Determinants Of Health

Lone-Parent Families

Key Messages
Simcoe Muskoka
Simcoe County
District of Muskoka
Technical Notes
Further Reading

Key Messages

Of the 87,755 families with children living in Simcoe Muskoka, 27,715 (or 32%) were lone-parent families.
A higher percentage of lone-parent families in Simcoe Muskoka were led by women+ (76%) rather than men+ (24%).
The family structure was consistent between Simcoe County, the District of Muskoka, and Ontario, as dual-parent or couples (married or common-law) accounted for the majority of families with children in all areas, followed by lone-parent families led by women+, and then lone-parent families led by men+.

Simcoe Muskoka

According to the 2021 Census, 87,755 (50%) families living in Simcoe Muskoka reported having children at home. Of those, 32% (or 27,715) were lone-parent families, an increase from 28% (or 25,610) in 2016.
A higher percentage of lone-parent families were led by women+ (76%) compared to men+ (24%). The number of lone-parent families led by women+ increased by 7% from 19,770 in 2016 to 21,095 in 2021. Lone-parent families led by men+ increased by 13%, from 5,845 in 2016 to 6,615 in 2021.

Lone Parent Families by Gender Simcoe Muskoka

The chart below depicts how families with children were structured in 2021:

The family structure was consistent between Simcoe County, the District of Muskoka, and Ontario.
Dual-parent or couples (married or common-law) accounted for the majority of families with children.
Ontario had a higher percentage of couples or dual-parent families (70%), while Simcoe County and the District of Muskoka had a higher percentage of lone-parent families led by men+ (7% and 9%) compared to Ontario.

Families with children simcoe muskoka and ontario

Simcoe County

In Simcoe County, 31% (or 25,010) of families with children were lone-parent families. This is higher than Ontario at 30% (or 678,110) in 2021 and an increase from 2016 at 28% (or 23,130 families).
Almost half of families with children were lone-parent families in Orillia (49% or 2,105 families).
Among the lone-parent families in Simcoe County, 76% (or 19,090 families) were led by women+ and 24% (or 5,920 families) were led by men+.

Simcoe highst lone parent families

Simcoe county lowest percent lone parent families

District of Muskoka

In the District of Muskoka, 34% (or 2,705) of families with children were lone-parent families. This is higher than Ontario at 30% (or 678,110) in 2021 and an increase from 2016 at 29% (or 2,480 families).
Within the District of Muskoka, Gravenhurst (at 44% or 630 families) is the Census subdivision with the highest percentage of families with children that are lone-parent.
Among the lone-parent families in the District of Muskoka, 74% (or 2,005 families) were led by women+ and 26% (or 695 families) were led by men+.

Muskoka Lone Parent Familes

Additional analysis of lone-parent family data by education, employment, and income will be updated as it becomes available.

Technical Notes

In 2021, the Census included a question on gender for the first time, rather than solely sex. The sex variable in census years prior to 2021 and the two-category gender variable in the 2021 Census are included together in this analysis. Although sex and gender refer to two different concepts, the introduction of gender is not expected to have a significant impact on data analysis and historical comparability, given the small size of the transgender and non-binary populations (Statistics Canada, 2022).

Given that the non-binary population is small, data aggregation to a two-category gender variable is sometimes necessary to protect the confidentiality of responses provided. In these cases, people in the category “non-binary persons” are distributed in the other two gender categories and are denoted by the “+” symbol as women+ or men+ (Statistics Canada, 2022).

Census subdivision (CSD) generally refers to municipalities (e.g. Clearview Township) as well as areas considered equivalent to municipalities for reporting census data, such as First Nations reserves (e.g. Chippewas of Rama First Nation).

Local First Nation communities are included in the overall population totals for Census divisions (Simcoe County and the District of Muskoka). In regard to reporting of data at the Census subdivision-level, SMDHU is in the process of initiating conversations with local First Nation communities to determine which communities, and to what detail, data will be displayed on our HealthSTATS pages. As these conversations are had and decisions are made, updates may occur to this page.