.
Across Canada, the number of common-law unions shot up by 19 per cent over the last five years, bringing the national average to 15.5 per cent, for a total of 1.4 million common-law-couple families. Two decades ago, the percentage was 7.2.
By comparison, the number of married-couple families increased by only 3.5 per cent.
"It's partly due to the aging of the population," said Denis Boudreau, assistant director of Statistics Canada for the eastern region. "Non-marriage is more popular with the younger generation (one-quarter of couples age 25-29 are common law), but even with people in their 50s or 60s, the numbers show that after divorce or the death of a spouse, many are choosing to be in a relationship but not get married a second time."
As well, many aging boomers that have always been in common-law relationships have remained so, boosting the numbers, he said.
Common-law marriages are on the rise internationally, said sociologist Cline Le Bourdais, the Canada research chair in social statistics and family change at McGill University.
"It is seen as more individualistic, and more easily resolvable if a couple needs to separate," she said.
And although it began during the Quiet Revolution, the number of common-law couples was relatively low in Quebec until the '90s, when the concept became more tied to the feminist movement and associated with a more equitable sharing of labour and income between partners. It became more popular as it grew to be more accepted, and today, Quebec's common-law unions account for nearly half of the national total.
French Quebec's roots in Roman Catholicism, which doesn't allow divorce - as opposed to the Protestant Church prevalent in the rest of Canada - also played a part. Anglophones in Quebec are more likely to follow the national model.
One drawback to common-law unions, Le Bourdais noted, is many Quebecers are unaware they might have fewer rights with regard to property in the event of a separation. In a common-law union, ownership is based on whoever has signed for the property, so if a partner leaves or dies, the other partner might be left with nothing.
Married-couple families still make up the vast majority in Canada, accounting for about 6 million of the 8,896,840 families enumerated in 2006, or 68 per cent. Still, the percentage was down from 70 in 2001, showing a gradual dissolution of the traditional union.
The number of lone-parent families increased by 6.3 per cent to to 1.4 million, or 15 per cent of all families. Whereas in the past two-thirds of lone parents were widowed, now almost 30 per cent have never been legally married, another third are divorced and only 19 per cent are widowed.
The number of men heading up lone-parent households rose at twice the rate of those headed by women between 2001 and 2006, probably explained by the increase in men who receive custody or shared custody of children, Boudreau of Statistics Canada said. The majority of single-parent households - 80 per cent - is still headed by women.
There were 45,345 same-sex couples, an increase of 32.6 per cent, probably because of a greater willingness on the part of gays and lesbians to identify themselves on a government report. Of those 7,465 were married, although observers within the gay community say these numbers are probably low. Eight per cent of same-sex couples live in large urban areas. Half of them are in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.
Among other findings:
Slightly more than 2 million Canadians were divorced on census day, eight per cent of the population. In 1971, less than one per cent were divorced.
A growing number of children under age 4 have mothers in their 40s - nearly 10 per cent.
Quebec had the highest proportion of one-person households at 31 per cent.
Boudreau theorized this was because Quebecers, and especially Montrealers, are much more likely than residents of other provinces to rent property than own it, so they can afford to live alone.
Children are spending more time with their parents - 43 per cent of people age 20 to 29 are still living with their parents. This is explained by longer educations, more trouble finding work or sufficient funds and starting families of their own later in life, Le Bourdais said. And as houses get bigger and families get smaller, parents are often happy to keep their babies at home longer, once they're past the tumult of adolescence and capable of mature dialogue.
"Plus, since many more families are permissive of boyfriends or girlfriends staying over, there's less reason to move out," she added.
- - -
Snapshots of the Family From the Census of May 16, 2006
- Married people accounted for fewer than half the adult population for the first time.
- There were 1,376,865 common-law couples, an increase of almost 19 per cent from the 2001 census.
- The fastest growth for common-law couples was in the 60-to-64 age bracket.
- Almost half of all common-law couples in Canada lived in Quebec.
- Lone-parent families increased by 6.3 per cent to 1.4 million between 2001 and 2006.
- On census day, 2,087,385 Canadians were divorced, 8.1 per cent of the population.
- There were 45,345 same-sex couples, an increase of 32.6 per cent from the 2001 count.
Of those, 7,465 couples were married. This represents less than one per cent of all couples.
- Only 8.7 per cent of households had five or more people living in them.
- 10.7 per cent of people lived alone.
- Nearly half of adults age 20 to 29 were still living with their parents or had moved back home.
- For the first time, there were more couples without children (42.7 per cent) than with children (41.4 per cent).
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2007
Quebec leads change
Married people a minority in Canada for first time; province emerges as a world capital for common-law unions
RENE BRUEMMER
The Gazette
Thursday, September 13, 2007
The institution of marriage and the fabled nuclear family are being redefined in Canada, and as usual, Quebec is at the forefront of the charge against tradition.
New data made public yesterday by Statistics Canada from the 2006 census show a surge in same-sex couples, more couples without children, an increase in the number of people living alone, and a rise in single-parent households.
For the first time in Canada's history, married people are in the minority - 51.5 per cent of the adult population is not married.
