Statistics can reveal many things about a country and the people who live there. Statistics Canada has released new data about the makeup of families in Alberta and the rest of Canada. The findings show that households are becoming more diverse and that many kinds of family situations exist in the country. It is important to understand these trends in order to maintain a family law system which serves everyone.
The aging population has contributed to many of the trends seen in recent statistics. The percentage of Canadians living is higher than it has ever been in the country. In fact, people living alone is currently the most common type of household. Just over 28 percent of all households are single-person dwellings, up from 25.7 percent in 2001. In Alberta, one in four adults lives alone.
The statistics show that the number of common law and same-sex couples is increasing. The share of common law couples has increased from 6.3 percent to 21.3 percent. Quebec and Nunavut have the highest percentage of common-law couples. Additionally, fewer couples are living with children, though adult children are more likely to be at their parents’ homes than in previous years. These trends have added new areas of importance for family law.
The themes of an aging population, strong parental support for adult children, and changing types of couples are seen throughout the latest data from Statistics Canada. There are diverse family law areas which exist to serve people in many different phases of their lives. Individuals may recognize from these findings that their situation may not be unusual at all, and that regardless of their household make up, a lawyer in Alberta can help them with any issues regarding separation, divorce or custody.
Source: CBC News, “More Canadians living alone and without children, census figures show“, Eric Grenier, Aug. 2, 2017