BC Council for Families

by Marilee Peters
Acting Executive Director

With the winter holiday season upon us, many of us find our thoughts turning to our families and our friends, and to finding ways to show them how we appreciate their contributions to our lives.  Even statisticians, it seems, are in the holiday spirit, if two new reports out of Statistics Canada are any indication.

It's been well established in research for some time that one of the key determinants of health is a person’s social support network.  The support we receive from family members, friends and contacts in our communities, and the caring and respect in those relationships, are important components in maintaining our health.  Now, two Statistics Canada reports examine the significance of those personal networks as they affect specific populations in Canadian society - those living alone, and new immigrants to Canada. 

Both articles, published in the winter 2011 issue of Social Trends magazine, examine how relationships with family members, friends, neighbours and acquaintances provide each of us with the sources of support, advice, opportunities for social engagement that we depend on, particularly during times of personal transition or challenge. 



In Quality of Personal networks: Does Living Alone Matter?, study author Mireille Vezina looks at data from the 2008 General Social Survey that suggests that the personal networks of adults aged 25 to 64 living alone are generally smaller than those of adults living in a couple, and that those living alone are more likely to experience strong feelings of social loneliness.  Vezina concludes that people living alone are more likely to have poor quality personal networks, and that this is also associated with having a low income, living in a large urban centre, being over 35 and renting rather than owning a home. 

Vezina points out that the findings are important given that the numbers of people living alone are rising, and that often those living alone are in less secure economic circumstances than those living as part of a couple.  As more and more people in this country begin to live alone, either by choice or by circumstance, the health costs associated with their greater isolation may become significant, and governments and social agencies will need to respond.

Another group whose social networks have caught the attention of researchers are new immigrants.  In Personal networks and the economic adjustment of immigrants Derrick Thomas looks at the personal networks of new immigrants to discover whether these networks may offer clues to the differences in employment and income levels between immigrants and other Canadians.  He concludes that the social networks of immigrants are  smaller and less diverse than those of the Canadian-born, and that there is an association, for all Canadians,  between having a diverse network-contacts in a wide number of occupations-and  being employed. “Economic and social adjustments of immigrants are linked and  occur hand in hand,” Thomas writes.



What’s certain is that the networks we build of family, friends and acquaintances play a fundamental role in our lives. The people in our personal networks provide both tangible and psychological support --  everything from advice, to help with everyday tasks, to opportunities to exchange information.  It’s something for us all to remember, and celebrate, this holiday season.