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CANADIAN STUDIES IN POPULATION, 2000, Vol. 27, N° 1
Special Issue on Family Demography
Current issues in family demography: Canadian examples.
This paper presents an overview of some demographic indicators, which are found useful in measuring and making projections of changes in the family in industrialized countries. Four aspects of demographic behaviour are discussed: family formation, with an emphasis on first marriage, remarriages, and common-law unions; reproduction and delayed childbearing; women's labour force participation, especially those with younger children; and mortality among older people. The study raises a number of research and policy issues, particularly in the light of Canadian data.
(CANADA, FAMILY DEMOGRAPHY, FAMILY FORMATION, FERTILITY, FEMALE EMPLOYMENT, AGED, MORTALITY).
English - pp. 1-41.
B. Ram, Demography Division, Statistics Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
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BEAUJOT, Roderic; HADDAD, Tony.
Productivity patterns at mid-life: Family and work.
The majority of Canadian adults at mid-life are married, have children, and are employed. Nonetheless, there are variations in their relative involvement in work and family. Both marriage and children reduce the likelihood of full-time paid work for women, they increase it for men. Data on time-use indicate that the average total productive work time of women and men does not differ, but its distribution into paid and unpaid components is different, especially when young children are present. Models of the relative importance of paid and unpaid work show that neo-traditional models remain predominant, a significant minority have divisions that might be described as a "double day" for women, but other arrangements include those where men do more total work, and where men and women are more equally involved in economic and domestic activities.
(CANADA, MIDDLE AGED, MARRIAGE, FERTILITY, LABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATION, SEX DIFFERENTIALS, SEXUAL DIVISION OF LABOUR, FAMILY COMPOSITION).
English - pp. 43-62.
R. Beaujot, Department of Sociology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; T. Haddad, Applied Research Branch, Human Resources Development Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
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RAVANERA, Zenaida R.; RAJULTON, Fernando.
Variations in the length of male parenting in Canada.
This paper documents the basic parental involvement of fathers by measuring the quantity or the total amount of time lived by men with their children over their life course. Majority of men spend a great number of years living with their children, from their late 20s to late 50s or even early 60s -- a period of about 28 to 32 years. But, there are variations in men's length of parenting. Men of higher status start parenting late and end early, that is, whenever resources allow, the choices are for delayed start of parenting and early launching of children and consequently, shorter duration of parenting. Culture and opportunity structures also affect the length of parenting. And, there are indications that the trend is in the direction of a shorter duration of parenting but other analyses are necessary to determine the effect of the changes in the structure of the families on parenthood.
(CANADA, FATHER, CHILDREN, COHABITATION, LIFE CYCLE, PARENTHOOD, DURATION).
English - pp. 63-83.
Z. R. Ravanera and F. Rajulton, Population Studies Centre, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.
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LE BOURDAIS, Céline; NEILL, Ghyslaine; VACHON, Nathalie.
Family disruption in Canada: Impact of the changing patterns of family formation and of female employment.
Over the past twenty five years, Canadian families have undergone many important changes. On one hand, marriage does no longer appear to be the sole way to enter conjugal life and to start a family. On the other hand, mothers' participation to the labour market has risen importantly. What effect do these changes exert on the risk of family disruption? To answer this question, we examine the factors that are affecting the risk of disruption faced by families from the moment a child is born to the couple. We use proportional hazards models applied to the retrospective data on family collected by the 1995 General Social Survey conducted in Canada.
(CANADA, FAMILY DISINTEGRATION, FAMILY FORMATION, FEMALE EMPLOYMENT).
English - pp. 85-105.
C. Le Bourdais, G. Neill and N. Vachon, Centre interuniversitaire d'études démographiques, INRS-Urbanisation, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
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DE WIT, Margaret L.; DE WIT, David J.; EMBREE, Bryan G.
Natives' and non-Natives' relative risk of children's exposure to marital dissolution: The role of family volatility and implications for future nuptiality in native populations.
Using proportional hazards modeling, this study examined data from the Ontario Health Survey Supplement (1990/91) and a sample of Native Ontario reserve residents (Embree, 1993) in order to compare and contrast the risk and timing of early parental loss (prior to age 16) due to marital breakdown. We identify a number of family traits which, for both reserve Natives and general population residents alike, may place children at significantly increased liability of early parental loss through marital dissolution, including paternal substance abuse, maternal depression, and childhood sexual victimization. Family disruption is underestimated by 50% in the Native sample such that adjusting for non-response, Natives actually suffer more than twice the rate of marital breakdown (20.5%) of the non-reserve sample (8.8%). While Native families appear to exhibit similar precursors to marriage breakdown, they also dissolve more frequently, implying possible effects in other nuptiality related processes such as increased non-marriage, reduced (marital) fertility, and reduced marital stability more characteristic of higher-order marriages.