And for the first time in its history, the census recorded the number of people in same-sex marriages.
Above all, the census noted a surge in common-law unions nationwide, and painted Quebec as a world leader in the area, with 35 per cent of couples here opting to live together without getting married. In Sweden and Finland, long considered kings of the common-law union, the rates are 25 and 24 per cent, respectively.
But while Quebec has long led the non-matrimonial pack, seen as a backlash initially against an overbearing Catholic Church starting with the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, its provincial brethren are beginning to follow suit.
Across Canada, the number of common-law unions shot up by 19 per cent over the last five years, bringing the national average to 15.5 per cent, for a total of 1.4 million common-law-couple families. Two decades ago, the percentage was 7.2.
By comparison, the number of married-couple families increased by only 3.5 per cent.
"It's partly due to the aging of the population," said Denis Boudreau, assistant director of Statistics Canada for the eastern region. "Non-marriage is more popular with the younger generation (one-quarter of couples age 25-29 are common law), but even with people in their 50s or 60s, the numbers show that after divorce or the death of a spouse, many are choosing to be in a relationship but not get married a second time."
As well, many aging boomers that have always been in common-law relationships have remained so, boosting the numbers, he said.
Common-law marriages are on the rise internationally, said sociologist Cline Le Bourdais, the Canada research chair in social statistics and family change at McGill University.
"It is seen as more individualistic, and more easily resolvable if a couple needs to separate," she said.
And although it began during the Quiet Revolution, the number of common-law couples was relatively low in Quebec until the '90s, when the concept became more tied to the feminist movement and associated with a more equitable sharing of labour and income between partners. It became more popular as it grew to be more accepted, and today, Quebec's common-law unions account for nearly half of the national total.
French Quebec's roots in Roman Catholicism, which doesn't allow divorce - as opposed to the Protestant Church prevalent in the rest of Canada - also played a part. Anglophones in Quebec are more likely to follow the national model.
One drawback to common-law unions, Le Bourdais noted, is many Quebecers are unaware they might have fewer rights with regard to property in the event of a separation. In a common-law union, ownership is based on whoever has signed for the property, so if a partner leaves or dies, the other partner might be left with nothing.
Married-couple families still make up the vast majority in Canada, accounting for about 6 million of the 8,896,840 families enumerated in 2006, or 68 per cent. Still, the percentage was down from 70 in 2001, showing a gradual dissolution of the traditional union.
The number of lone-parent families increased by 6.3 per cent to to 1.4 million, or 15 per cent of all families. Whereas in the past two-thirds of lone parents were widowed, now almost 30 per cent have never been legally married, another third are divorced and only 19 per cent are widowed.
The number of men heading up lone-parent households rose at twice the rate of those headed by women between 2001 and 2006, probably explained by the increase in men who receive custody or shared custody of children, Boudreau of Statistics Canada said. The majority of single-parent households - 80 per cent - is still headed by women.
There were 45,345 same-sex couples, an increase of 32.6 per cent, probably because of a greater willingness on the part of gays and lesbians to identify themselves on a government report. Of those 7,465 were married, although observers within the gay community say these numbers are probably low. Eight per cent of same-sex couples live in large urban areas. Half of them are in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.
Among other findings:
Slightly more than 2 million Canadians were divorced on census day, eight per cent of the population. In 1971, less than one per cent were divorced.
A growing number of children under age 4 have mothers in their 40s - nearly 10 per cent.
Quebec had the highest proportion of one-person households at 31 per cent.
Boudreau theorized this was because Quebecers, and especially Montrealers, are much more likely than residents of other provinces to rent property than own it, so they can afford to live alone.
Children are spending more time with their parents - 43 per cent of people age 20 to 29 are still living with their parents. This is explained by longer educations, more trouble finding work or sufficient funds and starting families of their own later in life, Le Bourdais said. And as houses get bigger and families get smaller, parents are often happy to keep their babies at home longer, once they're past the tumult of adolescence and capable of mature dialogue.
"Plus, since many more families are permissive of boyfriends or girlfriends staying over, there's less reason to move out," she added.
- - -
Snapshots of the Family From the Census of May 16, 2006
- Married people accounted for fewer than half the adult population for the first time.
- There were 1,376,865 common-law couples, an increase of almost 19 per cent from the 2001 census.
- The fastest growth for common-law couples was in the 60-to-64 age bracket.
- Almost half of all common-law couples in Canada lived in Quebec.
- Lone-parent families increased by 6.3 per cent to 1.4 million between 2001 and 2006.
- On census day, 2,087,385 Canadians were divorced, 8.1 per cent of the population.
- There were 45,345 same-sex couples, an increase of 32.6 per cent from the 2001 count.
Of those, 7,465 couples were married. This represents less than one per cent of all couples.
- Only 8.7 per cent of households had five or more people living in them.
- 10.7 per cent of people lived alone.
- Nearly half of adults age 20 to 29 were still living with their parents or had moved back home.
- For the first time, there were more couples without children (42.7 per cent) than with children (41.4 per cent).
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2007