for a-plus writer

ANNE-MARIE LIVINGSTONE AND MORTON WEINFELD

Black Families and Socio-economic Inequality in Canada

Abstract There have been virtually no recent census-based studies on the familial characteristics of black Canadians. The present study is a partial replication and extension of a study on black families published two decades ago by Christensen and Weinfeld (1993) and based on the 1986 Canadian census. The present paper utilizes the 2006 census in order to examine the current conditions of black families in Canada and assess what has changed since 1986 in the composition, marital sta- tus, and income of these families. Findings indicate that black families are more culturally hetero- geneous than ever. Despite this, racial disparities in family formation and household income have only accentuated since 1986, bearing unique consequences for native and foreign-born black men and women. On the whole, relatively more black Canadians 25-44 years of age were single and never married, divorced, or separated in 2006 than in 1986. Between 1986 and 2006, the dis- parities in income between black families with young children and the general population have grown larger, both for single and dual parent families. The consequences of higher family instabil- ity, lone-parent families, economic insecurity and poverty for black families can only be detrimen- tal for the welfare of children, particularly in a context of racial inequality. These issues deserve to be further investigated.

Résumé Il n’existe aucune étude récente sur les caractéristiques des familles noires au Canada qui se base sur les données du recensement. En plus de présenter de nouvelles analyses sur les familles noires, cette étude reprend en partie celles effectuées il y a 20 ans par Christensen et Weinfeld (1993) à l’aide des données du recensement de 1986. Les objectifs sont, d’une part, d’examiner les circon- stances des familles noires selon la composition du ménage, le statut conjugal et le revenu famil- ial par le biais du recensement de 2006 et, d’autre part, de comparer ces résultats avec les données de 1986. L’hétérogénéité culturelle des familles noires va grandissante. Les résultats démontrent que les disparités raciales ont augmenté au sein de la population noire depuis 1986 quant à la formation des familles et le revenu des ménages, et imposent des conséquences uniques pour les femmes et hommes noirs nés au Canada ou à l’extérieur. Entre 1986 et 2006, les dispar- ités de revenu ont augmenté entre les ménages comprenant des enfants noirs et la population générale. Ces disparités sont présentes autant chez les familles monoparentales que biparentales. L’instabilité conjugale, vivre dans une famille monoparentale, l’insécurité économique et la pau- vreté peuvent avoir des effets néfastes pour le bien-être des enfants issus de familles de la minorité noire et ce, particulièrement dans un contexte d’inégalités raciales. Ces questions méritent d’être approfondies.

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CES Volume 47 Number 3 (2015), 1-23

INTRODUCTION

The present paper discusses findings from an exploratory and descriptive study on

black families in Canada that seeks to explore the conditions of black families in

2006 and assess the degree to which circumstances have changed or improved for

these families since 1986. The study is a partial replication and extension of a previ-

ous census-based study on black families in 1986, published by Christensen and

Weinfeld (1993). To the best of our knowledge, the study has never been replicated.

It is not yet certain how or if the voluntary nature of the new National Household

Survey of 2011 will impact responses to questions on racial origin or income for dis-

advantaged groups. We thus have greater confidence in comparing the Canadian

censuses for 1986 and 2006.

In the Canadian literature on racial and ethnic inequalities, much of the atten-

tion has been concentrated on measuring the earnings of individuals or households;

relatively fewer studies have explored the implications of racial income inequalities

for the welfare of families with children (Picot and Hou 2003; Worswick 1996). The

empirical evidence has consistently shown that blacks and other visible minorities

earn significantly less than white Canadians, even when background factors are the

same (Mensah 2010; Pendakur and Pendakur 2010; Pendakur and Pendakur 2002;

Skuterud 2010).

In the present paper, we explore the association between income inequality, fam-

ily structure, and the welfare of black families with children. The paper is motivated

by the well-known finding that poverty and inequality exert a significant impact on

the well-being and opportunities of families and their children. Studies have repeat-

edly shown that the socio-economic status of the family is the most significant deter-

minant of a child’s educational attainment and his or her long-term employment and

earnings in adulthood (Blum, Boyle, and Offord 1988; Lopoo and DeLeire 2014).

The issues of race, inequality, and family structure have been the focus of much

research in the American socio-demographic literature, much less so in the

Canadian (Allen 1979; Furstenberg 2009; McLanahan and Percheski 2008). The

black population in the United States (US) differs significantly in terms of history,

the legacy of slavery and racism, the role of recent immigration, and demographic

characteristics. In Canada, the overwhelming majority of blacks are immigrants or

the children of immigrants, in contrast to the US where the majority are native-

born. Nevertheless, similar questions concerning race, income, family structure and

children’s life chances can be posed.

One of the principal findings from Christensen and Weinfeld (1993) was the

central role of family structure in accounting for the higher proportion of black chil-

dren living in low-income households in 1986. In general, black children in 1986

Canadian Ethnic Studies/Études ethniques au Canada2 |

were significantly more likely than all Canadian children to be found in low-income

households. However, when family structure was held constant black children were

only slightly more likely than other Canadian children to be found in low-income

households. Hence, the major cause of low-income was the same for black children

and other Canadian children, namely single-parent status. A goal of the present

paper is to use the 2006 census to revisit this question and explore the connections

between racial inequality, family structure, and the economic welfare of black fami-

lies with children in Canada.

