Child presence any age of census family

Status: This was the departmental standard from October 22, 2007 to November 15, 2015.

Definition

Child presence any age refers to whether or not the family includes any children. To be included, children must live in the same household as the family, without a spouse, common-law partner or one or more of their children living in the same household. In a census family, they may be children by birth, marriage or adoption. In an economic family, foster children are also included.

Census family refers to a married couple and the children, if any, of either or both spouses; a couple living common law and the children, if any, of either or both partners; or, a lone parent of any marital status 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. A couple may be of opposite or same sex. Children may be children by birth, marriage or adoption regardless of their age or marital status as long as they live in the dwelling and do not have their own spouse or child living in the dwelling. Grandchildren living with their grandparent(s) but with no parents present also constitute a census family.

Note: When information displays, such as tables, combine information on census families and persons who are not living in census families, the population is called: Census families and persons not in census families.

Derivation

'Child presence any age of 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 2, 2007. 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 2010 Censuses of Population and Housing, 2006 which recommended classification distinctions similar to those in the UN recommendations.

Classifications

Relation to previous version

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