BC Council for Families

by Marilee Peters
Director of Communications, BC Council for Families

For anyone with an interest in family issues, this has been a great week – first, the release of Families Count, the Vanier Institute for the Family’s popular data book on families in Canada, then a fascinating weeklong series on what’s new (or not so new) in families dominating the inside pages of many major Canadian newspapers, including the Vancouver Sun. And finally, to coincide with the series, this week Postmedia News and Global TV have released results of a new poll, conducted by Ipsos-Reid, revealing just what Canadians think constitutes "a family". It all adds up to lots to talk about around the watercooler – especially if you’re lucky enough to work (as I do) with people passionate and well-informed about family dynamics, and Canadian family realities.

And here’s what we’re talking about: the very surprising results of that Ipsos-Reid poll. As reported in the National Post, when asked "which of the following combinations of individuals do you believe constitutes a family unit as you would see it?",

• 80% of Canadians agreed that two married heterosexual parents and their children were a family,
• 66% agreed that a common-law couple and children were a family,
• 55% agreed that a single mom and child were a family,
• 54% believed a single dad and child were a family,
• 50% saw grandparents raising grandchildren as a family, and
• 45% agreed that a same-sex married couple with children were a family.

As the accompanying article points out, the poll results "suggest public perceptions of what makes up a family lag behind the reality around kitchen tables across the country." For professionals who work directly with families and who know first hand the astonishing diversity of family forms, the news that many Canadians (up to one third!) may still feel that an unmarried couple and their children aren’t a family isn’t just shocking, it’s downright disturbing.

I’d like to hear from you about this issue: just why do you think that these poll results are so low? Why are Canadians reluctant to recognize anything other than mom-dad-two-kids as a family? And do family-service professionals have a duty to educate the public about the changing realities of families? If so, what can we do? Email me at bccf@bccf.ca or comment on this story on our blog. In next week’s HealthyFamilies we’ll print a selection of your thoughts and comments.