(CANADA, REGIONS, NATIVE RESERVATIONS, CHILDREN, DIVORCE, FAMILY DISINTEGRATION, COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS).
English - pp. 107-133.
M. L. De Wit, Southwest Region Health Information Partnership London, Ontario, Canada; D. J. De Wit, Addiction Research Foundation Division, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, London, Ontario, Canada; B. G. Embree, Huron County Health Unit, Clinton, Ontario, Canada.
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Ethnic variations in young adults living at home.
Logistic regression analysis of 1991 Canadian census data shows that age and ethnic origin group are the two most important factors underlying the varying propensities of single young adults age 20-34 to live in the parental home. Highest percentages of young adults, both men and women, living at home are found for those, declaring Greek, Italian, Balkan, Portuguese, South Asian, Chinese, Other East-Southeastern Asian, Arab and West Asian, and Jewish ethnic origins. In many of these groups, either women are more likely than men to live at home or gender differentials are small.
(CANADA, HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION, COHABITATION, CHILDREN, PARENTS, ETHNIC ORIGIN, SEX DIFFERENTIALS).
English - pp. 135-158.
M. Boyd, Department of Sociology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.A.
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Fertility change in Quebec: 1931-1991.
The predominantly Catholic province of Quebec currently has one of the lowest Total Fertility Rates ever recorded, representing a dramatic reversal of its historically high fertility levels. These changes in fertility have coincided with the rapid modernization of Quebec society, a gradual process, but which intensified in the mid to late parts of the 1950s. An age-period-cohort analysis of fertility in Quebec covering the period 1931 to 1991 indicates that much of the variation in childbearing is explained by age effects; though both cohort and period are also significant. The substantial decline in Quebec's fertility after 1960 can be attributed to period conditions in the society, affecting each age category with respect to fertility. This finding denotes support for the proposition that fertility responds mainly to period-specific shocks.
(CANADA, PROVINCES, HISTORY, FERTILITY TRENDS, FERTILITY DECLINE, PERIOD ANALYSIS, COHORT ANALYSIS, FERTILITY DETERMINANTS).
English - pp. 159-180.
C. Krull, Department of Sociology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
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On the Leontief structure of household populations.
In a given population, we consider the age distribution of all persons in households and the age distribution of household-heads or household-markers. We show that the formal relationship holding between the two age distributions is equivalent to the input-output relationship in the Leontief model of the open economy. The notions of household composition and household accommodation which have emerged independently over the past two decades, are shown to be formally linked within this relationship.
(THEORETICAL DEMOGRAPHY, HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION, AGE DISTRIBUTION, ECONOMIC MODELS).
English - pp. 181-193.
A. Akkerman, Department of Geography, The Regional and Urban Development Program, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
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Modeling and projection of age and sex specific marriage rates.
Age and sex specific marriage rates and crude marriage rates of Canada and Provinces from 1975 to 1995 are analyzed in this paper. Single value decomposition method is applied to the matrix of age specific rates for a 21 year period. It is found that two components (out of 13 orthogonal components) is sufficient to reproduce the observed values. This model could be used to project the age specific marriage rates. A regression analysis of the crude marriage rates for the provinces of Canada show that there is significant regional variation and Quebec stands out from the rest of the provinces. There is a linear trend of declining marriage rates over time. It is seen that the odds of getting married (as indicated by the crude rate) declined by about 2% per year in the last 20 years. It is suggested that single value decomposition should be undertaken for provinces of Canada for the purpose of projecting the marriage rates for a longer period than five years.
(CANADA, PROVINCES, NUPTIALITY RATE, AGE-SPECIFIC RATE, DEMOGRAPHIC MODELS, PROJECTIONS, CRUDE RATE).
English - pp. 195-207.
N. Lalu, Population Research Laboratory, Department of Sociology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
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Log-linear rate modeling of cross-classified divorce data.
