Canadians taking longer to grow up: Statscan

DAN LEMAY

A recent study published in Canadian Social Trends magazine has established that, in 2001, Canadians took longer to “grow up” than they did 30 years ago.

The publication, based on census data collected between 1971 and 2001, compared the ages at which Canadians had finished school, moved out on their own, married, and had children. The study found an increase in average age across the board for all of these key life transitions. In short, the study established that a 30-year-old in 2001 was roughly equivalent in terms of life transitions to a 25-year-old in the 1970s.

In 1971, around half of 22-year-olds in Canada were married, and a full quarter of them already had children. In 2001, less than one in 11 22-year-olds had children and only a fifth lived with a partner.

In addition, the numbers of both men and women in Canadian universities has increased since 1971. Only seven per cent of women and 13 per cent of men in the 1970s completed post-secondary education, while in 2001, 25 per cent of men and 29 per cent of women had completed some form of higher education.

Rita Bruce, a third-year science student, did not find the conclusions of the study surprising.

“As university is becoming the new educational standard, more people in general are going to university.”

The study also showed a jump in the numbers of young adults living with their parents.

In 1971, only 22 per cent of men and 11 per cent of women were living at home when they turned 25. In 2001, the numbers of young adults still living with their families had increased to 40 per cent for men and 27 per cent for women.

The study speculates that the reasons behind more young adults choosing to live at home longer are primarily economic. Since the 1970s, the labour market’s demand for those with a university degree has doubled, while at the same time shrinking for those with a high school diploma or less.