3 reasons there are more dual-income families: StatsCan

Canadian families with children are more likely than ever to have both parents in the workforce, says a new Canadian Megatrends report by Statistics Canada.

The agency finds the number of Canadian families with at least one child aged under the age of 16 and two employed parents has almost doubled in the last 40 years―from 1 million families in 1976 to 1.9 million in 2015. As of 2015, nearly 7 in 10 families with children were dual-income, compared to only 4 in 10 in 1976.

This shift is due to several factors, says StatsCan, including:

changes in cultural attitudes;
more women seeking higher education (read: Top female CEOs earned more on average than males); and
to some extent, more flexible working arrangements and greater support for families.

The proportion of dual-income families varies among the provinces. In 1976, Alberta had the highest proportion of dual-earner couples among couples with children (43%), followed by Ontario (42%), while the Atlantic provinces (27%) and Quebec (29%) had the lowest proportions.

By 2015, the tables had turned: Alberta had the lowest proportion of dual-earning couples with children (64%), while Saskatchewan (74%) and Quebec (73%) had the highest proportion.

Click here to download the whole report.

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