Definition of Family

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by special relationships and meanings they hold in my life. By contrast, a census conducted by a country doesn`t take in consideration the affective and emotional aspect of the term family. It provides demographic representation of population and statistical data that is used to plan public services and determine the members of Parliament. According to Statistics Canada (2011) my family is considered a couple without children living in a private household because my daughter, who is still living with us, is 26 years old (Canadian households in 2011, p.1). Although this representation of my family hurts my feelings, I know it is made for statistical reasons. It is a cultural thing for us to take care of our children no matter how long it takes, paying for their education and everything they need until they can safely start their own life.

Major Social and Cultural Changes

The Canadian society has experienced very dramatic changes in the way that certain aspects of our culture has shifted from the traditional Canadian family. Nowadays, the social norm has changed in the sense that the statistics are on the rise regarding divorce, common law partnerships, same sex marriages, blended families, and increase in the number of women in the workforce while raising young children.

Firstly, divorce was not as common as it is today. While the percentage of married couples dropped in the 10-year period from 2001 to 2011 from 70.5% to 67.0% (Portrait of families and living arrangements in Canada, p.5), the divorce rate is on the rise during the same period from 38% to 42% (Family Life - Divorce / Indicators of Well-being in Canada). Divorce was not seen as socially acceptable and easier the obtain legally until 1985 when the second Divorce Act was passed (Luxton, 2011, p.10). For the first time in 2011 the one-person household surpassed the couple with children and increased from 25.7% to 27.6% of all households (Canadian households in 2011, p.1-2). This leads into the raising statistics of step-families. Census Canada counted 464,335 step-families in 2011, representing 12.6% of nearly 3,7 million couple families with children (Portrait of families and living arrangements in Canada, p.11). A blended family or step-families comprise the couple families that may parent step-children that preceded the current relationships (Luxton, 2011, p.4).

As a marriage becomes less attractive, common law families are becoming more popular and receive an increased legal recognition. Portrait of families and living arrangements in Canada (2011) shows that between 2006 and 2011, the number of common-law couples rose 13.9% compared with the 3.1% increase in married couples (p.5). Whether the reason for cohabitating is the rejection of marriage, a precursor of marriage, or because the divorce from the previous relationship is not yet pronounced, people are choosing this type of relationship because they enter into it without formalities and end it avoiding a nasty and costly divorce, while it is legally recognized and regulated.

Another reason for demographic changes is a rise in same-sex families. Back in the day, homosexuality was considered a criminal offence in Canada. Many steps were taken until July 2005 when Canada legalized same-sex marriages (Luxton, 2011, p.7). Since then the number of same-sex couple raised from 34,200 in 2001 to 64,575 in 2011 (Portrait of families and living arrangements in Canada, p.7). With legalizing same-sex marriages we see a lot of partners adopting children to start a family. That is a big change from 1950 when this would never happen.

Lastly, women are more likely to delay having children or have fewer children then before focusing on education, having a career, and contributing to the family economic security. This is a big change compared to the mid 20th century when the role of women was to stay home with the children while the men were the income earners (Luxton, 2011). Statistics Canada shows a significant increase of women with children employment between 1976 and 2009. By 2009, 64.4% of mothers with the youngest child less than 3 years old, 69.7% of those whose youngest child was aged 3 to 5, and 72.9% of those whose youngest child was less than 16 years of age were employed. (Paid work, table 5).

Many changes are being seen in our society towards family and marriage, a dramatic shift form the traditional Canadian family. The beauty of all these changes lays in the diversity of today`s families, that makes our world so interesting.

Theoretical Foundation

I can say that Bronfenbrenner bio-ecological theory of human development explains better my definition and experience of family. The theory emphasizes the interactions that occurs between an individual (a biological being) and the surrounding system (environment, society) (Kaakinen, Coehlo, Steele, Tabacco & Hanson, 2014, p.84). In accordance to this theory, people are active participants in bidirectional interactions that occur within the environment. This interaction highlights that the individual changes the environment and environment changes the individual. Hence, an excellent environment without effective relationships and vice-versa fail to achieve positive outcomes. According to Bronfenbrenner, an individual and a family`s development is affected by five types of environmental systems that influence our behaviours in various degrees (Kaakinen et al., 2014). My microsystem is made out of my immediate family members (my husband and daughter), friends, teachers, neighbours, work colleagues and other people I interact with everyday. The way these individuals act or react to the other people in the microsystem will affect how they will be treated in return. For example, if I start complaining about financial problems, my daughter may start to feel guilty and think that it is her fault which in turn may cause her losing focus in studying. The mesosystem involves the relationships that people have with each other within the microsystem. That can be explained by the relationships with my daughter`s friends, the interaction my family has with my neighbours, the holidays spent with our friends, the relationship with the extended family (my parents) via Skype, and the positive influence all these relationships have on our family. The exosystem is the layer that relates to the broader environment where my family lives and that affect my family’s life. Related to my family, that would be explained by my husband`s job performed back in my country where for 4 months per year for 8 years in a row he had to be away from the family to work in Germany, the big move we made in 2006 coming to Canada not knowing very good English, struggling to find a good school for our daughter, a house to live in, jobs to support our living, and transportation to