“Babies,” which recently premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, tells the story of a longtime married couple deciding not to have children.
asserted
which → premier → children
The comedy is the definitive answer to the question the celebrity couple, director Lauren Miller Rogen and husband Seth Rogen, have fielded for years: when are you going to have a baby?
asserted
you → field → baby
The decision whether to have children is rather personal, and it is easy to empathize with a couple who have faced scrutiny over their decision.
asserted
who → empathize → decision
Even so, the cultural norm of associating babies with marriage is a good thing.
asserted
norm → associate → marriage
Canadians are free, for the most part, to form families as they choose, yet the married family structure remains the most common family form for raising children.
asserted
structure → form → children
Marriage is correlated with positive outcomes for adults and children, which can, in turn, positively impact individuals and communities.
asserted
which → correlate → individuals
Marriage as a social institution has been correlated with improved health, economic advantages and increased social mobility for the parents.
asserted
Marriage → correlate → parents
Children growing up in a family home with two married parents are more likely to enjoy lifelong benefits that include higher educational attainment, as well as positive mental health and emotional well-being.
asserted
that → grow → attainment
Despite the prevalence of married families with kids, this family form has been retreating across Canada for decades.
asserted
form → retreat → decades
The Canadian Married Families Index (CMFI), developed by the think tank Cardus, aims to measure the tempo of this substantial change within individual provinces and territories over the last two decades.
asserted
Index → develop → decades
The index combines three federal census data points measured between 2001 and 2021: total fertility rate, the portion of adults aged 25 to 54 who are married, and the proportion of children 14 and under living with their married parents.
asserted
who → combine → parents
A baseline score of 100 points was developed for each region for the 2001 census.
asserted
score → develop → census
Changes in regional index scores were measured over four censuses.
asserted
Changes → measure → censuses
The index compares provinces and territories to their own baseline rather than comparing regions to a national standard score.
asserted
index → compare → score
The sharpest decline occurred between 2016 and 2021, which may have been pandemic driven.
uncertain
which → occur → 2016
In general, the provinces west of Ontario experienced the least change in index scores.
asserted
provinces → experience → scores
Alberta and Saskatchewan experienced the smallest decline in index points, scoring 91.56 and 91.40 in 2021 respectively.
asserted
Alberta → experience → 2021
The largest changes in index scores between 2001 and 2021 were observed in Quebec with more than a 20-point decline, and in Nunavut, which posted a nearly 30-point decline.
asserted
which → observe → decline
Changes in the number of children aged 14 and under living with married parents, and the number of adults aged 25 to 54 who are married drove most of the decline, despite higher-than-average fertility in both regions.
asserted
who → age → regions
Nunavut and Quebec are culturally distinct regions that featured unique family structure patterns that predated the beginning of the study period in 2001.
asserted
that → feature → 2001
The index indicates these patterns have further solidified over the last two decades.
asserted
patterns → indicate → decades
We should consider why the married family structure is in decline, and why it is declining unevenly across the country.
asserted
it → consider → country
In most regions, Canadians hold positive attitudes toward marriage, and many desire it.
asserted
many → hold → it
Yet it seems that achieving the family life one desires is becoming more difficult.
asserted
one → seem → life
The increasing cost of living and a shortage of suitable housing is making it difficult for families to start and grow.
asserted
families → increase → housing
Federal and provincial governments should consider whether their taxes, benefits, and social policy systems contribute to greater family affordability or inadvertently disincentivize family life.
asserted
taxes → consider → life
While economics certainly contributes to delayed family formation, evidence suggests Canadians are delaying children for other reasons.
uncertain
Canadians → contribute → reasons
Some young adults feel they need to prioritize their own self-development.
asserted
they → feel → development
For others, the perceived difficulty of modern parenting has caused prospective parents to think twice.
asserted
parents → perceive → parenting
Cultural conceptions around parenthood are more difficult to attend to, and the task will become even harder in an increasingly low-fertility society where children are less visible in daily life.
asserted
children → attend → life
“Babies” gives one couple’s answer to a deeply personal question they are wrestling with.
asserted
they → give → question
Canada’s falling and uneven CMFI scores raises its own question: what would help more people form the families they already hope to have?
asserted
they → fall → families
Governments can ease material barriers.
asserted
Governments → ease → barriers
Communities and cultural institutions can make marriage, parenthood and children more visible in daily life.
asserted
Communities → make → life
The future of the married family depends, in part, on whether Canadians can see that life as attainable, supported and worth pursuing.
asserted
Canadians → depend → life
The Aporia