BACKGROUND LITERATURE

Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives The empirical and theoretical scholarship on black families has a much longer his-

tory in the US, and dates back to the early work of scholars like W.E.B. Du Bois

(1908) and E. Franklin Frazier (1939). In Canada, there is an impressive body of his-

torical and contemporary writing about black Canadians, although relatively few

publications have specifically explored the subject of black families (Mensah 2010;

Winks 1971). One exception is a book on the Caribbean diaspora in Toronto, writ-

ten by Frances Henry (1994), which presents an intimate look at black family life and

relationships.

Given the limitations of the scholarship on black families in Canada, the pres-

ent paper reviews the theoretical and empirical knowledge base on black families in

the US in order to gain some understanding of the forces that may be at work in

influencing the welfare, organization, and challenges of Canadian black families

today. The literature review that follows also briefly discusses the relevant historical

and current research on black families in, or from, the Caribbean and Latin America

(Goulbourne and Chamberlain 2001; Mintz and Price 1976; Herskovits 1958).

While the scholarship from the US is undeniably insightful and instructive, it is

important to be cautious in generalizing the findings to the Canadian context. In the

US, African-Americans account for about 14% of the entire population; of this pro-

portion, 91% are native-born, including many who are multi-generational (United

States Census Bureau 2011). In Canada, blacks represent roughly 2.5% of the popu-

lation, and with the exception of black communities in Nova Scotia, most are immi-

grants or the children of immigrants. Despite these differences, black family

structures in the US and Canada do exhibit some similarities. Therefore, the US lit-

erature may offer some helpful hints for thinking through the causes of racial dis-

parities in family welfare in Canada.

One issue that has long been at the centre of scholarly debate on black families

in the US is whether racial differences in family structure are due to class or culture

Anne-Marie Livingstone and Morton Weinfeld | 3

(Allen 1979; Cherlin 1998). These debates reached their height at the time of the

publication of the well-known Moynihan report on black families, which was

released in the late 1960s and later criticized for fuelling racial stereotypes of black

families as matriarchal and trapped in a “tangle of pathology” (Moynihan 1967;

Furstenberg 2009). Moynihan argued that a major cause for black inequality in the

US was the increase in single parent families, which he traced to the aftermath of

slavery and Jim Crow.

To some extent, the debates provoked by the Moynihan report have faded. As

income inequality has deepened and forced many more American families into a state

of poverty and economic insecurity, racial disparities in family structure have begun

to diminish, particularly among the poor and working-class. Indeed, the growing con-

vergence in family structures between low-income black and white families has led

some American scholars to propose that social class is the fundamental cause of racial

disparities in family structure (Furstenberg 2009; Hummer and Hamilton 2010).

Empirical support for the “social class” argument comes from the well-estab-

lished finding that income and education both bear a significant and positive corre-

lation with a whole host of family-related variables such as childbearing, marriage,

co-habitation, divorce, or re-marriage (Carlson and England 2011). The relationship

between social class and family formation has also grown stronger as inequality in

the US has intensified. The college-educated in the US today are more likely than any

other group to be married and to bear children in marriage (Carlson and England

2011; Cherlin 2009). For American women with low to moderate levels of education,

the chances of becoming a single parent have nearly doubled since 1965 (Cherlin

2009). Qualitative studies have revealed that low-income black and white women

prefer to delay marriage and put childbearing first because they believe in waiting for

a partner who can guarantee a certain degree of economic security (Edin and

Kefalas 2005; Gibson-Davis, Edin, and McLanahan 2005).

Even when social class is the same, black Americans continue to be less likely

than whites to marry and co-habit, and more likely to be single parents (Cherlin

1998; Hummer and Hamilton 2010; Raley and Sweeney 2009). The marital and co-

habiting unions of black Americans are also more fragile (Cherlin 2009; Hummer

and Hamilton 2010; Sweeney and Phillips 2004). These and other findings under-

score the role of racial discrimination in compounding the effects of class inequal-

ity (Carlson and England 2011; White and Rogers 2000). Poverty rates are much

higher among black Americans and even middle-class blacks possess a fraction of

the wealth and assets of middle-class whites (Oliver and Shapiro 2006). The massive

scale of joblessness, declining real wages, and incarceration of the last decades in the

US have wrought devastating consequences on many black families and created what

some have claimed is a shortage of “marriageable” black men (Wilson 1997). The

Canadian Ethnic Studies/Études ethniques au Canada4 |

impact of incarceration on Canadian black families has yet to be explored, although

racial disparities in federal and provincial prisons are large and growing (Owusu-

Bempah and Wortley 2014; Sapers 2013).

The notion that fewer black men are in a position to marry and support a fam-

ily in the US spurred a series of studies examining the impact of unequal sex ratios

on black marriage rates and family structure. Results have shown that sex ratios do,

in fact, bear a significant correlation with racial differences in marriage, non-mari-

tal childbearing, and lone-parent households (Fosset and Kiecolt 1991; Lichter,

McLaughlin, Kephart, and Landry 1992).

Scholarly interest in the cultural roots of black family structure waned after the

publication of Moynihan’s report, but did not completely disappear. In one recent

review, Hill (2009) proposes that African traditions in the US were either reinforced

by slavery (e.g., female work roles, extended families) or completely destroyed (e.g.,

polygamy). Scholars have long wondered whether the more extensive kinship net-

works of African-Americans are vestiges of an African past or an adaptation to the

instability and harsh realities of plantation slavery (Angel and Tienda 1982; Cherlin

1998). Sudarkasa (1981; 1998) contends that black kinship networks have reflected

a West African tradition of valuing consanguineous ties (i.e., blood relations) over

the conjugal bond. Stevenson (1995), on the other hand, contends that kin networks

grew in importance during slavery because they were often the only structures that

could sustain and hold families together when plantation owners would irrevocably

break households apart through the forced transfer or actual sale of parents, chil-

dren, and other family members.

