Céline Le Bourdais

The changing context of fatherhood in Canada: A life course analysis

Current sociological research acknowledges the growing complexity of fatherhood and the widening divide observed between mens conjugal and parental careers. Little is known however of the importance of these changes in the population at large. What proportion of men for example continue to experience fatherhood within a single durable relationship? How many have to reassess their role at its collapse? To what extent do men have to juggle different paternal roles simultaneously or live through a series of episodes as a father and how is this diversity of experience evolving from one generation to another? In this paper we attempt to answer some of these questions using multiple-decrement life table techniques to analyse retrospective data concerning the conjugal and parental histories of Canadian men. Our analysis reveals the extent and speed of the paternal life course transformation and suggests that this will continue at least in the mid-term. (EXCERPT)

The Early Life Courses of Canadian Men: Analysis of Timing and Sequences of Events

This paper focuses on the transition to adulthood of Canadian men born from 1916 to 1975. Through a life course framework, six early life events - school completion, work start, home-leaving, cohabitation, first marriage, and first birth - are examined using data from the 1995 Canadian General Social Survey of the Family. The trends in the timing and spread of each event, the length of transition to adulthood, and the trajectories to marriage indicate that the early life courses of Canadian men have changed tremendously with more diversified family behaviours and significant increases in ages at school completion and at start of regular work.

Le départ du foyer parental des jeunes Canadiens nés entre 1921 et 1960.

Lapierre-Adamcyk (Evelyne), Le Bourdais (Celine), Lehrhaupt (Karen). - El abandono del hogar paterno de los jovenes canadienses nacidos entre 1921 y 1960 Utilizando datos retrospectivos procedentes de la Encuesta Social General de 1990 realizada por Statistique Canada, los autores examinan el abandono del hogar paterno de los jovenes canadienses nacidos entre 1921 y 1960. En primer lugar, el articulo muestra la dis- minucion de la edad al marcharse entre los jovenes que llegaron a edades adultas despues de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. A continuacion se demuestra, a traves del metodo de anali- sis de transiciones, que los calendarios de partida de hombres y mujeres reaccionan de forma distinta a un mismo estimulo demografico o socio-cultural. En el caso de las mujeres, se observa un efecto especifico de la generacion, de los lazos familiares y de la escolarizacion; en cambio, el contexto economico parece influir mas fuertemente en los hombres. Estas dis- tinciones aparecen menos claramente cuando el motivo del abandono es la formacion de una union.

Factors related to union formation among single mothers in Canada.

Using data on 1257 women from the 1984 Family History Survey our study attempts to identify the factors that are associated with union formation among single mothers in Canada. Particular attention is given to disentangling the impact that three factors--the event at the origin of the episode of single parenthood its time of occurrence and the parental responsibilities borne by single mothers--exert on their propensity to start living with a partner. The analysis is carried out using proportional hazards models. (EXCERPT)

Stepfamilies in Canada and Germany, a Comparison

According to the last General Social Survey (GSS) on family, there were slightly over 500.000 stepfamilies living in Canada in 2001. These families represented 11,8% of all couples living with children of any given age in their household, and 9,2% of both one- and two-parent families comprising children (Statistics Canada 2002). These figures are a little higher than the percentage of 7% of stepfamilies observed in Germany among two-parent families comprising at least one child under the age of 18 (Teubner 2002a). The proportion of stepfamilies has been rising steadily over the past decades, as the rates of divorce and separation increased, and it is most likely to keep growing in the future as conjugal instability remains high. Stepfamilies, which comprise at least one child born from a previous relationship, differ in many respects from “intact families” that solely comprise children born to the ongoing couple, and they have sometimes been categorized as a form of dysfunctional families (Saint-Jacques 1998; Thery 1987). Yet, quantitative research on stepfamilies is still passably rare and international comparisons remain few, perhaps due to the difficulties encountered when trying to identify and analyse this type of families. This chapter aims to draw a broad portrait of current stepfamilies in Canada and to compare it against that described in Germany by Bien et al. (2002).

