It used to be said half of all marriages end in divorce. Turns out, it’s mostly an old wive’s tale.A new study from the Vanier Institute of the Family on Tuesday finds that Canadian divorce rates have been falling since the 1990s and are now the lowest since 1973 and approaching levels before divorce laws were liberalized in 1968.The flip side is that fewer people are getting married. And those that do are holding off and getting hitched later in life. Another factor is that people who are in marriages are aging — many of those end when one spouse dies..The report cited economic factors in addition to changing social, demographic and cultural trends. Young people are staying with their parents longer, having children later and avoiding purchasing homes.It’s pretty tough to get married living in your parent’s basement. According to 2021 census data half of those aged 20-29 are still living with at least one parent.“Furthermore, more young people are pursuing higher education and establishing careers before considering marriage,” it said. “Economic factors, such as high prices for housing and postsecondary education make it more challenging for young couples to save enough money to establish a household and feel financially secure before getting married.”“Many young adults prioritize personal growth, self discovery, and finding the right partner before making a long-term commitment like marriage.”.It’s not so much that people aren’t hooking up, but that the nature of those relationships and how they’re defined is changing.In 2021, nearly 60% of Canadians 15 and older were in some kind of conjugal relationship — 77% of those were full-blown marriages. That compares to 94% in 1981. In 2021, 22.7% of all relationships in Canada were common law. the report notes this rate continues to increase and is highest in Quebec and Nunavut. In 2020 the average age of the average married couple was 34.8 years, up from 31.3 years in 1994. The average age of those who wed for the first time also increased, from 27.8 to 31.2 years in the same period..Since the risk of divorce decreases the older one gets married, this shift could result in longer lasting marriages on average it added.When common-law couples break up there is no legal obligation to divide property or go through such formalities in most parts of the country. Consequently those numbers aren’t recorded in divorce data.The report notes that the steepest decline in marriage rates in Canadian history took pace in 2020 during the height of the Covid pandemic and have yet to recover.The report also notes a higher proportion of multi-generational families, particularly in provinces like British Columbia and Ontario that have correspondingly higher levels of immigration.It also notes changing and evolving legal definitions for polyamorous unions.
It used to be said half of all marriages end in divorce. Turns out, it’s mostly an old wive’s tale.A new study from the Vanier Institute of the Family on Tuesday finds that Canadian divorce rates have been falling since the 1990s and are now the lowest since 1973 and approaching levels before divorce laws were liberalized in 1968.The flip side is that fewer people are getting married. And those that do are holding off and getting hitched later in life. Another factor is that people who are in marriages are aging — many of those end when one spouse dies..The report cited economic factors in addition to changing social, demographic and cultural trends. Young people are staying with their parents longer, having children later and avoiding purchasing homes.It’s pretty tough to get married living in your parent’s basement. According to 2021 census data half of those aged 20-29 are still living with at least one parent.“Furthermore, more young people are pursuing higher education and establishing careers before considering marriage,” it said. “Economic factors, such as high prices for housing and postsecondary education make it more challenging for young couples to save enough money to establish a household and feel financially secure before getting married.”“Many young adults prioritize personal growth, self discovery, and finding the right partner before making a long-term commitment like marriage.”.It’s not so much that people aren’t hooking up, but that the nature of those relationships and how they’re defined is changing.In 2021, nearly 60% of Canadians 15 and older were in some kind of conjugal relationship — 77% of those were full-blown marriages. That compares to 94% in 1981. In 2021, 22.7% of all relationships in Canada were common law. the report notes this rate continues to increase and is highest in Quebec and Nunavut. In 2020 the average age of the average married couple was 34.8 years, up from 31.3 years in 1994. The average age of those who wed for the first time also increased, from 27.8 to 31.2 years in the same period..Since the risk of divorce decreases the older one gets married, this shift could result in longer lasting marriages on average it added.When common-law couples break up there is no legal obligation to divide property or go through such formalities in most parts of the country. Consequently those numbers aren’t recorded in divorce data.The report notes that the steepest decline in marriage rates in Canadian history took pace in 2020 during the height of the Covid pandemic and have yet to recover.The report also notes a higher proportion of multi-generational families, particularly in provinces like British Columbia and Ontario that have correspondingly higher levels of immigration.It also notes changing and evolving legal definitions for polyamorous unions.
