April 30, 2024
Families Count 2024: Family Structure
Family Structure is the first section of a larger report that will also explore family work, family identity, and family wellbeing.
Using current data from Statistics Canada and other sources, its 14 chapters provide overviews of topics and trends related to how people come together to form and grow families and family households, and transitions that occur over the life course.
Written in accessible language and available in English and French, Families Count 2024 is of interest to a broad audience, including policymakers, educators, students, researchers, employers, community organizations, journalists, family professionals, and others with an interest in families and family wellbeing in Canada.
Family Structure: chapter list
- Couples today are less likely to get married
- Couples are marrying later in life
- Divorce rates have declined since the early 1990s
- Common-law unions are most common in Quebec and Nunavut
- Living apart is increasingly common among couples
- Polyamorous families are broadening family law
- Young adults are more likely to live with parents
- Multigenerational households are one of the fastest growing household types
- Pathways to becoming a stepfamily have evolved
- Fertility rates hit a record low (again)
- Fathers represent a growing share of parents in one-parent families
- Thousands of children are adopted every year but far more need homes
- Half of children in foster care are Indigenous
- The percentage of older adults who are widowed has declined
The Vanier Institute of the Family. (2024). Family structure. In Families count 2024. https://vanierinstitute.ca/families-count-2024/family-structure
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