Canadian households rely on two incomes

The level of households with a child under 16 where two adults are working has risen by 92 per cent since the mid-70s. New figures from Statistics Canada show that 69 per cent of families are now dual-income households. Quebec has seen the fastest rise in two working parent households and has the second highest number in 2014 (73 per cent) behind Saskatchewan (74 per cent) while Alberta had the lowest (65 per cent). Many Canadian households rely on two incomes for mortgage payments and other living expenses and it has led to the proportion of stay-at-home parents falling sharply; there has also been a gender shift with 11 per cent of men staying at home in 2014 compared to just 2 per cent in 1976.