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Essay about The Modern Canadian Family

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The Canadian family has been changing drastically over the 20th century. The definition of family has changed, along with the functions of families. Many modern families have veered from what we once considered the tradition family. This essay will discuss the different types of newly developed families, and some factors contributing to this change.
Same-sex couples are increasing among families. In 2001, the definition of census family was changed to incorporate same-sex couples whom live in a common-law relationship. If previous statistics before 2006 did not include same-sex common-law relationships, how accurate could the statistics have been? Herizons (2008) stated that the 2006 Canadian census was the first to allow marital status …show more content…

The differences between gender roles are not so apparent anymore. Men are not always the typical breadwinners and many women are not stay-at-home mothers. An article by Beaupré, Dryburgh, and Wendy (2010) described the transition that many men are going through. According to Beaupré, et al., (2010), fathers were once considered the forgotten parent. “Until recently studies on the family focused mainly on the mothers” (Beaupré, et al., 2010). Fortunately, both parents are now being focused on. Fathers today are much more involved in the pregnancy and birth of their child and their child’s life in general (Beaupré, et al., 2010). Beaupré, et al., (2010) explained that women’s involvement in the labour force could be a factor to this change. Women are more educated than they were in previous years. And while women want to work more, men want to be more involved in their children’s lives (Beaupré, et al., 2010). Fatherhood is occurring later in adulthood. Research stated that the majority of men are very satisfied with their involvement in their children’s lives. (Beaupré, et al., 2010). Fathers and mothers are for the most part very involved in their children’s lives. Statistic’s Canada (2006) stated that there is a trend for children to live in their parent’s home well into young adulthood. Vocational

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