The cultural explanation, while intriguing and certainly relevant, is hard to

prove empirically. Extended family networks have not only been a trait of black fam-

ilies in the US, but also white families and other ethnic groups (Dilworth-Anderson,

Burton and Johnson 1993; Ruggles 1994). Some findings suggest that kin networks

have been denser in black families because they meet vital economic and practical

needs, which would explain their higher prevalence among single parent black fam-

ilies (Angel and Tienda 1982). When attitudes towards marriage and family are

examined, few differences between blacks and whites are found; both groups express

an abiding belief in the mainstream ideal of the nuclear family (Bulcroft and

Bulcroft 1993). While some evidence suggests that blacks and whites hold differing

attitudes towards gender, the findings are inconclusive. Depending on the study,

black Americans are either more egalitarian or more conservative than whites in

their views on gender (Kane 2000).

Compared to the US, there is more definitive evidence of African cultural sur-

vivals in the Caribbean, especially among the descendants of escaped slaves, such as

the Maroons, who established their own independent settlements in locations safely

Anne-Marie Livingstone and Morton Weinfeld | 5

removed from plantation slavery (Mintz and Price 1976). On the whole, the consen-

sus seems to be that family structures in the Caribbean are the products of a long

and devastating history of colonialism and racial and economic oppression. Due to

structural forces like colonial bans on legal marriage, chronic poverty, and out-migra-

tion, black families in the Caribbean have adopted a fluid and flexible set of arrange-

ments that might consist of consensual unions, “visiting” unions, extended families,

or female-headed households, in addition to the western model of the nuclear family

and husband-wife dyad (Barrow 2001; Blackwood 2005; Safa 2005). Marriage is par-

ticularly infrequent among the poor because there is a belief that one ought to be

financially secure before getting legally married (Dreher and Hudgins 2010).

In the debates on the class versus culture argument, one issue that has been rel-

atively neglected is the role of racial discrimination and its impact on black families.

Some of the relevant recent research looks at race and marriage in the US military

(Lundquist 2004; Teachman and Tedrow 2008). As one of the most racially inte-

grated institutions in the US, the military serves as a kind of “natural” experiment

for studying the role of race. Unlike any other institution, the military guarantees

that blacks enjoy the same access to basic services and resources like housing, health

care, childcare, and retirement pensions. In one study, Lunquist (2004) found that

racial disparities in marriage between white and black active duty personnel actually

disappeared. In a second study, Teachman and Tedrow (2008) observed that black

men in the Army showed a substantially lower risk of divorce. When black men

returned to civilian life, their rate of divorce went back to its pre-existing level. The

authors infer from these findings that opportunities in the military put blacks on a

more equal playing field with whites and diminish the structural impediments stem-

ming from racial stratification and discrimination. Unlike most settings, blacks in

the military are more well-represented at all levels of the professional hierarchy

(Lunquist 2004; Teachman and Tedrow 2008).

Empirical Evidence on Black Families in Canada Questions about marriage and family structure among Canadian blacks have not

received the same amount of attention as in the United States. To date, the demo-

graphic literature on black families in Canada is limited to a handful of publications

(Calliste 2001; Christensen and Weinfeld 1993). There is certainly a rich and sub-

stantial tradition of writing about black Canadians; yet, much of this work examines

the experiences of blacks as individuals or as a group. In spite of these limitations,

insights about black families can be gleaned from the growing number of studies on

sub-groups of the black population, namely children, young adults, parents, men

and women, and recent immigrants (Henry 1994; Smith, Lalonde and Johnson 2004;

Tettey and Puplampu 2005).

Canadian Ethnic Studies/Études ethniques au Canada6 |

A consistent body of evidence has shown that black families and children in

Canada are more at risk than others of confronting difficulties related to income

inequality and poverty, immigration, and racial discrimination (James, Este, Bernard,

Benjamin, Lloyd and Turner 2010; Bernard and McAll 2008; Lavergne, Dufour,

Sarmiento, and DesCoteaux 2009). Recent studies of the 2001 and 2006 census data

indicate a possible reversal in these trends, particularly for the black second-genera-

tion, which has now reached close to economic parity with native whites (Attewell,

Kasinitz and Dunn 2009; Mensah 2010). Recent immigrant blacks in Canada face

unique barriers due to a lack of recognition of foreign credentials, language differ-

ences, refugee status, and macro-economic forces such as labor market segmentation

and a widening gap between rich and poor (Mensah 2010; Opoku-Dapaah 2006;

Reitz 2007).

Previous Canadian studies have shown that the prevalence of single-parent

families is higher among blacks than other Canadians (Christensen and Weinfeld

1993; Calliste 2001; Henry 1994). In a recent report on the family structure of racial

and ethnic groups in Canada, Mata (2011) observed that the percentage of female

single parents in 2006 was especially high among immigrant women of Somali and

Caribbean origin. These findings are noteworthy because Caribbean and Somali

women have often been compelled by law or circumstance to migrate to Canada

alone or as single mothers. Caribbean women arriving as migrant workers in

Canada, often (though not solely) in domestic work, have been legally and often

financially obligated to leave spouses and children behind in the home country

(Arat-Koc 2001). For Somali women, conditions prior to their arrival in Canada

often drove them to become single-parents: either husbands lost their lives through

war or the family was forced to separate in the process of seeking asylum in Canada

(Israelite et al. 1999; Spitzer 2006). Miraftab (2000) reports that close to three-quar-

ters of the 35 Somali families in his Vancouver study had children or spouses who

remained behind in Africa, leaving Somali mothers as the “de facto” heads of house-

hold in Canada.

