As Canada's population continues to record high life expectancy and a decreasing fertility rate, individuals may increasingly rely upon vertical family ties for support and companionship. Sharing a home with extended family may be a deliberate strategy to overcome challenges such as housing affordability and the rising cost of living, as well as a reflection of shifting lifestyle and cultural preferences.
New studies released today shed light on two emerging trends in living arrangements in Canada: multigenerational households, which include three or more generations of the same family, and intergenerational households, composed of parents and their adult children aged 20 years and older.
These two studies use data from the 2021 Census of Population to examine the sociodemographic and economic characteristics of people living in multigenerational or intergenerational households. Results are presented for each generation residing in these households.
Characteristics of people living in multigenerational households
In 2021, 2.4 million people in Canada lived in a multigenerational household, which is composed of three or more generations of the same family. The study, "Unpacking Canada's multigenerational households: A look at the people who call them home," examines the sociodemographic and economic characteristics of people living in multigenerational households.
The prevalence of multigenerational living in 2021 varied considerably across the country. While one in four people (24.9%) in Nunavut lived in a multigenerational household, this was the case for 3.1% of people living in Quebec. Among Canada's urban areas, the census metropolitan areas of Abbotsford–Mission (17.5%) and Toronto (11.6%) had the highest proportions of people living in multigenerational households.
Of people living in a multigenerational household in 2021, over half (52.7%) were racialized and two-fifths (40.5%) were born outside of Canada. Both of these proportions were considerably higher than those of people living in other types of households. Indeed, among people living in another type of household, 24.7% were racialized and 25.5% were born outside of Canada.
Multigenerational living was most prevalent among people reporting an ethnic or cultural origin rooted in South Asia. In 2021, more than one-third of people with a Sikh (36.6%) or Punjabi (34.2%) ethnic or cultural origin lived in a multigenerational household. Proportions were also relatively high among people with a Tamil (21.7%), Pakistani (19.3%), Indian (19.0%) or Sri Lankan (18.7%) ethnic or cultural origin.
Among individuals comprising the oldest generation in multigenerational households, nearly one-quarter (23.8%) did not know English or French well enough to conduct a conversation.
While relatively fewer multigenerational households (11.1%) had unaffordable housing compared with other households (20.8%), a higher proportion of multigenerational households were characterized as crowded (28.3% compared with 4.7%).
Characteristics of co-residing parents and adult children
In 2021, 7.1 million people, or one-fifth (19.5%) of the population living in a private household, lived in an intergenerational household, which is composed of parents and their adult children aged 20 years and older, without any additional generations present. The study, "Adulting together: Parents and adult children who co-reside," describes the sociodemographic and economic characteristics of individuals living in intergenerational households.
For young adults pursuing post-secondary studies, living in the parental home can offer considerable cost savings when feasible. In 2021, nearly half (47.5%) of people aged 20 to 34 years who were attending school lived with their parents in an intergenerational household.
Aside from being a means of managing household expenses while attending school, co-residing with one's parents may be considered a necessity for some individuals in the absence of alternative sources of wealth or income. Among people aged 20 to 54 years in 2021, a lower proportion of those living with their parents in an intergenerational household were employed compared with their counterparts living in another arrangement. The employment gap between the two groups was widest among people aged 45 to 49 years, of whom 59.9% of people living with their parents in an intergenerational household were employed compared with 81.5% of people living in another type of household.
In contrast, retirement-aged parents living with their adult children may continue to engage in paid employment to support their children financially to some degree. As evidence of this, among people aged 50 to 69 years in 2021, employment rates were higher among those who were parents in intergenerational households than among people living in other types of households. The largest differences were for people aged 65 to 69 years, among whom 32.0% of parents in intergenerational households were employed compared with 24.6% of people living in other arrangements.
Note to readers
For more information about trends in families, households and living arrangements, see the Families, households and marital status statistics portal on the Statistics Canada website.
The studies presented in this release use data from the 2021 Census of Population, and its main purpose is to enumerate the population. To ensure that individuals are counted only once in the census, people in private households are counted as residing at only one dwelling, and in only one household, by applying the concept of the usual place of residence. In turn, census families are identified based on relationships among people who share a usual place of residence. A consequence of this approach to identifying families is that it may not fully reflect the complexity of family and household characteristics, especially for people who split their time between two or more residences. For more information on these considerations, see the appendix of the Families, Households and Marital Status Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2021.
Given that the non-binary population is small, data aggregation to a two-category gender variable is sometimes necessary to protect the confidentiality of responses provided. In these cases, individuals in the category "non-binary persons" are distributed into the other two gender categories. In the studies presented in this release, the category "women" includes women, as well as some non-binary persons, and the category "men" includes men, as well as some non-binary persons.
Definitions
The term "generation" can have different meanings depending on the social phenomenon being examined. For example, a demographic generation refers to a group of people born within a specific range of years who have grown up in a shared social, economic or political context, such as the Millennial generation. Generation status can also be used in the context of immigration. For example, a "second-generation Canadian" is someone who was born in Canada and has at least one parent born outside of Canada.
In the two new studies released today, the term "generation" refers to relationships within a family. For instance, in a household consisting of a child, the child's mother and the child's grandmother, the child is considered the youngest generation, the child's mother is considered the middle generation and the grandmother, the oldest generation.
A multigenerational household refers to a household in which there is:
• at least one person who is both the grandparent of a person in the household and the parent of another person in the same household, or
• there is at least one person who is both the child of a person in the household and the grandchild of another person in the same household.
An intergenerational household refers to a household composed of at least one parent (the older generation) and at least one of their adult children aged 20 years and older (the younger generation), without any additional generations of the family. Other relatives or non-relatives may be present, including younger siblings, spouses or partners of the adult children.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).