Divorce Rate Final Report

Data Final Report:

Divorce rate in Canada declining

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Divorce rate in Canada has been steadily decreasing over the last six years with 2020 having the lowest recorded number of divorces. 

This article describes the decrease in the divorce rate in Canada and describes that 2020 was recorded as having the lowest number of divorces since 1973. The article explains that the divorce rate has been steadily decreasing over the last decade but 2020 showed the lowest number of divorces. As I speculated when I initially looked at the data set on Stats Can, the article links Canadian public health orders during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic as the potential reason for the decrease in 2020. The article also details how Stats Can stated in their report that the decrease in the country's divorce rate may also be due to the fact that the young adults have become more selective in regards to marriage. Stats Can said that young adults have also been more prone to a common-law situation rather than marriage. 

The divorce rate has decreased all over the country as described in this article. The divorce rate in the territories of Canada has remained somewhat the same while Ontario showed the biggest change in Canada. Ontario had a 36 per cent decrease in divorces in 2020 compared to 2019. The article explains that while the divorce rate has been steadily decreasing since 1991, 2021 may show a sharp increase as the courts catch up from 2020. 

Stats Can also described that the divorce rate is lower in the young adult age group but this may be because people are getting married older in life according to this article. It is also noted in this article that the divorce rate in Canada recorded by Stats Can does not include marital separations. Interestingly, the article describes that almost one-third of divorces are jointly filed by both spouses and this number has been increasing over the years.  

 

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Unanswered Questions:

1. This data set shows a significant decrease in the divorce rate in Canada in the year 2020, this could potentially be due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it would be interesting to see a data set that includes the reason for divorce.

2. This data set does not show the ages of the couples getting divorced, that would also be an interesting component to examine to see if there is a correlation between the age of marriage and the number of years they stay married.

How I would get the data:

I would go about seeking these data sets by examining the statistic for the five years following the start of the Covid-19 pandemic on stats Canada.

I would also look for a data set that in stats Canada that includes the ages of the couples who were divorced.