Families and living arrangements - ARCHIVED

The majority of women and girls in Canada live in families although there is much diversity in their particular living arrangements. This chapter of Women in Canada begins with a brief overview of the family context and living arrangements of girls aged 14 and under but focuses primarily on those of women aged 15 and over. Topics to be examined include the conjugal status of women, that is, the extent to which women are in legal marriages or common-law unions, and whether these women in couples are opposite-sex or same-sex or include children in the home. In addition, trends related to women in stepfamilies, divorced or separated women and lone-mother families will be analysed. Other living arrangements of women, such as living alone, with relatives, or only with non-relatives, as well as fertility patterns, will also be explored.