Dads playing larger role in Canadian households, study shows
TORONTO — In more than one in 10 coupled Canadian families, dad is the one staying home to do the laundry, cooking and child care, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday in a snapshot that reveals just how much the face of work and family life has changed in recent decades.
“Within the past five years, I think the biggest and most significant change has been the role of fathers in the household,” said Nora Spinks, CEO of the Vanier Institute of the Family, in response to the study, which also found the number of dualincome families with children has nearly doubled since the mid-70s — from 36 per cent in 1976 to 69 per cent in 2014.
In 1976, stay-at-home dads made up two per cent of coupled families with at least one child under age 16. In 2014, they made up 11 per cent.
A major spike among stay-athome dads was noted in 2010, after the recession hit maledominated industries far more than female.
But while circumstance may have thrown a lot of men into the caregiver role, their relative ranks created a sustained shift in the social perception of stayat-home dads that has impacted everything from portrayals in advertising to the way grocery stores are designed.
The Stats Can report highlighted regional shifts over time: Saskatchewan and Quebec had the highest proportion of dualincome families in 2014 — 74 per cent and 73 per cent respectively — which is a big jump from 40 per cent in the Prairie province in 1976 and 29 per cent in Quebec.
The lowest proportion of dualearner families was in Alberta, with 65 per cent in 2014. Interestingly, Alberta, however, had the greatest number of dualearner families in 1976, at 43 per cent.
“I think it’s a reminder of the speed at which things are actually changing,” Spinks said.