Social Determinants of Health

Family Structure
Income
Housing
Highest Educational Attainment among Parents
Sub-Populations

Family Structure

In Simcoe Muskoka, 98.8% (or 85,510) of children aged 0-14 years were living with at least one biological or adoptive parent according to the 2016 census. The majority of children aged 0-14 years (66.4% or 57,460 children) were living in a family where all children were the biological or adoptive children of both parents. This decreased from 67.4% (or 56,675 children) in 2011. In 2016, an additional 20.3% of children aged 0-14 years (or 14,370 children) were living with one parent in a lone-parent family, an increase from 19.5% in 2011.

Family Characteristics of Children (0-14 Years)
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Data Source: Statistics Canada. 2017. Family Characteristics of Children (17), Age (4B) and Sex (3) for the Population aged 0 to 14 Years in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Divisions and Census Subdivisions. Data Tables. 2016 Census of Population. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-400-X2016041. Last updated August 2, 2017. >

1. In an intact family, all children are the biological or adopted children of both parents. This category also includes children living in census familiesfor whom it cannot be determined whether it is an intact family or a stepfamily.
2. In this complex step family, there is at least one child of both parents and at least one children from one parent.
3. In a simple step family, all child(ren) are the biological or adopted child(ren) of one parent.
4. In this complex step-family, there is at least one child of each parent and no children of both parents.

Older children were less likely to live with two biological or adoptive parents and more likely to live with one biological or adoptive parent and one step-parent or with one lone-parent. For example, in 2016, 80.8% of children aged 0 to 4 years were living with two biological or adoptive parents while this percentage declined by 17% to 63.6% for children aged 10 to 14 years. Likewise, 2.4% of children aged 0-4 were living with one biological or adoptive parent and one step-parent in 2016. This increased by 9% to 11.5% for children aged 10-14 years.

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The above discussed family characteristics of the child. Below discusses the types of families with children in Simcoe Muskoka. In 2016, there were 90,860 families with children living at home in Simcoe Muskoka. Of these families, 84.5% (or 76,790 families) had at least one child under the age of 25. The other 15.5% (or 14,070) of families had only children aged 25 years or older at home. The number of families with only children aged 25 or older at home grew by 26% from 11,140 families in 2011 to 14,070 families in 2016. In comparison, families with at least one child aged 0 to 24 grew by 2% from 2011 to 2016 in Simcoe Muskoka (from 75,155 to 76,790 families).

Among 2016 Simcoe Muskoka families with at least one child aged 0 to 24 living at home, almost 63% were intact families¹, 20% were female-led lone-parent families, 6% were male-led lone-parent families and 12% were step families.

Characteristics of Families with Children (0-24 Years)
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1. In an intact family, all children are the biological or adopted children of both parents. This category also includes census families for whom it cannot be determined whether it is an intact family or a stepfamily.
2. In simple step families, all of the children are the biological or adopted children of only one spouse or common-law partner.
3. In a complex step family, there are a few different compositions. There may be at least one child from one parent and at least one child from both parents. There may be at least one child from each parent and at least one child from both parents. Lastly, there may be at least one child from each parent and no children from both parents.

For an in-depth Child, Youth and Family Profile based on the 2016 Census in Simcoe County, please visit the ‘Community Data and Reports’ page on the County of Simcoe’s website.

Income

Sources of Income: Families

Employment is an important source of income. Information on income by family type was only available from the census at the level of census metropolitan area and census agglomerations.

The median income received from employment sources was highest among couple families with children (aged 0-17 ) and lowest among female lone-parent families with children (aged 0-17). For example, in the Barrie area, the median employment income of two-parent families was $101,720 compared with $66,150 for male lone-parent families and $34,953 for female lone-parent families.

For those living in low income, government transfer payments can be an important source of income. Female lone-parent families received the highest amount from federal and provincial child benefit programs in 2015. For example, in the Midland area, the median amount of income received from child benefit programs for female lone-parent families was $6,320 and $5,584 for male lone-parent families.

After-tax income is the amount of income available to the family after paying income taxes and receiving government transfers. In Orillia, for example, the median after-tax income for two-parent families was $78,406, $38,784 for male lone-parent families and $33,248 for female lone-parent families.

Low Income: Children

In Simcoe Muskoka and Ontario, a higher percentage of children (aged 17 and under) were living in low income households compared to adults (aged 18-64), according to the after-tax low income measure (LIM-AT) in 2015.

A higher proportion of younger children were living in low income households compared to older children. In Simcoe Muskoka, 16.3% (or 6,215) of children aged 0 to 6 years were living in low income households compared to 11.2% (or 7,060) of children aged 15 to 24. The percentage of children aged 0 to 6 living in low income was particularly high in Orillia (36%), Midland (29%), Penetanguishene (28%), Gravenhurst (26%) and Bracebridge (23%).

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Low Income: Families

According to data from income tax returns, a larger percentage of lone-parent families were living in low income (based on the LIM-AT) compared to couple families with children. In 2016, 32% of lone-parent families were living in low income compared to 7% of couple families with children in Simcoe Muskoka. This is similar to the proportion of families living in low income in Ontario. The median after-tax income of lone-parent families living in low income was $22,020 in Simcoe County and $21,820 in Muskoka District in 2016.

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Housing

In 2016, 88% (or 51,190) of Simcoe Muskoka couple families with children owned their residence compared to 62% (or 11,495) of lone-parent families.

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In Simcoe Muskoka, approximately 22% (or 12,745) of couple families and 50% (or 9,090) of lone-parent families were living in a dwelling that fell below at least one of the adequacy, suitability or affordability housing standards in 2016. This means that the dwelling either required major repairs, did not have enough bedrooms for all of its occupants or the household spent 30% or more of their total household income on rent or mortgage costs (e.g. rent, mortgage, taxes, utilities).

Approximately 16% (or 9,400) of couple families with children and 42% (or 7,605) of lone-parent families were living in a dwelling where the family spent 30% or more of their total household income on rent or mortgage costs.

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Highest Education Completed among Parents

The highest education completed among parents in couple families and lone-parent families has increased over time in Ontario. Among married spouses and common law partners in Ontario with children between the ages 0-17, 71.6% had a post-secondary certificate diploma, or degree in 2016, an increase from 65.8% in 2006.

Likewise, the percentage of lone-parent families with children aged 0-17 with a post-secondary diploma, certificate or degree increased from 53.7% in 2006 to 59.0% in 2016. 

Sub-Populations

In Simcoe Muskoka, 6% (or 5,570 individuals) of children aged 0-14 self-identified as an Indigenous person (First Nation, Métis, or Inuk). This is higher than the proportion of the provincial child (0 to 14 years) population (4.1%).

Among children aged 0-14 in Simcoe Muskoka, 10.2% (or 8,790 individuals) self-identified as a visible minority. In comparison, 35.6% of Ontario children of the same age self-identified as a visible minority.

In 2016, 1.6% of Simcoe Muskoka children aged 0 to 14 reported having immigrated to Canada, including 0.8% of all children reporting recent (past 5 years)  immigration to Canada. The majority of children aged 0 to 14 who immigrated to Canada were born in Asia (47%), Europe (29%) or the Americas (20%). This trend remained among children aged 0 to 14 who had recently immigrated. In addition to this first generation immigrant population, an additional 18.5% (or 15,975 individuals) of Simcoe Muskoka children aged 0 to 14 were second generation immigrants where at least one parent was born outside of Canada.