Typical Canadian Family Unit example essay topic

Is The Family Dying? Is the Canadian family dying? Divorce rates across the country are on the rise, fewer long-term relationships result in marriage, and fewer children are sitting around the dinner table each night with their parents. These trends suggest that the traditional family is slipping from its roots, and in essence, dying. But what is a Canadian family? Many different definitions of family may be used in our modern day society, which include extended families, stepfamilies, blended families, and the nuclear family.

Perhaps the Canadian family is not dying, but rather it is changing. The demographic face of Canadian society has changed. Fifty years ago, the typical Canadian family unit was much larger, as our grandparents had more children. Most women dedicated their time to raising the children while the men were the breadwinners of the family.

The era of World War Two introduced more women to working in factories, and taking on a new life outside of the home. This drastically changed the cycle of the Canadian family, as women began to be more career orientated. This lead to the future of the independent women, a new trend in which women began focusing on secondary education and careers, before starting a family. In 1991, 65% of women aged 20-24 were single, compared with 51% in 1981. More and more, women are putting families on hold, until they are personally financially stable. This revolution led to households with fewer children, due to the later marriage.

In 1986, the average number of children per marriage was 1.2, as opposed to 3.2 in the 1930's. Women are still having families, but this is not always their first priority. The divorce rate in Canada is on the rise, and has become much more acceptable over the years. Divorce laws in Canada have been changed to make divorce much more obtainable and equitable for all Canadian citizens. The divorce rate in Canada had tripled from 1951 up until 1987. Although divorce is the gateway to the ending of what is considered a nuclear family, many other types of families are introduced through divorce.

Divorce is not always the ending of a family, but in many cases, it is the start of a new one. Stepfamilies, blended families, and lone parent families, are all families that can result after divorce. A Stepfamily according to The Canadian Oxford Dictionary is " a family unit in which either or both of the parents has children from a previous relationship or marriage". This has become more popular as many people prefer to remarry after they have been divorced.

Blended families are of the same genre, as it is a family consisting of children from more than one marriage. This family was made more acceptable through the ever-loved "Brady Bunch", of television fame. Another type of family, which many Canadians reside in, is the lone- parent family. This occurs when a single parent is the sole caregiver of his / her children. More often than not, the lone-parent is female. But it is becoming more common than ever before that the lone-parent is male.

In 1991,165,240 of lone-parents were male, while in 1996,192,275 were male. This slight rise in numbers is continuous, and proves that it is becoming more acceptable for the men to raise the children after divorce, than it ever has been in the past. Because the face of Canada has changed, so has the definition of a family. Canada is an ethical diverse country, where immigration is common, and people from many different backgrounds and cultures become Canadian residents. In 1999-2001,205,469 immigrants moved from their country and became Canadian citizens.

Different ethnic groups have different definitions of what constitutes a family. For instance, Canadian government has a policy, which allows immigrants to bring extended family members to Canada with them. These family members are often grandparents, aunts, or uncles. This creates another type of family, which is also quite common, known as the extended family. In this family, there is often more than one generation of relatives, all living under one household.

Canada is multicultural, and with that, we accept more types of families. In conclusion, the Canadian family is far from dying. Families are becoming much more diverse than they were in the past. There is no one definition to describe what a typical family is, because each family is different and unique. The "traditional" family still exists, but Canadians are more open to different options to suit their needs and lifestyles.

The Canadian family is constantly in motion, and continues to change from day to day.