As we would expect given the above findings, fewer black men and women are

found in marital and common-law unions than other Canadians. In addition, the

risk of divorce and separation has been slightly higher among blacks (Christensen

and Weinfeld 1993). These racial differences may vary as a function of social class.

In one study on the 1991 census, Calliste (2001) found that blacks with either a post-

secondary education or above average income were as likely as other Canadians to

be married and in a two-parent household.

One of the more important themes running through the literature on blacks in

Canada is the role of immigration and settlement in altering the composition, wel-

fare, and cohesion of black families. Scholars have found that immigration often has

Anne-Marie Livingstone and Morton Weinfeld | 7

a disruptive impact on families that is compounded by factors like poverty, unem-

ployment, racism, and cultural and language differences (Glick 2010; Howell 2006;

James et al., 2010). Henry (1994) and Donkor (2012) describe the experiences of

Caribbean and African couples whose marriages fell apart after immigrating to

Canada, because men and women had developed differing and conflicting views

about gender. As women gain increased access to economic opportunities in

Canada, the traditional division of labor and power in the household is upset and

gender roles must be re-negotiated, especially if women are balancing responsibili-

ties for household work, childcare, and paid employment. This transformation in

gender roles is not unique to black families; indeed, immigrant men and women

from a wide range of backgrounds often struggle to conform to a new balance of

gender relations upon moving to Canada or elsewhere (Howell 2006).

In Christensen and Weinfeld (1993) one of the most striking findings was the

magnitude of the sex ratio imbalance between black men and women. In 1986, there

were 86 black men for every 100 black women in Canada. For the Canadian popu-

lation as a whole, the sex ratio was rather predictable: 102 men for every 100 women.

As Christensen and Weinfeld (1993) suggested, the most likely cause of this imbal-

ance is Canadian immigration policy and its preference for female migrant workers

from the Caribbean. As early as the 1950s and 1960s, the federal government began

inviting thousands of Caribbean nurses and domestic workers to migrate to work on

temporary visas in Canada (Arat-Koc 2001; Calliste 2001). While the government

eventually ended its recruitment of foreign nurses, it has continued to operate a for-

eign domestic worker program, today known as the “Live-In Caregiver Program”

(Arat-Koc 2001). Consequently, the number of Caribbean female migrants contin-

ues to outstrip the number of male migrants from the region. Darden (2006) finds

that from 1961 to 1996, the ratio of black female to male immigrants from the

Caribbean and Bermuda averaged at 128:100, thus maintaining a large sex imbal-

ance among Caribbean-born blacks (Darden 2006). As cited earlier, legal restrictions

on the rights of live-in caregivers in Canada have long forced Caribbean women to

settle in the country alone and without spouses and children. Many of these women

would sponsor children later on, creating lone-parent families. The long-term sepa-

rations of women from their spouses and children can also weaken family bonds,

leading to permanent ruptures in conjugal relationships or an emotional distance

between parents and their children that can be hard to undo and overcome (Henry

1994; Lashley 2002; Smith et al. 2004).

Christensen and Weinfeld (1993) observed a similarly unequal sex ratio for

Filipino women and men, who have also been among the groups migrating to

Canada as temporary workers. Contrary to black women, however, Filipino women

were actually more likely than Filipino men to be married in 1986. The authors pro-

Canadian Ethnic Studies/Études ethniques au Canada8 |

posed that one possible reason for this discrepancy is the higher rate of racial

exogamy among Filipino women. Recent research confirms that racial inter-mar-

riages are indeed more common among Filipino women than black women. In one

study, 28% of Filipino women, versus 9% of Filipino men, were found in an inter-

racial union in 2006. For blacks, the gender differential was reversed: 20% of black

women, versus 30% of black men, were involved in an inter-racial union (Milan,

Maheu, and Chui 2010). In another recent study, Hamplova and LeBourdais (2010)

found the proportion of black men in Toronto and Montreal in mixed unions was

higher than black women by an average of 10%. Altogether, these findings indicate

that the odds that black women in Canada will find romantic partners are much

lower in comparison with black men. It is also safe to presume that immigration pol-

icy, an ongoing sex ratio imbalance, and inter-racial mating patterns have all played

some role in creating more black lone-parent families.

METHODS

The methodology for this study is descriptive and exploratory. The primary research

questions are the following: What is the composition and character of black families

with children in Canada in 2006? How have conditions for these families changed or

evolved since 1986? How do the economic circumstances of black families with chil-

dren compare with other Canadian families in the present-day? To address these

questions, a series of cross-tabulations was generated, starting with basic background

information on black Canadians, namely nativity, immigration, and sex ratios. Then,

a set of comparative tables was produced on black families in 1986 and 2006. These

tables explore the marital status, household type, household income, and educational

attainment of blacks and the general population of Canadians in the two years under

study. In a departure from Christensen and Weinfeld (1993), the present paper

includes a new table on educational attainment in 1986 and 2006. The aim is to pro-

vide some additional background information on blacks in Canada and explore the

role that social class might play in explaining racial differences in family formation.

The tables and variables for 2006 have been reproduced in the exact form in

which they were displayed in Christensen and Weinfeld (1993). The data on marital

status and sex ratios have been calculated for adults aged 25-44 years, because it is

the cohort most likely to be active in marriage and childbearing. The tables on fam-

ily structure and household income have been generated for households with chil-

dren who are 0-14 years of age, in order to focus on families with dependent

children. This sample includes families with same-sex couples, although the percent-

age among black families remains fairly low (Torczyner 2010). All of the tables for

2006 incorporate the sampling weights from Statistics Canada.

