A New Legal Form of

1
A New Legal Form of Family Adult
Interdependent Relationships

• Definition of a Relnshp of Interdependence - a
  relationship outside marriage in which any 2
  persons a) share one anothers life b)
  are emotionally committed to each other c)
  function as an economic domestic
  unit -?

2
Criteria for DeterminingWhether Two People
FormAn Economic Domestic Unit Under Albertas
Adult Interdependent Relationships Act

• Conjugality Exclusivity Whether the persons
  have a conjugal relationship the degree of its
  exclusivity
• External Representation Degree to which the
  persons represent themselves to others as a
  domestic economic unit
• Formalization Degree to which the persons
  formalize their intentions, legal obliga-tions,
  responsibilities to each other
• Children Care support
• Property
• Ownership, use, acquisition of

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A person is the adult interdependent partner of
another person if

• The person has lived with the other person in a
  relationship of interdependence i) for a
  continuous period gt3 yrs or ii) of some
  permanence, if there is a child of the
  relationship by birth or adoption OR
• The person has entered into an adult
  interdependent partner agreement with the other
  person.

4
Q A onAdult Interdependent Partnerships

• Can a person have more than one A.I.P. at a time?
• No
• Can a married person, living with his/her spouse,
  have an A.I.P.?
• No
• Can a married person, separated from his/her
  spouse have an A.I.P.?
• Yes
• How terminate an A.I. Partnership?
• - Walk away for at least 1 year
• - Marry someone
• - Enter A.I.P. with someone else
• - Written termination agreement
• - by other unspecified means

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Some Facts on Alberta Families

• 84 of Alta pop. lives in family
• Lone parent families only 12
• Marital Status see pie graph

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Figure 2.1 Marital Status Living
Arrangements of the Alberta Population Aged 15
Over, 1995 (   

Married
NOTE The following are 1995 GSS data to be
up-dated with 2001 census)
7
Some Facts on Alberta Families

• 84 of Alta pop. lives in family
• Lone parent families only 12
• Marital Status see pie graph
• Growth in common-law since 95
• Marriages far exceed divorces in any given year.
  Absolute number of divorces is declining. See
  graph ?

8
Family Formation Dissolution Marriages and
Divorces in Alberta, 1946-2001     Source
Statistics Canada CANSIM II data base. For
divorces, Table 530002, Vector 119 for
marriages, Table 530001, Vector 106. CANSIM is
an official mark of Statistics Canada.    
9
Some Facts on Alberta Families

• 84 of Alta pop. lives in family
• Lone parent families only 12
• Marital Status see pie graph
• Growth in common-law since 95
• Marriages far exceed divorces in any given year.
  Absolute number of divorces is declining.
• Interprov. Comparisons Alta. has highest crude
  divorce rate and one of highest crude marriage
  rates. 39 of Alta. marriages end before 30th
  anniversary. Among provinces, only Que. B.C.
  have higher divorce rate.

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Why does Alberta have such an high divorce rate?
Students Hypotheses (start here Oct. 4/02)

• Economy boom bust cycle
• Affordability
• Strains of occupn-related absences
• Long hours at work away from fam.
• Strain of interprov migrants having left behind
  soc support soc control networks
• Lower age at first marriage?
• High female labour force participation rate

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Why does Alberta have such an high divorce rate?
Pontings Hypotheses

• Structural Other Strains on Marriages
• e.g., a) boom bust economy ( fights)
• b) high level of family violence
• c) high proportion of migrants leaves
  weaker social control by parents siblings
  perhaps less of a social support netwk
• Ideological Factors
• a) Sexism of Alberta males (see time use
  data)
• b) Individualism high value placed on
• c) Personal Autonomy high value on
• d) U.S. Influence right to pursuit of
  happiness
• e) Protestant Work Ethic (sacrifice family)
• Facilitative Factors
• High female labour force participation rate
  (Click here) suggests that Alberta women have
  greater economic freedom to leave a marriage.

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Family Formation (contd.) The Baby Boom as
Measured by Number of Births in
Alberta, 1946-2001      
The Second Boom Due to Echo In-migration,
NOT increased rates of fertility.
Source Statistics Canadas CANSIM II database.
Vector ________. CANSIM is an official mark of
Statistics Canada.

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Figure 2.4 Crude Birth Rate for Alberta,
Saskatchewan, and Canada, 1921-99
14
Family Formation (contd.)The Baby Boom in
AlbertaMeasured by Total Fertility Rate
Note that the earlier-observed increase in number
of births in 1980s is NOT due to increased
fertility rates. Note that Alta. Fertility rate
now below replacement.
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Indicators (a) Counter-Indicators (x)of
Traditionalism in the Family

• x Divorce Rate (high see previous data)
• x Womens Labour Force Participation (high)Click
  here for graph
• Same-sex Partnerships
• Attitudes a-Re Importance Of Marriage
  Albertans are more tradl than Cdns x
  - Re Importance of Lasting Couple Relnshp
  Is much more important than marriage
  for both Albertans Cdns
• Sex-Role Stereotyping in Time Use in a-
  Household Chores (both spouses employed) Yes
  Alta. women spend about twice as much time on
  this as Alta men. a- Child Care Yes Alta.
  Women spend signif. more time at this than do
  their partners X - On both child care and
  household chores, Alta employed women spend
  less time than do employed women in other
  countries.

