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Single Parent Homes in Canada

Updated January 21, 2009

The number of homes led by a single parent in Canada has been on the rise for the last four decades. Research continually bears out the fact that single parent homes are at an economic disadvantage compared to common-law and married couples, with or without children.

• Lone-parent families accounted for 25% of all Canadian families with children in 2004, up from 21% in 1994. Back in 1961, only 11% of families were headed by lone parents.[1]

• There were about 1,366,400 lone-parent families in 2004 – an increase of 27% in only 10 years.[2]

• In 2004, Eighty-one per cent of lone-parent families were headed by women.[3]

• In Canada in 1997, among mothers of preschoolers, 55% of lone mothers and 69% of married mothers were employed. This compares to 85% of lone fathers (these fathers’ resident children are usually older) and to 94% of married fathers.[4]

• In 2006, the median income for lone income families was $33,000[5]. The median for two parent families was $70,400.[6]

Endnotes