Different Demographics of Modern Family in Canada Essay

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Canadian Family

As Luxton (2011) notes, "Families remain central in the lives of most people and to Canadian society" (p. 1). However, there is no real "look" to the typical family anymore. So many changes have come into society over the last 50 to 75 years that the concept of "family" is much more radically different today than it was in the first half of the 20th century. Today, a child can grow up without a father or without a mother in some cases. Or a child can have two fathers or two mothers. For many parents, having a couple kids is as many as they want.

I take a traditional approach when it comes to the concept of family. I have a husband and together we have 5 children. It is a full house but to me it is a blessed house, with lots of love, activity, joy and companionship. However, this type of family is not "modern" in the sense that it is larger than most, it is not broken (my husband and I are married, never divorced), and the children are abundant. For example, common-law couples make up 16.7% of all Canadian census families and lone-parent families make up 16.3%. That means almost 1 in 3 families are either single-parent or have unmarried parents (Portrait of Families and Living Arrangements in Canada, 2012).

The pictures I chose to include in this paper are images that to me reflect my concept of family but also to some extent the general concept of family as well. The pictures show various people of all ages together. They are happy, as families should be, because they provide support and care and love for one another. They are like shelter to each other.

The first picture I chose because it is a picture of a family like mine -- a husband and wife and five children. In the picture they are all holding hands and watching the sunset. While our family never does this, the thematic expression of the image is what made me choose it, because it depicts how families, especially large ones, have to stick together and hold on to each other for support.

The second picture I chose because it is a picture of a family of three generations, and this is what I think family in general consists of. No family, no matter how big or how small, is an island unto itself. Everyone came from somewhere and, for me, it is important that we remember that and keep in contact with our parents and grandparents while they are still living. That is why this picture is a significant representation of family in general.

The third picture to me illustrates the bigness of family and how really we are all a part of the same big family. There are so many people in this family picture that they are hard to count. That to me is what actual family is like: and when our families get together for special occasions it is like this. But on another level, our communities are like families too, with bonds that are shared and concern for each other. So that sense families are greater than just Mom and Dad and kids but also include neighbors and friends as well.

In comparison with statistical representations of families in Canada, these pictures do not exactly meet the mark. For instance, of the two that actually show families (the first only shows a silhouette), the one is of an Asian family and the second is over a very ethnically diverse family, with white, Asian, black and Middle Eastern individuals in the mix. While it is true that there are families that are this diverse, the statistics show that they are in the minority in Canada, as most of Canada's families are of Canadian, English, French, Scottish, Irish and German descent (Ethnocultural Portrait of Canada -- Data Table, 2007).

There is also the 42.4% rise of same sex couple families from 2006 to 2011 in Canada, and this rise can be seen as due primarily to the sociocultural changes in Canada regarding more openness to same-sex unions and marriage both in the popular media and in current law (Canadian Households in 2011, 2011). This rise reflects the impact of the law allowing same sex marriages in Canada, which went into effect over this same period. The sociocultural change that supports this shifting demographic in terms of Canadian families is located in the more politically correct and liberal way of viewing human nature and concepts such as family and marriage.

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This more expansive concept of marriage is one that is popular not just in Canada but also around the world. While it has made many people happy, my own personal view of marriage is more traditional in the sense that I view marriage as a means towards having and raising children in a stable environment. This was always my experience growing up as I came from a traditional family, so I can understand how it would not be everyone's experience, since we are all different and have different backgrounds and cultures. Indeed, as Kaakinen, Coehlo, Steele, Tabacco, and Hanson (2014) state, "families vary in structure, function, and processes. Families even vary within given cultures because every family has its own unique culture" (p. 4). Thus, it is important to understand how no two families are really the same and how everyone should be approached with a sense of openness and a desire to understand the contextual framework in which a particular family is situated.

In terms of the images I chose, this sociocultural change is not really reflected in any of them. It could perhaps be reflected in the final image, because there are so many people in it, there is no way of knowing whether anyone is same sex or not. Several individuals of the same sex are together with arms around one another's shoulders. This could be interpreted as reflective of the sociocultural shift in Canada's demographics on this level but it does not necessarily have to be. In essence, this photograph signifies the less rigid structure of the family system in today's world, the diversity, the complexity, and the nature of what family and matrimony means (most of the individuals are adults and they far outnumber the children in the picture, perhaps also indicating that fewer people and families are having children today).

Another sociocultural shift that could have something to do with the fact that fewer children are being born may have something to do with the economic downturn that has resulted over the past decade and looks to be getting even worse as industries like steel slowdown, indicating that the economy overall is still in a considerable depression. This fact has a ripple effect on the society and means that employment is likely to be more difficult as there is less activity in the overall marketplace, and fewer positions available. Coupled with the fact that many young people are emerging from college with a lot of debt on their shoulders, the lack of opportunity points to the theory that the trend in recent years of younger adults living longer with parents or other relatives is having an impact on the way that families in today's world are being shaped.

The economic approach to families in Canada is one that plays a part in understanding families as well. I know that in my own experience, having five children can be quite expensive and it means that we have to very seriously watch our budget and manage our finances just in order to provide for the family. There are a lot of sacrifices that one must make if one wants to have a large family with a middle-class income in today's world, but in my view these sacrifices are worth it because children are one of the best investments parents can make. Some people might not view them in this light, but when I think about raising our kids to be good and strong then it gives me hope and encouragement for the future. It is also some solace when I think on the later years when my husband and I are both elderly and unable to care for ourselves. It is a nice thought to think that our children will be there to look after us just as we looked after them when they were young.

Nonetheless, we take the economy seriously and we have to budget accordingly when attempting to plan for the coming months or years. Younger people might not be accustomed to doing this or might not realize that one can start a family without being "rich," but that it just means that you have to forego some of the "nicer" things. So there is perhaps a clash between the materialistic side of human nature and the more philosophical or spiritual side, which makes "foregoing" the nicer things much easier and helps to put life into perspective.

Thus, the theoretical….....

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