Anne-Marie Livingstone and Morton Weinfeld | 9

The 2006 data are taken from the individuals’ file of the census “Public Use

Micro-Data File” (PUMF), which comprises a representative sample of Canadians,

approximately 2.7% of the population. Data for “blacks” as a group are derived from

information on the “visible minority” origins of Canadians. For the first time in 1996,

the census began asking respondents to indicate to which “visible minority” group

they belonged. In 2006, 2.5% of the Canadian population, or approximately 780,000

people, identified themselves as “Black.” Blacks constituted the third largest group of

visible minorities after the Chinese (3.9%) and South Asians (4.0%). It is possible that

some portion of the changes from 1986 to 2006 is due to differing definitions of

“black” used as sources for the data; in 1986 the category was “black ethnic origin.”

RESULTS

Place of Birth and Immigration One of the most remarkable characteristics of the black population in Canada is its

internal diversity, which only continues to grow with respect to birthplace, national-

ity, language, and generation status. As Table 1 shows, 44 percent of blacks in 2006

were native-born, and this percentage fluctuates slightly across the provinces.

Roughly a third of blacks were born in the Caribbean, while another 20% were born

in Africa. Only in the Maritimes do we find a majority of blacks who are third gener-

ation or more. Everywhere else the population is made up largely of first- and second-

generation immigrants. The proportion of second-generation black Canadians has

increased measurably since 1986 and stood at 20.6% in 2006. Overall, Table 2 shows

that Ontario and Quebec are home to the highest numbers of blacks in Canada.

In the years following the liberalization of Canadian immigration policies in the

1960s, Caribbeans constituted the leading group of black immigrants. Starting in

2000, Africans would overtake Caribbeans, as shown in Figure 1. Caribbeans com-

prised the largest group of black immigrants from the period of the 1950s up to the

year 2000. Between 2000 and 2006, 63% of black immigrants were African.

Canadian Ethnic Studies/Études ethniques au Canada10 |

TABLE 1. Place of birth of blacks, 2006

Place of birth % Total

Canada 44.3 343,606

Caribbean 30.5 237,098

Africa 19.7 153,195

Latin America 2.1 16,537

Other 3.4 25,785

Total 100% 776,221

Sex Ratio The sex ratio imbalance for blacks between the ages of 25-44 years in 2006 remains

as large as it was in 1986: in both periods, it was equal to 86.8 males for every 100

females (see Table 3). When the data are disaggregated by place of origin, the sex

ratio imbalance becomes even sharper for Caribbean-born blacks: among those aged

18 years and over in 2006, there were 77.6 Caribbean-born men for every 100

Caribbean-born women (see Table 4). This imbalance bears a direct relationship to

historical and contemporary immigrant flows. Although the data are not shown

here, the census data indicate that during the most recent period from 2000 to 2006,

55% of all Caribbean immigrants were women. Unlike Caribbean immigrants, there

is no sex ratio imbalance for African-born blacks.

Anne-Marie Livingstone and Morton Weinfeld | 11

Fig. 1. Place of birth of black immigrants by year of immigration.

TABLE 2. Nativity and immigrant status of blacks by province, 2006

Province/region Native-born Foreign-born Total N

Maritimes 86.3 13.7 100% 24,638

Quebec 40.0 60.0 100% 189,264

Ontario 44.0 56.0 100% 470,682

Prairie provinces 41.2 58.8 100% 65,443

British Columbia 48.6 51.4 100% 28,079

NWT 25.0 75.0 100% 444

Total 44.3 55.7 100% 778,551

Marital Status Findings from the 2006 census point to a substantial decline since 1986 in the pro-

portion of black men and women aged 25-44 years who are married or in common-

law unions. The drop has been especially large for native-born blacks, who are now

more likely to be “never married” than either married or common-law. As shown in

Table 5, the proportion of native-born black men who are married or common-law

declined from 62.8% in 1986 to 37.6% in 2006, a drop of 40.1%. For native-born

black women, the level has gone from 50.7% to 35.0%, a 31% decline. The figures

for 2006 are comparable to results from the Canadian Community Health Survey

(CCHS) (LeBrun and LeVeist 2013). In a pooled analysis of CCSH data covering the

period from 2003 to 2008, LeBrun and LeVeist (2013) observed that 23.7% of all

native-born blacks aged 18 years and over were married, compared with 63.6% of

white Canadians. In addition, 68.3% of blacks in the sample were single and never

married, versus 23.3% of whites. The results of that study also indicate that native-

Canadian Ethnic Studies/Études ethniques au Canada12 |

TABLE 3. Sex ratio of Canadians by age

1986 2006

Age group Blacks Other visible minorities

All Canadians

Blacks Other visible minorities

All Canadians

0-14 103.0 105.1 104.9 106.6 105.1 105.3

15-24 86.9 100.1 102.2 103.3 103.7 103.7

25-44 86.8 95.6 98.8 86.8 89.0 95.7

45 and over 76.0 89.3 88.0 84.8 90.5 90.8

TABLE 4. Sex ratio of blacks by place of birth (all adults 18 years of age and over), 2006

Place of birth Male/Female N

Canada 96.5 127,076

Caribbean 77.6 224,335

Africa 100.4 128,001

Latin America 80.2 15,723

Other 105.8 18,941

Total 88.7 514,076

born black adults tend to be much younger than average; roughly 87% are between

18 and 44 years of age, compared with 49% in the native white population. This large

age gap between native blacks and whites is likely one factor among others that

explains the disparities in rates of marriage and common-law unions.

