Family
Cardus Family conducts, compiles and disseminates Canadian research on family and marriage and their strengthening impact on civil society.

Peter Jon Mitchell
Research & Policy

This provincial and territorial breakdown of the 2016 family census data shows that kids in Canada’s wealthiest provinces are the most likely to be growing up in families with two married parents.

This national and historic breakdown of the 2016 family census data examines how, for the first time since 1981, Census 2016 omitted the distinction between married and cohabiting parents with regards to children’s living arrangements. Cardus Family made a special request for this data and offers several reasons why we ought to return to distinguishing between marriage and cohabitation with every census release.


Libby Simon, MSW, discusses the importance of avoiding peer orientation for kids in daycare.

Dr. Mark Milke considers the role of family factors in changing rates of poverty and inequality, for the first time in Canada. The data show that the family form with the highest income level (two parents with children) diminished from 71.6 percent of families in 1976 to just 49.8 percent of families in 2014. Family fracturing appears to correlate with changing inequality levels. If we seek solutions to the problems of inequality and poverty, understanding the family angle matters.

The International Monetary Fund recently wrote of coercing Canadian mothers into the workforce. Dr. Chris Sarlo reflected on economic implications here
. Today we learn how Canadian academics and lobbyists have long been making precisely the same wrongheaded point.

The new 2016 Census family data has been released. This new information will help us understand how marriage, divorce, cohabitation, and many other indicators are faring in our country. Data comparison with years gone by is more difficult this year, given the way in which Statistics Canada is presenting the data. In many instances, the disparate family forms of cohabitation and marriage are lumped together.

The appeal to "women's equality" is an interesting and convenient device in making their case for a bit of social engineering.

An interview with British psychiatrist Glynn Harrison, author of A Better Story: God, Sex and Human Flourishing

A spate of media articles has caused Ontario parents real concern. Here’s what happened and where parents should—and should not—be concerned.


As the City of Toronto puts forward an expensive and expansive daycare space creation plan, new data reveal increasing daycare space vacancy rates

There’s been so much daycare talk in the news since the federal budget was released on March 22, 2017. That said, there’s even more daycare-related news that wasn’t reported.

Building on research released last fall by Cardus Family on the importance of emotional relationships to physical well being, program director Andrea Mrozek sat down with Dr. Sue Johnson to learn about a cutting-edge approach at the Ottawa Heart Institute. Healing Hearts Together is based on data demonstrating that strong family life can play a vital part in helping cardiac patients regain their health.

Do we know what Canadians think about women's issues and how they connect to politics, culture and family? Angus Reid Forum asked questions about these subjects. If one theme emerges it is diversity. Neither men nor women are easily categorized on a host of issues facing women in Canada in 2017. Some of these questions address current events. Others step back and examine the bigger picture. Either way, Canadians cannot be put in one easy box.

The effort to repeal Section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada is not evidence-based policy-making.

Cardus Family Program Director Andrea Mrozek's summary of the top five issues surrounding families in Canada this past year.

At the heart of the book is the idea that an intimate relationship inescapably exists between biological parent and child.

As Canada is experiencing a demographic shift towards an aging society, the growing demand on natural caregivers will require the mobilization of community support systems. This paper acknowledges the current federal and provincial caregiver policies, then explores innovative international initiatives that build on community connectivity to support natural caregivers and those they care for. The initiatives are consistent with a public health approach and move towards the creation of a culture of care.

A look at the Statistics Canada data pointing to a decline in stay-at-home parents.

As governments and individuals struggle to make informed and well-considered public policy decisions on the issue of healthcare it is becoming increasingly important that they take into account the state of Canadian marriages. Marriage is Good for Your Health examines more than 50 published, empirical studies on the correlation between marital status and health. An overwhelming majority of the studies indicates that married couples are happier, healthier, and live longer than those who are not married. Moreover, there is strong research to back the conclusion that the quality of a marriage is a critical variable in the health benefits that couples enjoy.

One in three of working Canadians said they are dissatisfied with their work-life balance. Yet eighty-five percent said a satisfactory work-life balance is very important to them – so what gives? Canadians' Work-Life Balance is the fifth of five parts in the Canada Family Life project and is based on data from Nanos Research.

How do millennial Canadians perceive the role of marriage in family life and its function in society? Canadian Millennials and the Value of Marriage is the fourth of five parts in the Canada Family Life project and is based on data from Nanos Research.

A reform Rabbi writing recently in the New York Times makes this case using the Hebrew Bible as justification. In reality, God transcends gender, responds Rebecca Walberg.