"Two fundamental changes have influenced family demographics in both France and Canada over the past 25 years: the rise in the number of births to unmarried parents and the rapid growth in the proportion of children separated from one parent or another before they reach adulthood. The impact of these changes on the family life of children must, however, be seen in perspective. Parents not married at the time of the child's birth nevertheless tend to live together. As well, the separation of birth parents allows for the formation of new families, giving the child a stepmother or stepfather and step-siblings. International or interregional comparisons give a further dimension to these phenomena; for example, Quebec, France and the rest of Canada rank in that order for the frequency of births outside marriage, while Quebec and the rest of Canada come ahead of France with a higher frequency of separations." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND SPA)
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