By James Wood

Census finds majority of Medicine Hat households married with children

Aug 2, 2017 | 11:55 AM

New data released by the federal government has offered a glimpse into local households in the Hat.

Nationwide, information from the national census showed a drop in households made up of families, with slightly more than 28 per cent of Canadian households being made up of just one person in 2016.

Couples with children followed close behind, making up 26.5 per cent of the country. Several social and economic factors behind the change, such as the aging population, including more empty nesters and widows, as well as higher divorce and separation rates.

Locally, however, the data for Medicine Hat shows a large chunk of the population living in two-person households.

Out of the 26,655 households in the city listed on the census data, only 7,805 were single-person. 10,185 were two-person households, with 3,605 for three-person households, 3,315 for four-person, and 1,730 for five or more.

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A total of 61,710 people lived in private households, with the average household size being 2.3.

Marriage data was also included in the census.

While the majority of Medicine Hat residents were listed as being in married or common-law couples (30,870), a total of 21,230 were listed as being both unmarried, and not living common-law. 12,335 of those people had never been married, while 1,390 were listed as separated.

Another 4,135 people were listed as divorced, divided between 1,620 men and 2,510 women.

3,375 people were listed as widowed, made up of 670 men and 2,705 women.

As for the family status of Medicine Hat residents, a detailed breakdown was included in the census data.

A total of 18,040 families were listed as living in the city. Of that, 10,125 were made up of only two people. 3,345 were made up of three, with 3,310 having four individuals and 1,370 having five or more.

The average size of a Medicine Hat family was 2.8 people.

15,050 of the families in the city had couples, with 12,410 of those couples being married, and 2,635 being common law. 8,360 of the listed couples had no children, while 6,690 reported having kids. Of those couples, 2,580 had one child, 2,835 had two and 1,275 had three or more.

There were 2,990 lone-parent families listed in the city, with 2,370 single mothers and 620 single fathers. Of the single parent families, 1,765 listed a single child, 860 had two, and 365 had three or more.

Nationally, 30.3 per cent of Canadian children are living in either a lone-parent family, a stepfamily or without both of their parents.

A rise in the phenomenon of skip-generation families was also noted, with some 32-thousand, 520 children aged 14 and under living exclusively with their grandparents, up about 29 per cent from 2001.

Cases of children living without their parents were most prevalent in the territories, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

-with files from the Canadian Press