Introduction Southam News and the National Foundation for Family Research and Education (NFFRE) commissioned COMPAS to undertake a survey of Canadians' perceptions of family stress, expectations for family-related action from government, assessments of the dilemmas of family breakdown, perceptions of equity in divorce courts, and other family-related themes.
Interviews were conducted October 29-30th among a representative sample of n>500 Canadians. Samples of this size are considered accurate to within 4.5 percentage points 19 times out of 20. This project was undertaken by Dr. Conrad Winn with the assistance of Denise Mac Donell (613-237-4493). Non-Custodial Relationships Are Vital, and Government Should Do More to Protect These Relationships A painful and increasingly newsworthy issue is the ongoing presence and rights of non-custodial parents in divorce and family breakup. Canadians agree overwhelmingly that it is very important for the children to maintain a relationship with the parent in whose home they do not live. The actual question and responses below:
How important is it for children from divorced parents to maintain an ongoing relationship with the non-custodial parent, that is the parent in whose home they do not live... | very important | 80% | | somewhat | 17% | | not really | 2% | | or not at all? | 1% |
Perhaps because their generation has experienced particularly high rates of family breakup, Canadians in the youngest cohort, people under 30 years of age, are particular sensitive about the need for continuity of relationship with the non-custodial parent. Thus, 86% of the youngest cohort believe that it is very important to maintain an ongoing relationship with the non-custodial parent compared to 80% among the public as a whole.
Given Canadians' desire for children to maintain ongoing relationships with their non-custodial parents, one might expect the public to also favour government action to protect the access rights and obligations of non-custodial parents. Indeed, that is precisely how the public feels. This portrait of public opinion on the matter emerges:
Almost two-thirds of Canadians (65%) agree that the government should make it a priority (17%), if not a high priority (23%) or a very high priority (25%) to make it difficult for the caregiver to prevent the children from seeing their other parent. Barely a fifth (23%) believe that this should be no priority at all while 13% feel that it should be somewhat of a priority.
The desire for government action to protect the access rights of non-custodial parents is consensual, cutting across all demographic groups. The sole exception is a pattern of especially intense concern among Quebecers-as many as 32% of Quebecers say that the government should make this a very high priority compared to 25% among Canadians as a whole.
Conclusion
Canadians are deeply concerned about the rising level of family stress and earnestly want government action. The public wishes governments to undertake what they can to discourage family breakdown, mindful of the special stresses encountered by parents and children in single parent households. With respect to helping to keep families intact, the public calls upon government to
- assess government programs and policies in light of their probable impact on family life
- lighten the tax load on families keeping in mind the goal of making it more possible for one parent in two-parent households to spend more time at home with the child or children
- introduce mandatory marriage preparation courses for young couples
- contemplate changing the law to make it more difficult to dissolve marriages with children.
In the case of divided and divorced families, the public would like government action intended to: - protect the non-custodial parent's right of access to the child or children, mindful of the special benefits to the child of a continuity of relationship, and
- enhance efforts to meet the needs of children and fathers in court proceedings.
Canadians are deeply divided, one against the other, as well as within their own minds on the desirability of school breakfeast programs. The public expresses approximately equal levels of enthusiasm for the leftwing initiative of school board breakfeast programs, for the rightwing position that breakfeast programs are destructive of both parents and schooling systems, and for the centrist position that the dilemmas of hungry, poorly fed children should be treated on a case by case basis.
Methodology
504 random telephone interviews conducted nationally with Canada's general public, those 18 years of age and older. Interviewing was conducted between October 29-30, 1998. The national sample produces results which can be considered accurate to within +/-4.5 percentage points or better, 19 times out of 20. Principal Compas researchers: Dr. Conrad Winn, Chairman, and Denise Mac Donell, Research Analyst.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this website,
please email us at info@compas.ca |