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Importance of Marriage and of a Lasting
Relationship As a Couple (SOURCE GSS 1995)

• A L B E R T A C A N A D
  A
• Total Men Women Total Men Women
•   (Cell entries are percentages)
• Importance of Being Married
• In order for YOU to be happy in life, is it
  very important, important, not very important or
  not at all important
• a) To be married? Asked of all respondents.
  Very Important 39 38 40
  36 36 35
• Important 38 39 36 35
  38 33
• Not Very 21 20 21 25
  22 28
• Not at All 3 3 3
  4 4 5
•  
• Importance of Having a Lasting Relationship
• b) To have a lasting relationship as a couple?
  Asked of all Rs. Very Important 59 59
  59 58 58 59
• Important 33 32 33 35 37
  34
• Not Very 7 8 7 6
  4 7
• Not at All 1 1 1 1
  1 1

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Time Use Alta. in Comparative Perspective
(Hrs/Day) Courtesy of Dr. A.
Gauthier. Data shown are average hours per day,
calculated over a 7 day week for married or
co-habiting adults, age 18-49, with at least one
child home under age 18.

• Survey HOUS CCARE CIVIC FREE PERS N cases
• Employed Men
• CAN98 2.0 1.1 0.1 4.4 9.1 567
• ALB98 1.8 1.0 0.2 4.1 9.0 81
• NET95 1.9 0.8 0.1 4.8 9.7 247
• UK95 1.5 1.0 0.1 5.4 9.0 107
• AUS92 1.9 0.8 0.1 4.7 9.6 870
• SWE91 2.5 1.0 0.1 4.1 9.7 601
• GER92 2.2 0.7 0.2 4.4 9.7 2174
• OST92 1.5 0.6 0.1 4.3 10.3 1261
• Employed Women
• CAN98 3.5 1.4 0.1 3.9 9.6 429
• ALB98 3.4 1.3 0.1 4.2 9.8 47
• NET95 4.1 1.5 0.1 5.1 10.5 241
• UK95 3.7 1.9 0.2 4.4 9.8 97
• US98 3.9 1.7 0.1 3.0 10.1 94
• AUS9 4.5 2.2 0.1 4.5 9.8 733
• SWE91 4.1 1.7 0.2 3.9 10.0 670
• GER92 4.1 1.2 0.1 4.0 10.1 1908

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In the previous table,

• Note that for both child care and household
  chores, employed Alberta men spend
• signif. less time than employed Alberta women
• less time than employed Canadian men
• less time than their Swedish and even German
  counterparts

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Satisfaction and Emotional Ties Within Families
Indicators

• In Conjugal Relationships - Happiness in the
  Relnshp - Frequency of Laughing Together
  with Partner
• Cross-Generationally - Closeness to Parents
  When Growing Up
• - Frequency of Contact with Parents In Last
  12 Months

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Familial Happiness Indicators

• On the next slide, note
• Degree of Self-Reported Happiness in the
  Relationship - Vast majority are very happy
  (Cda Alta) - Alta. Women are particularly
  happy in their relationships - Happiness
  gap betw. M W is greater in Alberta than
  in Cda
• Frequency of Laughing Together - Vast majority
  laugh together daily (Cda Alta) -
  Albertans (esp. men) are happier than Cdns
  as a whole.

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Happiness in the Conjugal Relationship, 1995

• Overall, would you say that your relationship
  is ? Asked of all persons who are married (not
  separated), living common-law, or living in a
  same-sex partnership.
• ALBERTA CANADA
• Total Men Women Total Men Women
• Very Happy 76 72 80 74 75
  73
• Fairly Happy 22 26 18 24 24
  25
• Not too happy 2 1 2 2
  2 3
• NOTE Albertas married couples (78) are much
  more likely than common-law couples (63) to
  report themselves to be Very Happy.

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Frequency of Laughing Together With Spouse/Partner

• About how often do you and your
  (spouse/partner) laugh together? Is it...
  Asked of all persons who were asked the happiness
  question above.
• ALBERTA CANADA
• Tot. Men Wom. Tot. Men Wom.
• Almost Every Day 87 90 84 82
  84 80
• Once or Twice Per Week 11 9 13 15
  14 16
• Less Than Once Per Week 1 1 3
  1 3 4
• NOTE Common-law partners in both Alberta
  Canada report a slightly greater frequency of
  laughing than do married couples.

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Emotional Closeness to Parents When Growing Up

• To Mother
• No diffs. betw. Albertans Cdns
• Men were slightly closer to mother than are
  women 90 of men and 85 of women say they were
  very close to mother when growing up
• To Father
• No diffs. betw. Albertans Cdns
• No diffs betw. Men and Women
• Less close than to mother. (87 agreed strongly
  that they were very close to their mother when
  growing up, but the corresponding figure for
  father was only 69

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Frequency of Face-to-Face Contact with Parents in
Last 12 Months

• Slightly lower in Alta. than Cda for both mother
  father e.g. About 1/3 of Albertans, but
  about 42 of Cdns had daily or at least once per
  week contact with their father in previous 12
  months
• Women, are slightly more likely than men to be
  in frequent contact with their mothers (i.e.,
  39 among Alta women vs 33 among Alta men)

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Value Attached To ChildrenPositive and Negative
Indicators

• Would Not Have Children If Could Live Life Over
• Only 3 of Albertans and 5 of Canadians agree
• Having Children Made Respondent an Happier
  Person About 40 of Albertans and slightly
  more Cdns strongly agree. Only about 3 of each
  sample disagree.
• Responses to Recommendations of the Alberta
  Childrens Advocate The government repeatedly
  resists attempts by the Childrens Advocate to
  improve the lot of children in state care.