89% of Canadians married once.

London, ON -- Statistics Canada has issued a report in June 2006, based on the General Social Survey of 2001, which looked at married life in Canada and the "risk factors affecting the success or failure of marriage."

According to StatsCan, just over 16.6 million people aged 25 and over were married at some point in life in 2001. Of these, 14.8 million (89%) were married only once. Those people who believed in the importance of marriage to happiness in life are likely to make a success of their first and only marriage. Canadians who married twice or more were less likely to report that marriage was an important factor in their personal happiness.

The report notes that the majority of Canadians define marriage as the union for life of one man and one woman, to the exclusion of all others. The full title of the report is "Till death do us part? The risk of first and second marriage dissolution."

Marriage still appeals

Researchers Warren Clark and Susan Crompton begin by announcing that "marriage as we have understood it over the past 50 or 60 years seems to be losing its appeal." They report that there are now fewer marriages because young people are delaying entering it, or replacing it with common-law unions; there is more divorce (one-third of marriages in any given year end before the thirtieth anniversary); and there are more single mothers and fathers.

The authors sign off on the more positive note that married couples have a "greater commitment and higher relationship quality" than common-law partners. Some external factors for success in marriage are: spouses who marry in their 30s; are university-educated; did not live common-law; produce children; attend religious services; and believe in the importance of the institution (Clark & Crompton--Canadian Social Trends, June 28, 2006).