Marriage is on the decline in every Canadian province and territory, based on a report from the new Canadian Married Family Index, authored by the think tank Cardus.
The index measures the change in prevalence of married families, looking at three variables:
- the total fertility rate (TFR)
- the portion of Canadians (aged 25-54) who are married
- the portion of children (aged 0-14) who live with married parents
2001 is the base year from which the data is tracked, and each region is compared to where it stood at that time – that’s the 100 score on this scale – and their score factors in the three variables listed above. Over the last 25 years, every province and territory has seen significant declines in the overall measurement of these variables, with Nunavut leading the way, dropping 29.34 points. Cardus notes that:
“a wealth of evidence suggests that being married is correlated with improved health and wellbeing, economic advantages, and increased social mobility for the adults, and improved outcomes for children, including lower involvement in risk behaviours and higher levels of educational attainment.”
Raising children in a married family is God’s design and command to humanity, going back to the very first chapters in Genesis. As Canadians increasingly abandon God’s framework, it follows that we can expect more pain and brokenness. While this may be discouraging to witness, it also means that those who do follow God’s way will increasingly stand out as a light in the darkness. Simply getting married, having children, and raising these children in a loving home is being “missional.”