Visible minorities and ‘White’–‘non-White’ conjugal unions in Canadian large cities

Abstract The study investigates assortative mating patterns with respect to race (visible minority status) in Canada. Using the 2001 Census data, the article analyses the occurrence of White/non-White unions in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Log-linear models indicate that the relative levels of interracial relationships vary across racial groups, immigration status, and place of residence. First, the highest odds of cohabiting or marrying a White person are found among Blacks. Whereas the high level of racial exogamy of Blacks is observed in all metropolitan areas under study, the relative position of other groups varies. Second, the highest levels of racial exogamy are found among couples composed of an immigrant and a non-immigrant but this effect varies across racial groups. Third, our hypothesis that residents of Montreal (Quebec) will inter-partner less was confirmed only for unions between two native-born Canadians. Finally, we found that French Canadians are not more inclusive of their linguistic counterparts than Anglophones.

Impact of Providing Care on the Risk of Leaving Employment in Canada

Le vieillissement de la population entraînera sans doute une augmentation du nombre de personnes ayant besoin d’aide. Il est bien connu qu’une grande part de l’aide reçue provient, et continuera de provenir, du réseau informel de proches et d’amis. Cependant, les effets qu’exerce la prestation de soins sur les trajectoires d’emploi des individus lorsque ces soins sont cumulés à des régimes d’emploi d’intensités variées ou à des responsabilités parentales ont été peu analysés. La présente étude utilise les données de l’Enquête sociale générale, cycles 20 et 21, pour évaluer l’impact de fournir des soins à un conjoint, un parent ou beau-parent, une autre personne apparentée ou une personne non-apparentée sur le risque de quitter son emploi à l’aide des modèles à risques proportionnels. Les analyses montrent que le fait de prodiguer des soins à un parent ou beau-parent augmente la probabilité de quitter son emploi, mais seulement chez les femmes qui travaillent à plein temps, ainsi que chez les hommes et les femmes qui n’ont pas d’enfants ou qui ont seulement des enfants d’âge adulte.Population aging is likely to lead to an increase in the number of people in need of assistance. It is well known that a large part of this assistance originates, and will continue to originate, from the network of relatives and friends. However, the effects of the provision of care on individuals’ employment trajectories when this care is combined with employment of varying intensity or with childcare responsibilities have rarely been examined. The present study used proportional hazards models with the General Social Survey, Cycles 20 and 21, to assess the impact of providing care to a partner, a parent or parent-in-law, another relative, or a non-relative on the risk of leaving employment. The analyses show that providing care to a parent or parent-in-law increases the probability of leaving employment only among women employed full-time and among men and women who have no children or only adult children.

Are parental leaves considered as work interruptions by survey respondents? A methodological note

Parental leaves and family-related work interruptions are linked to a variety of issues, such as children’s well-being or women’s work trajectories. Yet, the measurement of periods of absence from the labour market might be imprecise, especially in retrospective surveys. To evaluate the quality of the collected information, we examine whether women who reported taking a parental leave longer than six months also mentioned a corresponding work interruption, using the 2008 Living in Canada Survey (LCS) – Pilot. Our analysis shows that nearly half of women failed to do so. We investigate the sources of the discrepancy and suggest possible avenues of change for future surveys.

The consequences of parental divorce on the life course outcomes of Canadian children

Applying the theory of the intergenerational transmission of divorce, this paper examines the consequences of parental divorce on three aspects of the life course of children: union formation, nonmarital fertility, and marital dissolution. The 1995 Canadian General Social Survey (GSS) is used to estimate various regression models (Cox proportional hazards). Results show that children of divorced parents have a significantly higher likelihood to have births outside of marriage, enter into cohabiting unions, and to experience higher levels of divorce. Throughout the paper, attention is placed on the markedly different behaviour observed in Quebec compared to elsewhere in Canada.

The Effect of Education on Early Parenthood among Young Canadian Adults

We use the Youth in Transition Survey (YITS) to examine the link between education and early parenthood in Canada. Estimates from proportional hazard models reveal that the exit from fulltime schooling increases the risk of becoming a young parent. However, this risk is tempered by the level of education achieved. Other measures related to education indicate that skipping classes increases the risk of early parenthood for men and women, whereas having peers committed to education reduces the risk for both. Yet higher educational aspirations and more extra curricular activities reduce the risk of parenthood, but for women only.