The marital status of foreign-born blacks has also changed, though to a lesser

degree. In 1986, 71.2% of foreign-born black men were married; by 2006, this per-

centage had fallen to 56.3%, a decline of 21%. For foreign-born black women, the

proportion of married and common-law unions had decreased from 58.2% in 1986

to 48.5% in 2006, a drop of 16.7%. It should be noted that these figures comprise

averages, which conceal important age variations. Once black men and women reach

beyond 30 years of age, the odds of marriage and co-habiting unions rise substan-

tially. At 40-44 years of age in 2006, 54.4% of native-born and 58% of foreign-born

blacks were married or in common-law unions (data not shown).

The changing shape of conjugal relations in the black population is to some

extent a reflection of broader Canadian trends. Over the course of the last few

decades, Canadians have been marrying less often or postponing marriage until later

in life. Despite some fluctuations, the rate of divorce in Canada since the 1970s has

remained high by historic standards (Kerr, Moyser, and Beaujot 2006). Many young

adults are also opting for co-habitation or common-law relationships as a substitute

for or a prelude to marriage, especially in Quebec. From 1986 to 2006, the percent-

age of all Canadian men who were married or in common-law relationships fell

from 72.9% to 64.9% in 2006, a drop of 11%. For women, the decrease went from

75.5% in 1986 to 69.3% in 2006, a change of 8%. Despite these broadly similar

Anne-Marie Livingstone and Morton Weinfeld | 13

TABLE 5. Marital status of adults aged 25-44 years, by gender and place of birth

1986 2006

Black native- born

Black foreign-born

All Canadian Black native-born

Black foreign-born

All Canadian

Sex M F M F M F M F M F M F

Divorced 4.7 7.0 4.2 8.2 3.4 5.4 1.2 3.9 4.4 9.3 2.9 4.5

Married or common- law

62.8 50.7 71.2 58.2 72.9 75.5 37.6 35.0 56.3 48.5 64.9 69.3

Separated 5.7 7.9 5.0 6.9 3.0 4.1 2.1 4.8 4.7 10.4 2.3 3.7

Never married

26.7 34.3 19.5 25.9 20.5 14.2 59.1 56.1 34.4 30.5 29.8 22.1

Widowed 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.8 0.2 0.0 0.2 0.2 1.3 0.1 0.5

Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

trends, the decrease in marriage and common-law unions remains higher among

blacks, especially the native-born.

Due to the lack of available research, it is difficult to speculate on what might be

causing this accelerated decline in marriage and common-law unions among native-

born blacks. As already indicated, age might be a factor, as native-born blacks in

Canada are relatively young compared to the norm. In analyses not shown here, it was

found that the pattern is concentrated among blacks of the second generation, who

represent 73.9% of all native-born blacks aged 25-44 years. Within the second gener-

ation, 62.7% of black men and women aged 25-44 years in 2006 were “never mar-

ried,” compared with 42.6% of black men and women belonging to the third-plus

generation. Given that the black second-generation in Canada has achieved close to

economic parity with whites, it would be hard to claim that the fall in marriage and

common-law unions reflects a process of downward mobility in social class or a

process of “segmented assimilation,” as articulated in the US literature (Boyd 2002).

Findings in Table 5 further illustrate that the number of blacks who are divorced

or separated has increased since 1986, especially among foreign-born black women.

In 1986, 8.2% of foreign-born black women were divorced and 6.9% were separated;

by 2006, these figures had risen to 9.3% and 10.4%, respectively. For foreign-born

black men, the situation has remained rather stable: from 1986 to 2006, the percent-

age of foreign-born black men who were divorced or separated went from 9.5% to

9.1%. Unlike black women, Canadian women in general have experienced a slight

decline in rates of divorce and separation, from 4.5% in 1986 to 3.7% in 2006.

Household Type The findings on family structure in Table 6 indicate that more black children are

growing up in lone-parent families today than in 1986. The increase has been espe-

cially large for native-born black children, who constitute the majority of black chil-

dren. Also of interest is the increase in foreign-born children who are living with a

lone parent. It must be kept in mind that these figures do not convey the actual per-

centage of black lone parents, but rather the percentage of black children living in a

lone parent home. In 2006, 26.6% of black parents with children 0-14 years of age

were lone parents, versus 10% of all parents (data not shown).

In 1986, 30.2% of native-born black children resided in a lone-parent house-

hold; in 2006, this figure was 42.5%, an increase of 41%. For foreign-born black chil-

dren, the percentage has gone from 25.9% in 1986 to 32.1% in 2006, an increase of

24%. Correspondingly, the proportion of black children living in two-parent fami-

lies fell more sharply for the native-born. From 1986 to 2006, the percentage of

native-born black children living with two parents fell from 64% to 51.2%. For for-

eign-born black children, the drop has been much narrower, from 68.1% to 64.2%.

Canadian Ethnic Studies/Études ethniques au Canada14 |

The findings further show that single-parent families have become more com-

mon for all Canadian children. In 1986, 11.3% of all Canadian children were living

with a lone parent. By 2006, this had risen to 16.6%, a 47% increase. Furthermore,

the proportion of children residing with two parents fell from 83.9% to 78.1%.

Before-Tax Household Income Table 7 displays the before-tax household income of two-parent and lone-parent

families with children aged 0-14 years. Based on figures from Statistics Canada

(2013), the dollar amounts for 2006 have been adjusted to account for inflation since

1986. The equivalent of one hundred dollars in 1986 was $167.43 in 2006. In other

words, an income of $20,000 in 1986 was approximately equal to $33,480 in 2006.

