Figure 1
Married-couple families with children aged 24 and under is largest family structure, but declining¹

Description

This chart shows census families in Canada from 1986 to 2006 according to their structure. It shows that married couples with children aged 24 and under is still the largest family structure, even if the proportion among census families that they represent have been decreasing since 1986. Those families represented 34.6% of all census families in 2006, 41.3% in 1996 and 49.4% in 1986. As well, the chart shows that over the same period, the proportion of married couples without children aged 24 and under has increased. They represented 30.8% in 1986, 32.4% in 1996 and 34.0% in 2006. Common-law couples with children aged 24 and under have been increasing from 1986 to 2006: they represented 2.7% of all census families in 1986, 5.5% in 1996 and 6.8% in 2006. The trend is the same for common-law couples without children aged 24 and under. Those families represented 4.5% of all census families in 1986, 6.3% in 1996 and 8.7% in 2006. Finally, lone-parent families with children aged 24 and under have also increased over the last twenty years. They represented 10.5% of all census families in 1986, 11.7% in 1996 and 12.4% in 2006. Lone-parent families with children aged 25 years or more represented 2.1% of all census families in 1986, 2.8% in 1996 and 3.5% in 2006.

Sources: Statistics Canada, censuses of population, 1986, 1996 and 2006.