The two-parent nuclear family is increasingly rare in this country, according to the latest census data released by Statistics Canada.
One person households became the most common type of household for the first time last year at 28.2%.
The share of one-person households increased the most in the Atlantic Provinces, with New Brunswick marking a 24.9% increase over 15 years.
That’s compared to an average national growth rate of 16.9%.
Stats Can highlights the aging population in Atlantic Canada as a likely reason for the stronger increase with nearly one fifth (19.8%) of all people in the Atlantic Provinces aged 65 or older last year.
That’s compared to 16.9% for Canada as a whole.
Fully 13.9% of adult Canadians now live alone, according to the census data, with more women than men living alone.
Women accounted for 53.7% of one-person households in 2016, however, the proportion of senior women living alone has declined in recent years.
In 2016, 33% of women aged 65 or older were living alone, that’s down from 38.3% in 2001.
Statistics Canada says senior women are more likely to live alone than senior men because they have a higher life expectancy and they also tend to marry men older than themselves.
As a result, they are more often widowed than senior men, however, since the 1970s, men have seen larger gains in their life expectancy and this has led to couples living together longer.
Full details of the census data release can be found HERE
