Families and households have undergone major changes in combination with population shifts. Young people are marrying later, if at all. More are choosing the single life and many more are opting for common law unions. Separation and divorce have increased notably and the widowed population has expanded with the ageing of the population. The average age of first marriage in Nova Scotia in 1995 was 27.0 years for brides and 28.9 years for grooms, versus 21.1 years and 23.1 years, respectively, in 1971. Marriages in the province, which numbered 6,883 in 1971, declined to 5,329 in 1995 and only about two-thirds of that number represented a first marriage for both bride and groom. The proportion of the population between 30 and 34 years of age who were never married increased from 10.4% in 1971 to 17.5% in 1991.
Divorces, on the other hand, have mushroomed in number, from 720 in 1971 to 2,300 in 1994. The separated/divorced proportion of the population more than doubled between 1971 and 1991, and accounted for 5.1% of the population in 1991. Widowed persons increased by 27.4% in this same period and accounted for 7.0% of the 15+ population in 1991.
The age structure of the current population of the province, the extension of life expectancy and the expected continuing decline in the number of births leads to the overall conclusion that average household size will continue to fall but it is difficult to determine how much further it might decline. Should it decline to 2.0 persons by 2021, from the 1991 level of 2.7, then it is likely that a population growth of less than 6% could result in a growth of households (and also private occupied dwellings ) of approximately 40%. If, however, the average household size drops to only 2.2 persons then the growth in number of households would only approximate 30%.
Family structures have also been changing notably over the past two decades. While in 1971 87.2% of the Nova Scotia population were living in family households, by 1991 this proportion had declined to 83.5%. The remaining non-family households in the province are mainly young persons (living alone or with other unrelated persons) and elderly persons living alone. Almost 29% of the population 65+ years of age in 1991 were either living alone or with non-relatives and a further 6.5% were in nursing facilities.
The number of husband-wife families in the province increased by 30.3% between 1971 and 1991, to reach 211,500, thus comprising 86.5% of all families in 1991. The 1991 total of 33,210 represented a growth of 118.0% since 1971.
Of note also was the shift in the family structure for children living at home, who were under 25 years of age. The number of these children living in husband-wife families declined by 23.3% in the two decades between 1971 and 1991 while the number of these children living in one-parent families increased by 26.5%. Whereas only 10.0% of all children in Nova Scotia were in lone-parent families in 1971, by 1991 this had reached 15.5%. This growing proportion is due to the changing marital status of new mothers in Canada. Over the past two decades the proportion of babies born to non-married mothers has increased from 9.1% to 34.6% of all births.
The growing proportion of children residing in lone-parent families can be linked to the increasing poverty rate amongst children at both the national and provincial level. Between 1980 and 1995 the proportion of children, under 18 years of age, living in poverty (IE. under Statistics Canada's low income cut-offs) in Nova Scotia increased from 15.9% to 21.5% (Canada 15.8% to 21.0%). At the national level 53.0% of lone-parent families were under this low income cut-off in 1995, versus only 12.8% for two-income families with children. Average income for lone parent families, at $26,730, was only 43.1% of the average for two-income families in Canada.
At the other end of the age spectrum, the growing numbers of those over 65 years of age has occurred during a period of increased transfer payments combined with increased personal retirement savings and increased private and public pension plan coverage. As a consequence, the proportion of those over 65 years of age in Nova Scotia who fell under the low income cut-off declined from 28.1% of the total in 1980 to 12.6% in 1995.