1. Objectifs

Intentions :
L’auteure de cette recherche «documente les changements au niveau du type et du moment de la formation de premières unions auprès de Canadiens nés au cours de cinq décennies et […] examine en quelle mesure les différences régionales quant aux comportements liés au partenariat ont changé au fil du temps.» (p. 234)

Questions/Hypothèses :
«In this paper I address three research questions. First, how has the type of first union that Canadians form changed over time, and have the differences in the type of first union formed between those in Québec and the rest of Canada widened for those born in the 1970s? Second, is the decline in marriage over time being offset by increases in cohabitation for Canadians in Québec and other parts of Canada? Finally, has cohabitation been delayed to the same extent as marriage across cohorts of men and women in Québec and other parts of Canada, or has earlier cohabitation offset delays in marriage?» (p. 237)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
L’étude est basée sur un sous-échantillon de 15 941 répondants du cycle 25 de l’Enquête sociale générale menée par Statistique Canada en 2011.

Instruments :
Questionnaire

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

The results show that «across birth cohorts, an increasing number of Canadian men and women are choosing to form non-marital cohabiting unions rather than marriages as they enter conjugal life. […] The proportion of women and men in Québec and women in the ROC [rest of Canada] forming any type of union by age 35 years has remained stable over the birth cohorts. […] Consistent with past research [data shows] that the pattern of increased preference for cohabitation and decreased preference for marriage as a first union type is more dramatic among men and women in Québec and less dramatic for those in other parts of Canada. Across all cohorts, men and women in Québec are less likely to marry their first partner. However, the this [sic] trend toward an ever-decreasing proportion of marriages as first union has slowed for the most recent cohort in Québec, while it continued for the most recent cohort in the rest of Canada, especially for men. […] Québec also displays a more dramatic pattern of change in age at first marriage and first partnership over time than the ROC. Age at first marriage has increased to a greater extent in Québec, but age at first partnership continues to be younger in Québec than in the rest of Canada.» (p. 245)