Fewer married parents

The increasing number of common-law unions, lone-parent families and blended families profoundly affects the everyday life of Canada's children. Along with income and positive parenting styles, a child’s educational outcomes has been linked to whether her or she grows up in a home with both parents. Children born into a lone parent family or who have experienced parental separation are also at higher risk of divorcing when they are adults.

The risk of children witnessing the dissolution of their parents' relationship varies significantly with the type of conjugal arrangement into which they are born. A 1994/95 survey found that 20% of the children had experienced the break-up of their parents by their 10th birthday. However, this percentage changes markedly if the type of union between the parents is considered: 60% of the children born to common-law partners saw their parents separate, compared with 14% of those born to married couples who had not lived together prior to marrying.

Canadian children are experiencing the separation of their parents at an increasingly younger age. Almost one-quarter of children born in 1961 were born to a single parent or saw their parents separate by the time they reached 20 years of age. The same proportion of children born a decade later had experienced their parents' break-up by age 15. The majority of this group experienced the split before their 10th birthday. For those born after 1983, about one-quarter saw their parents separate or divorce before they began attending school.