Statistics- Generation at Risk

CANADIAN STATISTICS - DIVORCE AND DEATH

  • Up to 40% of today's marriages are likely to end in divorce (Voices for Children, 1997)
  • 25% of marriages last less than 15 years (VFC, 1997)
  • Death is the cause of lone parenthood in 20% of families (Census, 1996)
  • Parental loss was the single most powerful predictor of adult psychopathology. (Brier, CCIC)

LONE-PARENT FAMILIES

  • The number of lone-parent families has increased 60% since 1981. (Progress of Canada's Children, 1996)
  • In 1996, 1.8 million children were living in lone-parent families, the majority headed by mothers. (Census, 1996)
  • 1 child in 5 grows up in a family headed by a single parent. (VFC, 1997)
  • Divorce is a direct cause of poverty for a large proportion of women and their children. 65.8%of children in single-mother families live in poverty. (Vanier Institute Study, 1994)
  • Only 53% of children for whom child support is court-ordered regularly receive it, and a third of the payments were in arrears for at least six months. (Statscan,1998)
  • The proportion of lone-parents who have never been married, increased from 14% in 1986 to 22% in 1996.
  • The majority of single parents work. In 1994, 61% of lone-parents with children under the age of 18 worked outside the home. (PCC, 1996)
  • 56,000 Canadian grandparents (or 1% of the total population) are raising their grandchildren. (Statscan 2002)

STEP-FAMILIES

  • 9% of children up to the age of 11 live in step-families. (PCC, 1996)
  • By the time they reach the age of 10, two-thirds of children living with parents who didn't marry have seen them separate. (Statscan, 1998)
  • A Vancouver psychologist and counsellor reports that it takes 4-7 years for a remarriage to begin to feel like a "real family". He claims 40% of remarriages fail within the first 4 years if children are involved. (CFIC)
  • COMMON-LAW MARRIAGES
  • Common-law marriages are one of the fastest growing family types in Canada. (CFIC)
  • 500,000 common-law couples have children. (PCC, 1996)
  • Common-law break-ups are not reported in divorce statistics.

Sources:

- Canadian Family in Crisis. Conway, John, c1993.
- Progress of Canada's Children 1996. Report released by The Canadian Council on Social Development, November 13, 1996.
- Voices for Children. A non-profit coalition of organizations and individuals, interested in the well being of children.
- Statscan's National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. Published July 1998.

A GENERATION AT RISK IN CANADA

  • More than 100,000 children each year are affected by divorce and separation. (Conway, John, Children of Divorce/Canadian Family in Crisis,1993)
  • 37.7% (70,155) of Canadian marriages end in divorce. (Stats Can 2002)
  • 41% of children with single mothers have one or more emotional, behavioural, academic or social problems - a rate 1½ to 2 times that of children in two-parent families. (Stats Can 1996)
  • Divorce is a direct cause of poverty for a large proportion of women and their children.
  • 65.8 % of children in single-mother families lived in poverty. (Vanier Institute Study, 1994)
  • 56,000 Canadian grandparents (or 1% of the total) are raising their grandchildren. (Stats Can 2002)
  • Children who experience a parent's death or divorce are more likely to leave home earlier, are less likely to finish school and are more likely to rely on income assistance as adults.(Ambert, Dr. Ann-Marie, Divorce: Facts, Figures and Consequences 1998)
  • From 50% to 80% of patients treated by Canadian mental health clinics are from separated families. (Fine, Stuart, Children in Divorce, Custody and Access Situations, CCIC)
  • Parental loss was the single most powerful predictor of adult psychopathology. (Brier et al, CCIC)

Children of divorced parents may:

  • suffer from depression, anxiety and other emotional disorders
  • exhibit behavioural problems including hyperactivity, aggressiveness, fighting and hostilitybecome young offenders
  • underachieve at school and leave school earlier (Furstenberg and Kiernan 2001, LeBlanc, McDuff and Tremblay 1995 and Sun & Li 2002
  • The trauma of divorce and separation affects children. Boys may become disruptive in school or skip school. Girls can experience fears and anxieties which surface in their adult years when they are in serious relationships. (Jenish, 1994)

Adults whose parents divorced during their childhood and teen years tend to:

  • have had a child out of wedlock
  • have achieved lower educational standards
  • be more often unemployed and do less well economically
  • have more marital problems and divorce more often (Amato and DeBoer 2001, Ambert, Dr. Ann Marie 1998 Divorce: Facts, Figures and Consequences)
  • Adolescent girls whose parents have separated are at higher risk of becoming sexually active and pregnant. (Wu, 1996)
  • Teenagers of divorce are three times more likely to be in psychological counselling, are suspended or expelled from school five times the rate of children from intact families. (Lyle Larson, Families in Canada)