The income categories for 1986 and 2006 remain rough approximations, because the

census does not permit calculations of actual incomes, only averages. For example,

the closest amount to $33,480 (the equivalent of $20,000 in 1986) is a code for

$30,000-34,999. Given these limitations, the findings should be taken as an illustra-

tion of broad patterns and fluctuations in income inequality over time, rather than

precise measures of income and poverty.

As a whole, the results show that the economic situation of black families with

children has worsened since 1986, while the situation has improved for other

Canadian families with children. A slightly higher proportion of black children were

living in a low-income household in 2006 than in 1986 (35.3% versus 33.3%). In

contrast, the proportion of all Canadian children residing in a low-income house-

hold fell over the same period, from 22.4% in 1986 to 18.6% in 2006. In both peri-

ods, the most significant factor associated with racial disparities in the household

income of families with young children is family structure. In 2006, however, signif-

icant racial gaps in income remain even when family structure is taken into account.

As indicated earlier, black children in 1986 were marginally more likely than

Anne-Marie Livingstone and Morton Weinfeld | 15

TABLE 6. Household type of children aged 0-14 years, by place of birth

1986 2006

Black native-born

Black for- eign-born

All Canadian

Black native-born

Black for- eign-born

All Canadian

Two-parent 64.0 68.1 83.9 51.2 64.2 78.1

Lone-parent 30.2 25.9 11.3 42.5 32.1 16.6

Other 16.0 17.7 10.5 6.3 3.7 5.3

Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

other Canadian children to be living in a low-income household when family struc-

ture was held constant. The percentage of black children in a two-parent family

earning less than $20,000 in 1986 was 17.9%, compared with 16% of all children in

a two-parent family. In 2006, the proportion of black children from two-parent fam-

ilies living in low-income households remained unchanged (17.8%); in contrast,

fewer children from two-parent families in the general population were found in

low-income households in 2006 (11.6%). A similar process of increasing inequality

has occurred among lone-parent families. In 1986, 70.2% of black children in sin-

gle-parent families, and 67.7% of all Canadian children in single-parent families,

were found in households earning less than $20,000. In 2006, the percentage would

fall to 56.4% for black children and 49.5% for all children in the country. This rep-

resents a decline of 19.7% in the proportion of black children lone-parent families,

versus a decline of 26.8% for other children in the same group. Evidently, economic

prospects have improved for all children in lone-parent families, though to a lesser

degree for black children. Two trends can be discerned from these findings: on the

one hand, black families have made some appreciable economic gains since 1986; at

the same time, they have fallen further behind other Canadian families, whether they

are lone-parent or two-parent families.

Canadian Ethnic Studies/Études ethniques au Canada16 |

TABLE 7. Before-tax income of the households of children 0-14 years of age

Black two- parent

Black lone- parent

All black children

All Canadian two- parent

All Canadian lone- parent

All Canadian children

1986

Less than $19,999 17.9 70.2 33.3 16.0 67.7 22.4

$20-39,999 41.6 24.2 35.1 41.3 24.4 38.3

$40-74,999 36.0 5.4 27.9 36.9 7.0 33.5

$75,000 and over 4.4 0.2 3.6 5.9 0.9 5.8

Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

2006

Less than $34,999 17.8 56.4 35.3 11.6 49.5 18.6

$35-64,999 35.7 29.3 32.8 27.8 31.1 28.4

$65-124,999 36.6 11.7 25.3 43.1 16.0 38.0

$125,000 and over 10.0 2.7 6.7 17.6 3.4 15.0

Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

The data confirm that the incidence of low-income households was comparatively

higher for black children in 2006, and this is true whether they belonged to a lone-par-

ent or two-parent family. While controlling for family structure diminishes the size of

racial income inequalities, it does not eliminate them. To fully account for this rising

inequality between black families and other Canadian families in 2006, we need to turn

to alternative explanations. Potential causal factors to consider would be racial discrim-

ination in the labor market and barriers to immigrant integration (Mensah 2010).

Educational Attainment The final comparative table (Table 8) displays the educational attainment of blacks

and other Canadians in 1986 and 2006. On the whole, educational levels have

increased for all Canadians since 1986, including blacks. On this score, blacks have

clearly not lost ground relative to other Canadians. One finding is worthy of note.

Black women, like all Canadian women, report higher levels of university comple-

tion than males of the same group. In 2006, 29.7% of native-born black women, ver-

sus 20.5% of native-born black men, had acquired a Bachelor’s degree or higher. The

same gender gap exists in the general Canadian population, although it is somewhat

narrower. In 2006, 29.4% of all women and 24.9% of all men had obtained a

Bachelor’s degree or higher.

These findings corroborate what other researchers have found using earlier ver-

sions of the census. In one study, Simmons and Plaza (1998) observed that native-

born black women aged 20-24 years in Toronto had rates of university completion

in 1991 that were much higher than native-born black men as well as foreign-born

black women.

Anne-Marie Livingstone and Morton Weinfeld | 17

TABLE 8. Educational attainment of adults 25-44 years of age

1986 2006

Black native- born

Black foreign-born

All Canadian Black native- born

Black foreign-born

All Canadian

Sex M F M F M F M F M F M F

No high school

44.7 35.8 31.6 31.8 32.9 34.1 14.3 6.5 10.6 10.8 12.7 9.4

High school

19.5 27.4 17.4 19.0 20.0 24.7 39.3 29.6 40.5 35.4 38.1 30.7

College or some university

21.6 26.8 35.1 41.0 30.0 28.1 26.0 34.1 27.6 34.5 24.2 30.6

Bachelor’s or higher

14.2 10.0 16.0 8.2 17.0 13.2 20.5 29.7 21.4 19.3 24.9 29.4

Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

In 1986, the pattern was for black men to have higher levels of education than

black women, whether they were foreign- or native-born. Today, foreign-born black

women are nearly as likely as foreign-born black men to have a Bachelor’s degree or

higher. Native-born black women have now surpassed their black male peers. These

findings are consistent with patterns in the US, which previous authors have claimed

inhibit the formation of black heterosexual unions (Clarke 2011). For all couples,

marital homogamy tends to be the norm, and blacks are no exception (Schoen and

Weinick 1993). It would be worth exploring in future research whether gender dif-

ferentials in education between native-born black men and women in Canada may

have (or will) become an impediment to marriage and co-habitation for educated

black women. This is in addition to the difficulties that black men and women with

low education and income often experience in forming and sustaining families

(Henry 1994).

