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Peter Jon Mitchell: Declining married families across Canada means children will become rarities

The future of the married family depends, in part, on whether Canadians can see it as attainable, supported and worth pursuing

“Babies,” which recently premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, tells the story of a longtime married couple deciding not to have children. The comedy is the definitive answer to the question the celebrity couple, director Lauren Miller Rogen and husband Seth Rogen, have fielded for years: when are you going to have a baby?

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The decision whether to have children is rather personal, and it is easy to empathize with a couple who have faced scrutiny over their decision. Even so, the cultural norm of associating babies with marriage is a good thing.

Peter Jon Mitchell: Declining married families across Canada means children will become rarities Back to video

Canadians are free, for the most part, to form families as they choose, yet the married family structure remains the most common family form for raising children. Marriage is correlated with positive outcomes for adults and children, which can, in turn, positively impact individuals and communities.

Columnist Jesse Kline keeps you up........

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