Analysis of tabular data based on censuses or vital statistics concerning demographic events such as births, deaths, marriages, divorce and migration can be easily executed with log-linear methods. This paper shows how published cross-classified data on divorce can be analyzed with the use of log-linear rate modeling, which is a special case of the general log-linear model. While there exists other introductions to this topic, they tend to be quite technical and assume that readers are familiar with the rudiments and computational aspects of this method. The main objective is to provide a rudimentary exposition of the log-rate model and its application to demographic data analysis. The illustrative analysis uses published vital statistics tabular data on divorces by duration of marriage for the Canadian provinces and the territories for 1971, 1981, 1991, and 1995.
(CANADA, PROVINCES, DIVORCE RATE, DEMOGRAPHIC MODELS, METHODOLOGY).
English - pp. 209-229.
T. S. J. Abada, Department of Sociology and Population Research Laboratory, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
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The probability of divorce in Canada, 1981-1995.
Significant variations in divorce rates have been documented across Canada's provinces and territories. In this research note the author examines the extent to which geographic probabilities of divorce have been changing over the period 1981-1995, based on an index developed by Pressat, the probability of divorce among the currently married. The results point to a general persistence of provincial and territorial differences in divorce risk. There is also a notable (though irregular) east-west gradient in divorce probabilities. This requires further study and analysis.
(CANADA, PROVINCES, REGIONAL DEMOGRAPHY, DIVORCE RATE).
English - pp. 231-238.
F. Trovato, Department of Sociology and Population Research Laboratory, The University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
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LAPIERRE-ADAMCYK, Évelyne; CHARVET, Carole.
Cohabitation and marriage: An assessment of research in demography.
The 20th century has witnessed extraordinary demographic transformations. Starting with the middle of the 19th century, the demographic transition will have within the past 150 years completed its turn of the planet, rousing with it social and economic evolutions for which it is still quite difficult to evaluate the significance. Without giving the demographic changes more importance than they deserve, we cannot prevent being filled with wonder by the metamorphosis of events that frame human life and constitute the fundamental phenomena of various demographic trends. We have indeed observed a mortality decline without precedent and a reduction of fertility; the different rhythm of these declines has produced the formidable population growth that culminated in the 1950s. The path that has led to the stabilization of the fundamental demographic phenomena is associated with social transformations; therefore, societal structures will have to support this new demographic balance marked by the prolongation of life, a decreasing fertility rate, the aging of the population and migratory movements of unpredictable proportions (Jackson and Pool, 1994).
(FERTILITY TRENDS, MORTALITY TRENDS, POPULATION DYNAMICS, DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION, SOCIAL CHANGE, MIGRATION).
English - pp. 239-254.
É. Lapierre-Adamcyk and C. Charvet, Center for Inter-university Demographic Studies (CIDS), Department of Demography, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
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CANADIAN STUDIES IN POPULATION, 2000, Vol. 27, No. 2
Demographic change and young adults living with parents, 1981-1996.
Special tabulations from the 1981, 1986, 1991 and 1996 Canadian censuses indicate temporal trends in the percentages of young adults, age 15-34, living with parents. Temporal shifts are decomposed to reveal three sources of change: alterations in age and marital specific rates; the aging of the young adult population over time and the growth in the percentages of young adults who are unmarried. The decomposition reveals that each factor is an important source of change, but that the relative importance varies over the fifteen year period. Among the empirical findings are: a) by 1996 the percentages of young adults co-residing with parents was at highest level observed during the fifteen year period; b) although the propensity to live with parents was highest for the unmarried segment of the young adult population, over time the percentages of married young adults who lived with parents also increased; c) compared to the 1980s, the young adult population living with parents is older.
(CANADA, PARENTS, CHILDREN, COHABITATION, HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION, TRENDS).
English - pp. 267-281.
M. Boyd, Center for the Study of Population, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.A.; D. Norris, Housing, Family and Social Statistics Division, Statistics Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
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A critical review of South African life tables.
The paper gives a critical review of South African life tables published since the 1920s. The published life tables were subjected to internal and external consistency checks to assess their plausibility. Life tables-based quantitative measures such as: under-five mortality, entropy, life expectancy at birth and Anson's U were computed for South Africa, and for the purpose of comparison, for Canada as well. In the case of Canada, the measures computed show normal and consistent trends while in the case of South Africa, there were marked inconsistencies in the trends. The paper argues that the South African life tables of the past, under-estimated mortality on the basis of the assumption that death registration was complete.
