Overview

Abstract (English)

Over the last decades, families in Canada have experienced tremendous transformations. We have witnessed a retreat from marriage as indicated by the substantial decline in marriage rates, along with an important rise in the divorce rate and in the rate of common-law unions, leading to rising conjugal and family instability. In this study, we examine mechanisms and factors that influence the risk of first union dissolution by type of union for marriages that are or are not preceded by cohabitation and common-law unions in Canada and across generations. This work is based on data from the Statistics Canada General Social Survey of 2006. Our results show that age at union formation, parental separation, period of union formation, school enrollment, employment status, religious attendance, and size of community influence the risk of marital disruption for both types of union. However, we found that timing of the conception (or adoption) of the first child, the presence of a stepchild, and region of residence had opposite effect on the risk of first union dissolution for marriages and cohabiting unions.

Abstract (French)

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