CONCLUSION

The major conclusion of the present exploratory study is that since 1986, the socio-

economic status of most black families with children has deteriorated relative to oth-

ers. Undeniably, black families in Canada face a more challenging set of social and

economic circumstances than other families, and these factors can only undermine

their welfare and stability. In 2006, significantly fewer blacks than other Canadians

aged 25-44 years were married or in a common-law union, more black women than

men were divorced or separated, and larger proportions of native-born blacks

remained single and never married. The economic gap between black households

with children and other Canadian households with children grew from 1986 to

2006, even when family structure is controlled. Many factors that militate against the

formation and stability of unions may be at work: labour market inequalities; the

pressures of racism; poverty and economic insecurity; immigrant stresses that lead

to marital dissolution; the unequal sex ratio and inter-racial marriage patterns.

Consequently, more black children find themselves in lone-parent families, which,

when combined with poverty, can create challenges for these children as they grow

up. The diminishing prospects of recent immigrants in Canada may partly account

for this lag in the income of black families. Picot and Hou (2003) found that low-

income rates have been steadily rising for recent immigrants since the 1970s, even

for the most highly educated from regions such as Asia and Africa. The authors also

note that while poverty rates have dropped for the native-born, they have increased

for immigrants.

The one variable on which blacks fare similarly with other Canadians is educa-

tion. The question remains why education, as a proxy for social class, does not

Canadian Ethnic Studies/Études ethniques au Canada18 |

protect blacks from economic poverty or enhance their chances of forming marital

or non-marital unions. The present study has highlighted a gender gap in education

between native-born black women and men. As indicated, marital homogamy might

pose one obstacle to the formation of black heterosexual unions.

The sex ratio for blacks reveals an excess of black women, caused largely by immi-

gration policy. This fact, combined with the greater racial exogamy of black men,

reduces the odds of marriage for black women. If these trends continue, the proportions

of unmarried blacks and lone-parent black women will continue to be above average.

The racial disparities in marriage and family structure found in the present

study bear some similarities with the US. In the US we know that blacks are among

the groups most affected by social and economic barriers. An interesting question to

consider is whether families in Canada and the US are subject to processes of racial

stratification and racism that are broadly similar. This issue is undoubtedly complex

given the obvious differences noted earlier between blacks in the US and Canada;

nevertheless, the significant racial disparities in family formation in the two coun-

tries raise the possibility that some combinations of factors may be the same, namely

between race, class, and gender.

Contextual factors unique to Canada also play an important role in explaining

the conditions of black families in 2006, as indicated by the age structure of the black

population, the sex ratio imbalance among the Caribbean-born, the employment

barriers facing recent immigrants, and the relation between gender, racial exogamy,

and union formation. Further detailed comparisons between immigrant and native

black families and between black families and other racial minority and immigrant

families in Canada would be pertinent and instructive.

Future research on black families should explore the short- and long-term con-

sequences of lone-parent families and poverty for parents and their children.

Another issue worth exploring is the within-group variability between black fami-

lies, taking into account factors like education, generation status, birthplace, immi-

gration history, gender, language, and geographic location. As shown earlier, the

black population is currently more diverse than ever, with a now sizable proportion

of African immigrants, a still large number of Caribbean-born immigrants, and a

growing percentage of native-born blacks, especially of the second generation.

Finally, policies that seek to reduce sex ratio imbalances driven by immigration,

eliminate income gaps for black men and women in the labor force, expand services

for single parents and low-income families to meet their basic needs, and enable

immigrants to find jobs commensurate with their skills and education would go

some way to ensuring more favorable conditions for black families and their children.

Anne-Marie Livingstone and Morton Weinfeld | 19

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We are grateful to Dr. Andrew Cherlin, Benjamin H. Griswold III Professor of Public Policy, Johns Hopkins University, for his vital feedback on the analysis for this paper. We also wish to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their help- ful feedback on the paper.

ANNE-MARIE LIVINGSTONE is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Sociology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Prior to entering the PhD pro-

gram, she was the Evaluation Coordinator for the Community Learning Centres of

the Quebec Ministry of Education, Sports, and Leisure. Her research focuses on

issues of race and ethnicity, poverty and inequality, and public policy.

MORTON WEINFELD is Professor of Sociology at McGill University, where he holds the Chair in Canadian Ethnic Studies. He is the author of Like everyone else but

different: The paradoxical success of Canadian Jews (McClelland and Stewart, 2001)

and co-edited, with Harold Troper, Ethnicity, Politics, and Public Policy: Case Studies

in Canadian Diversity (University of Toronto Press, 1999). His article “Canadian

Jews, Dual Loyalty, and the Tebbit “Cricket Test,” appeared in Canadian Ethnic

Studies in vol. 43-44, 3-1, 2011-2012.

Anne-Marie Livingstone and Morton Weinfeld | 23

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