(SOUTH AFRICA, CANADA, LIFE TABLES, HISTORY, QUALITY OF DATA, DATA EVALUATION, UNDERESTIMATION, MORTALITY MEASUREMENT).
English - pp. 283-306.
S. Bah, Statistics South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa.
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TREMBLAY, Marc; GAGNON, Nicolas; HEYER, Evelyne.
A genealogical analysis of two Eastern Quebec populations.
This study is part of an ongoing research project that aims at analysing and comparing the demoraphic and genetic origins of Quebec's regional populations. Using the BALSAC-RETRO genealogical database, 160 genealogies from the Charlevoix and Rimouski regions were reconstructed; these ascendances go back over 12 generations. Various descriptive parameters were calculated for each group of genealogies. The origins and genetic contribution of nearly 2000 17th century founders identified in these genealogies are presented. These founders came mainly from north-western parts of France, and their contribution explains approximately 77% of the Charlevoix gene pool and 74% of the Rimouski gene pool. The first 10% of founders provide 63% and 79% of the total contribution to Rimouski and Charlevoix respectively.
(CANADA, REGIONS, GENEALOGY, HISTORICAL DEMOGRAPHY, POPULATION GENETICS).
English - pp. 307-327.
M. Tremblay, N. Gagnon, Interuniversity Institute for Population Research, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada; E. Heyer, Laboratoire d'anthropologie biologique, CNRS - Musée de l'Homme, Paris, France.
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Contributions of socioeconomic, sociopsychological and biological factors to fertility differentials in Canada.
Despite the feeling among researchers in Canada that fertility differential by ethnicity, religion, and region are narrowing, these differences are still noticeable. The purpose of this paper is to examine the contributions of socioeconomic, sociopsychological and biological factors to these differences. The analysis uses data from the 1984 Canadian Fertility Survey. The results from regression decomposition analysis show that fertility differentials by structural factors have narrowed in recent years. Economic factors, such as couple's standard of living, their financial future and financial success, contribute very little for fertility explanations. Sociopsychological process within the family, measured by gender role egalitarianism and the subjective value of children, shows couple's in joint-role relationships have fewer children and the subjective value of children is positively related to fertility.
(CANADA, DIFFERENTIAL FERTILITY, FERTILITY DETERMINANTS, SOCIO-ECONOMIC DIFFERENTIALS, SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS).
English - pp. 329-354.
J. Jayachandran, Concordia University College of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
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How many people should the earth hold? Framing questions about values.
The number of people the earth can hold currently is estimated to be anything up to 30 billion or more. Just where within that huge range we should aim is not a question of scientific fact as much as a question about human values, and what criterion will lead to a wise choice. This paper is an invitation to look at that choice thoughtfully, and try to deal with one of the most elementary but vital issues: the questions that probe our values get different answers, depending on how we frame the questions -- in terms of gain or loss, in terms of acts of omission or commission. Amid a wide diversity of views, however, one commands strong support: we should aim for a population where the average welfare X and the total number of people N are both large. It is a mistake to maximise just X alone or N alone.
(WORLD POPULATION, SOCIAL WELFARE, POPULATION SIZE, VALUE SYSTEMS, CHOICE).
English - pp. 355-376.
T. H. Wonnacott, Department of Statistical and Actuarial Science, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.
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Nationalism and fertility in Francophone Montreal: The majority as minority.
Forty years ago, on the eve of the Revolution Tranquille, Québécois fertility was among the highest in North America. Today it is among the lowest. This paper analyses fertility in Quebec in terms of the minority group hypotheses, interpreting its low level as the class action of a minority group struggling to define its national, Francophone identity, within an Anglophone ambience. Québécois nationalism specifies Quebec as a unique reality in an Anglophone North America, and looks to the Province to create and maintain the conditions for this uniqueness to express itself. Nonetheless, the Francophone population, and in particular the middle class of entrepreneurs and government officials, remains in the classic position of a disadvantaged minority, which expresses itself in lowered Québécois fertility. The analysis focuses on fertility in census enumeration districts in Montreal, as recorded at the 1991 census, contrasting Francophone with Anglophone and other areas, at various levels of education and income.
(CANADA, PROVINCES, METROPOLIS, FERTILITY DECLINE, FERTILITY DETERMINANTS, MINORITY GROUPS, LINGUISTIC GROUPS, NATIONALISM).
English - pp. 377-400.
J. Ansen, Spitzer Department of Social Work, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, and Interface Demography (SOCO), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
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