Family unit is on solid ground

SOCIOLOGY PROFESSOR RELEASES SIXTH EDITION OF ‘CLOSE RELATIONS’

Author Susan McDaniel, a sociology professor at the University of Lethbridge, has recently released the sixth edition of her co-authored book “Close Relations,” which explores the nature and identity of Canadian families as we head toward the second decade of the new millennium. According to McDaniel, while families have become more diverse, the family unit is still an essential cornerstone of Canadian life.

“The overall message in the sixth edition is that families are fine,” says McDaniel, who serves as the Canada Research Chair in Global Population and Life Course.

“They’ve changed and become more diverse. People who wring their hands and think everybody’s doing away with family should know that is not the case. The reality is most people stay married. The divorce rate has been relatively stable and in fact, it’s gone down.

“So, marriage is quite alive and well, but it’s also true that the alternatives to marriage are alive and well.”

However, more people are living together longer before marriage, says McDaniel, and overall more people are choosing stay single longer before getting married.

“It does mean that living alone is more popular than it ever has been,” says McDaniel. “Part of that is because we can. In the olden days, women in particular, but also men, had to marry someone to survive because they couldn’t afford to live alone.”

Other notable trends according to McDaniel’s book is more Indigenous children are being born today and more people with disabilities are having children as well. However, the bottom line is family trends in all respects are positive in Canadian society at the moment, she says.

“Most family trends are positive; we want people to live as long as they possibly can,” says McDaniel. “However, it creates policy and personal challenges on the family front. That’s something we don’t know a lot about but I think we should know more.”