Child presence in census family

Status: This standard was approved as a departmental standard on May 26, 2021.

Definition

Child presence refers to whether or not the family includes any children. To be included, children must live in the same household as the family. They may be biological or adopted children.

Census family is defined as a married couple and the children, if any, of either and/or both spouses; a couple living common law and the children, if any, of either and/or both partners; or a parent of any marital status in a one-parent family with at least one child living in the same dwelling and that child or those children. All members of a particular census family live in the same dwelling. Children may be biological or adopted children regardless of their age or marital status as long as they live in the dwelling and do not have their own married spouse, common-law partner or child living in the dwelling. Grandchildren living with their grandparent(s) but with no parents present also constitute a census family.

Usage

In the context of census families, children are excluded if they live with their married spouse, common-law partner or children.

Derivation

'Child presence in census family' is derived from the responses to questions about the relationships among the people who live in the household.

Conformity to relevant internationally recognized standards

This standard is compatible with the recommendations for censuses contained in the United Nations' "Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses, Revision 3", 2017. The UN recommendations include a classification of nuclear households (those consisting entirely of a single family nucleus) which includes the distinction between families with children and families without children, which is the focus of this standard.

This standard is also compatible with the "Conference of European Statisticians Recommendations for the 2020 Censuses of Population and Housing", 2015 which recommended classification distinctions similar to those in the UN recommendations.

Classifications

Relation to previous version

  • Child presence in census family May 26, 2021 to current

    The name of the concept has been modified from 'child presence any age' to 'child presence', and its definition has been simplified. The definition of the statistical unit has been modified.

  • Child presence any age of census family November 16, 2015 to May 25, 2021

    This is an update of Child presence any age of census family. Its definition has been simplified.

  • Child presence any age of census family October 22, 2007 to November 15, 2015

    Child presence any age of census family is incorporated within the classifications of two previous standards, Census family marital structure and Census family parental structure. The current standards take a more simplified approach, presenting each classification dimension as a separate variable concept. This approach provides greater conceptual and definitional clarity while simultaneously allowing users more flexibility in constructing whatever more complex, multidimensional classifications meet their needs for data presentation.

  • Census family marital structure July 15, 1998 to October 21, 2007
  • Census family parental structure July 15, 1998 to October 21, 2007
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