Single parent headed households: Who’s minding the kids from 3 – 6pm?

Communities with a higher proportion of lone-parent headed households are associated with higher crime rates. Children from lone parent headed households face low incomes and other significant risk factors for becoming a victim or perpetrator of crime. The chart below tracks percentage of lone parent families in Waterloo Region and Ontario. The second chart tracks two parent family median incomes and single family median incomes. The gap between the two assesses whether single-parent headed households are falling behind when compared to two parent households.

The Statistics

Data Sources: Statistics Canada, Census (Released Every Five Years); Statistics Canada, CANSIM Table 111-0015 (Released Annually)

The Story Behind the Numbers

Waterloo Region has less single parent headed households than Ontario. However, single parent families have increased in Ontario and Waterloo Region over the past ten years. Interestingly in Waterloo Region the income of single parent headed households is growing slightly faster than two parent families in the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo CMA. So while single parent headed households are growing in the region their income is keeping pace with average incomes, unfortunately they are not making any significant gains to close the gap.

Read the Community Response:

Single Parent Headed Households: A response from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Waterloo Region with Julie Philips