Families with Children Living at Home, 1996 - Common-law couples with children living at home

Since 1981, common-law unions have been steadily increasing. This is particularly true in the province of Quebec. In 1981, 8% of Quebec couples lived common-law, compared to 25% in 1996. The rest of Canada has also seen a marked, but lower, increase from 6% in 1981 to 10% in 1996. Between 1991 and 1996 the number of common-law couples with children at home increased by 47%. This rate of increase was three times as high as for common-law couple families without children. As of 1996, there were 434 950 common-law couples with at least one child living at home.