Canada's Families Today: Some Policy Implications of Changing Forms and Patterns

A summary review of facts, figures, and trends concerning family life in Canada reveals patterns of continuity and patterns of change. Generalizations about the average family no longer suffice (if ever they did) as the basis for government policies and programs, corporate personnel practices, and the organization and administration of schools. The interests of families differ, and these competing interests find their expression in the increasingly polarized and politicized debate between those who would change reality in order to fit prescriptive, normative, and moralistic definitions, and those who seek to change the legitimated definitions of family in order to better fit evolving realities of family relationships and responsibilities. The conclusion to be drawn from the portrait of family diversity is that no single or unitary family policy can adequately address the needs of Canada's families. While diversity is a central characteristic of contemporary family life, all families assume common tasks and responsibilities on behalf of their members and society as a whole. By identifying and emphasizing what families do, not what they look like, it is possible to uncover tha basis of a realistic definition of family that is useful for public policy development. Challenges of family matters and family change for policymakers are pointed out. (RH)