TORONTO - Canadians are recognizing the importance of marriage in growing numbers despite a majority of people who say the institution long regarded as the bedrock of society has grown less important to the masses, a new poll suggests.
The Canadian Press-Harris-Decima survey, conducted in advance of Wednesday's census release on families, also found a majority of people feel marriage is harder work today than in the past and that children are better off in two-parent families.
"At one in the same time, many Canadians feel that marriage is a good and important institution, but recognize and are comfortable with the fact that not everyone needs to feel the same way,'' said Bruce Anderson, president of Harris-Decima.
"What's unique, I think, about Canadians in this context is that even as they can characterize that kind of shift in society they don't seem to be angst ridden about it.''
When asked: "Over the past decade or two, do you think marriage is something that has become more important, less important, or no more or less important in Canadian society?'' 53 per cent of respondents answered less important.
Only 13 per cent said marriage had become more important to society.
On the other hand, when asked: "For you personally, do you see marriage as being more important, less important, or no more or less important in your life than you may have felt in the past,'' 42 per cent said more important.
Some 17 per cent answered less important while 39 per cent said their personal feelings about marriage hadn't changed.
An overwhelming 74 per cent said they felt making a marriage work is harder work today than in the past, while only three per cent said it takes less effort.
"People, over the years, have become familiar with the fact that divorce rates are higher than decades ago,'' said Anderson, who added the economic and career pressures facing two-parent families were largely non-existent in the past.
"There's a perception that those strains have increased and as a consequence, keeping a family together, making a marriage work, is more difficult than it was.''
The belief that children who grow up in traditional two-parent families are more likely to become productive members of society was shared by 50 per cent of respondents, while 39 per cent said it made no difference.
The omnibus poll of just over 1,000 Canadians, conducted via telephone between Aug. 30 and Sept. 2, is considered accurate to 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Clarence Lochhead of The Vanier Institute for the Family says it's his belief that Canadians "have not given up on the notion of marriage.''
"If you compare the situation today to previous generations... people have a lot more individual choice in the kinds of unions that they form,'' said Lochhead, pointing to the growing number of common-law unions.
"People still do have the sense that marriage signifies a commitment above and beyond the common-law relationship.''
The latest census numbers on families won't be made public by Statistics Canada until Wednesday, but the 2001 stats revealed that married couples accounted for 70 per cent of all families in Canada, down from 83 per cent in 1981.
More than one million children, or about 19 per cent, lived in a lone-parent family -- the vast majority headed by a woman.
While marriage's traditional dominance is clearly on the wane, Lochhead said the time-honoured reasons for marriage -- both religious and social -- have far from disappeared.
"Some people still do marry with a strong religious set of reasons,'' he said. "For a lot of people that still holds true.''
With both women and men pursuing higher education in greater numbers and then establishing themselves in the professional world, living together before marriage is often an attractive option, said Lochhead.
"A lot of times I think some of these things are (what) people feel they need to do first before they think about forming a family or getting married and having kids,'' he said.
"People still have an interest, before they reach that average (marrying) age of 28, of being in partnerships... For a lot of people, the common-law situation makes sense.''
Wednesday's census release will also include statistics for the first time on same-sex marriage.
The homosexual community's successful fight for marriage underscores the institution's continuing appeal, said Lochhead.
"For many people, marriage is important _ it's not just a political statement,'' he said. "There is that element to it, but for many people marriage is important, something they aspire to.''
