Child presence in census family

Status: This standard was approved as a departmental standard on July 31, 2026.

Definition

Child presence refers to whether the family includes any children.

Census family refers to a married or common-law couple (with or without children) or a one-parent family. All members of a particular census family share a usual place of residence. Persons living with at least one of their biological or adopted parents are children in census families, regardless of their age or marital status, provided they do not live in a couple or with their children. Grandchildren living with at least one of their grandparents and with no parents present also constitute a census family.

Usage

In the context of census families, children are excluded if they live in a couple or with their children. Unless specified, there is no age restriction for children in census families.

Derivation

'Child presence in census family' is derived from the responses to questions about the relationships among the people who live in the household.

Conformity to relevant internationally recognized standards

This standard is broadly compatible with the recommendations for censuses contained in the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Conference of European Statisticians (UNECE-CES) "Recommendations for the 2030 Round of Population and Housing Censuses", 2025. The UNECE-CES recommendations include a classification (section 16.3.2.7) of type of family nucleus, which distinguishes between couple families with children and couple families without children, as well as one-parent families.

Classifications

Relation to previous version

  • Child presence in census family July 31, 2026 to current

    The definitions of the concept "child presence" and of the statistical unit "census family" have been modified.

  • Child presence in census family May 26, 2021 to July 30, 2026

    The name of the concept has been modified from 'child presence any age' to 'child presence', and its definition has been simplified. The definition of the statistical unit has been modified.

  • Child presence any age of census family November 16, 2015 to May 25, 2021

    This is an update of Child presence any age of census family. Its definition has been simplified.

  • Child presence any age of census family October 22, 2007 to November 15, 2015

    Child presence any age of census family is incorporated within the classifications of two previous standards, Census family marital structure and Census family parental structure. The current standards take a more simplified approach, presenting each classification dimension as a separate variable concept. This approach provides greater conceptual and definitional clarity while simultaneously allowing users more flexibility in constructing whatever more complex, multidimensional classifications meet their needs for data presentation.

  • Census family marital structure July 15, 1998 to October 21, 2007
  • Census family parental structure July 15, 1998 to October 21, 2007
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