Family matters: Family ties: How often do adult children see their parents?
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Description: Family matters: Family ties: How often do adult children see their parents?
Family matters: Family ties: How often do adult children see their parents?
Family ties: How often do adult children see their parents?
In 2017, 19.6 million Canadians aged 25 to 64 years (81%) had at least one living biological or adoptive parent.
Over half of these adult children saw their parents in person regularly (at least once per month).
Frequency of regular visits with mother | Percent |
---|---|
At least once per month | 60% |
Less than once per month | 28% |
Never | 13% |
Frequency of regular visits with father | Percent |
---|---|
At least once per month | 54% |
Less than once per month | 31% |
Never | 15% |
For 9 in 10 Canadians who saw their parents or parents-in-law on a daily basis, the average meeting lasted at least one hour.
Canadians were much less likely to see their father regularly when their parents were separated or divorced.
But they were almost as likely to see their mother regularly, whether their parents were separated or divorced or not.
Mother | Father | |
---|---|---|
Parents separated or divorced | 57% | 38% |
Parents not separated or divorced | 61% | 61% |
Regular visits with parents were more common in the Atlantic provinces and Quebec.
Mother | Father | |
---|---|---|
British-Columbia | 49% | 43% |
Prairie provinces | 54% | 47% |
Ontario | 61% | 56% |
Quebec | 67% | 61% |
Atlantic provinces | 68% | 63% |
Note: The results refer to Canadians aged 25 to 64 who were not living with their parents and who had at least one living biological or adoptive parent at the time of the surveys. The results refer to in-person meetings and exclude virtual meetings.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2017 General Social Survey – Family, and 2015 General Social Survey – Time Use.
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