Our Research

Kind folks never needed it, and unkind folks won’t heed it. It’s a project that wanted to draw attention to vulnerabilities, but in so doing, actually isolated people more.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: If we were to assess the new family benefits forthcoming in the March 22 federal budget and offer a grade, we'd give the government a "B". The up side: there will be more money, a simpler benefit structure, and more flexibility for most families. The down side: the benefits may not be sustainable and are structured towards individual poverty reduction rather than a recognition that the family is an important societal institution.

Our current payday loan market is failing consumers and society and government regulations alone cannot solve the current situation. Our new report, Banking on the Margins, aims at reforming Canada's payday loan market. In this report, we call for joint efforts between government, banks, credit unions and charities to provide customers with lower rate loans as an alternative to payday loans.

The IMFC is being transitioned to Cardus as part of Cardus' ongoing work and mandate to help inform evidence-based conversations on the changing social architecture in Canada.

An honest look at various aspects of daycare and parenting in a socialist "utopia". The Swedish government prioritizes government daycare by paying for it, while not paying for any other option.

This report was published under IMFC auspices.

Marriage is a source of great societal stability. Unfortunately, marriage is on the decline, common law is on the rise, and lone parenting is also on the rise. The bulk of lone parents remain women. Thankfully, today in Canada, two married parents still remain the norm.

Most international research on income and divorce suggests that women and children suffer more financially from a divorce than men.

Canadians often hear about the apparent need for more licensed daycare spaces. But what if the daycare shortage is not so much a shortage of spaces as a shortage of children in them?

This report was published under IMFC auspices.

This report recounts the concerns parents expressed in 2010 and critiques some of the common claims made about sexuality education.

This report was published under IMFC auspices.

What is Ontario going to do about its private schools? Cardus explores the need for a serious policy review in this discussion paper by Dr. Derek Allison, emeritus professor in the education faculty at Western University.

"Something of a chilly climate has developed toward non-public schools in Ontario," writes Allison. This report argues to politicians, bureaucrats, and fellow citizens that both private and public education are goods that can be intertwined and made interdependent to foster a stable, orderly, and integrated society.

The first ever analysis of Statistics Canada data examining the link between marriage and income in Canada.

This report was published under IMFC auspices.

Canadian parents matter. They are the most important input into their children's lives. Unfortunately, those designing public policy don't often turn to parents to ask what they prefer when it comes to childcare choices.

This report was published under IMFC auspices.

Why governments won't stop bullying until families step up.

This report was published under IMFC auspices.

Canadian law values marriage as a short-term prospect through no-fault divorce.

This report was published under IMFC auspices.

Despite the depiction of married life in popular media as drudgery, social science has consistently shown that married people fair well across a number of measures of wellbeing.

The Pascal proposal for full-day kindergarten has a hidden price tag that will impose very real costs on Ontario taxpayers.

This report was published under IMFC auspices.

This report measures the cost of family breakdown to the public purse in Canada for the fiscal year 2005-2006. It estimates the funding directed at poverty alleviation due to family breakdown.

This report was published under IMFC auspices.

Connecting parental marital status with teen attitudes and behaviours.

This report was published under IMFC auspices.

Removing the Federal Government from the business of child care is tricky—but it can and should be done.

This report was published under IMFC auspices.