Marriage

We suggest:

Marriage is a key institution that seeks to integrate sex, parenthood, economic cooperation, and emotional intimacy into a permanent union.
Healthy and stable marriages and families are both a private and a public good.
Canadians should understand, value, and promote healthy and stable marriages and families.
We recognize and study Canada’s diversity of family structures.
We recognize that family membership and relationships are a defining feature of the lives of most Canadians.

Supporting Research

Start Here

Susan Martinuk

September 29, 2016

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.

For Love or Money?

Peter Jon Mitchell, Lita L. Day

October 21, 2021

Why do some young adults choose to marry and others do not?

Canadian Children at Home

Peter Jon Mitchell

February 28, 2023

For decades, the proportion of children with married parents has been dropping. But that drop has now stabilised. Since 2016, we’ve seen a steady six in 10 children in Canada live in married-parent families. That’s the key finding in our just-released report, Canadian Children at Home: Living Arrangements in the 2021 Census.

All Supporting Research (30)

Explorations

Marriage in a Dangerous Time

June 11, 2020

Join us for a webinar to examine the changing Canadian family and explore what the pandemic may mean for the future of marriage.

Marriage Made Simply Sacred

Rebecca Darwent

July 17, 2019

Convivium’s Rebecca Darwent finds comfort that her wedding this spring wasn’t about saying “yes” to the dress. It was about affirming before God a faithful life with her husband-to-be.

Home Economics: As the Family Goes, So Goes the Economy

May 29, 2019

Click here for an event summary.

All Explorations (18)

Media Coverage

Canadian Children's Living Arrangements

March 16, 2023

"Nearly one in five Canadian children witness the separation or dissolution of their parents’ relationship by age 18," writes Peter Jon Mitchell, family program director at Cardus. "Despite this high percentage, little public attention is given to family structure and child well-being as a result of family breakdown." Photo by Benjamin Manley on Unsplash

Canadian Women Want More Children than They're Having

February 14, 2023

Nearly half of women in Canada have fewer children than they want, writes Andrea Mrozek, a Cardus senior fellow. That's one of the key findings in a recent Cardus report that surveyed 2,700 women in Canada on fertility issues. She argues it would be a win just to acknowledge that Canadian women would like to have more children than they do. Photo by megan lynette on Unsplash

Canadian Women Are Having Fewer Babies than They Want: Report

February 8, 2023

Why do Canadian women have fewer children than they want? “Some of the most determinative factors for fertility are about culture," Lyman Stone, a demographer and Cardus senior fellow, tells The Hub. "And what they really relate to is the extent to which parents experience societal support for their choice.” Photo by Suhyeon Choi on Unsplash

All Media Coverage (66)

What else are we working toward?

Strong Family Projects Human Dignity Projects Religious Freedom Projects Healthy Community Projects Formative Education Projects Recent Projects

Learn More

Recent Research

Recent Media Coverage