Parents On Parenting: How Are Canada's Children Being Raised?

Toronto, Ontario - According to an Ipsos-Reid/CTV/Globe and Mail survey, of parents in Canada today, parents have varying views as to the severity of many early childhood risk factors.

When parents in Canada consider a number of risk factors in early childhood that may cause behavioural problems and poor academic achievement later in life they have varying opinions:

• Seven in ten parents (70%) point to "lack of attention from parents" as a severe negative risk factor,
• Three in ten (29%) consider "social difficulties with peers" a severe negative risk factor,
• One-quarter (27%) think "low income" is a severe negative risk factor, and
• One in seven (15%) say that "genetics" are a severe negative risk factor.

A majority (68%) agree with the statement "I spend more time with my children than my parents did with me."

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/CTV/Globe and Mail poll conducted between February 24 and March 4, 2004. The telephone survey is based on a randomly selected sample of 648 adult parents living in Canada. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 1773.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian parent population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data.

Seven In Ten (70%) Point to "Lack of Attention From Parents" as a Severe Negative Risk Factor

A majority of seven in ten (70%) parents say "lack of attention from parents" is a severe negative risk factor in early childhood that may cause behavioural problems and poor academic achievement later in life. This compares to one quarter (25%) that believe it can have a somewhat negative impact, and 4% that feel it has no impact at all.

• Agreement in every region in Canada say that "lack of attention from parents" is a severe negative risk factor in early childhood that may cause behavioural and academic problems: Alberta (75%), British Columbia (74%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (70%), Ontario (69%), Quebec (69%), and Atlantic Canada (66%).

Three in ten (29%) think that "social difficulties with peers" is a severe negative risk factor in early childhood that may cause behavioural problems and poor academic achievement later in life, while six in ten (60%) say it can have a somewhat negative impact on these things. One in ten (9%) answer that it has no impact at all. The remaining 1% does not volunteer an opinion.

• Directionally, parents living in Saskatchewan/Manitoba (38%) and Quebec (35%) are the most inclined to believe that social difficulties with peers is a risk factor that can have a severe negative impact, followed by parents in Atlantic Canada (29%), British Columbia (28%), Alberta (25%), and Ontario (24%).

One quarter of Canadians (27%) think "low income" is a severe negative risk factor in early childhood that may cause behavioural problems and poor academic achievement later in life. Half of Canadians (55%) believe that "low income" is an early childhood risk factor that can have a somewhat negative impact on behaviour and academics later in life. One in five (18%) think low income does not impact these things at all.

• Three in ten parents in Atlantic Canada (32%), Quebec (30%), and British Columbia (29%) think low income is a severe negative impact risk factor in early childhood, compared to one quarter in Ontario (26%) and Saskatchewan/Manitoba (24%), and one in five in Alberta (20%).
• Those with lower annual household income levels of less than $30,000 are significantly more likely than those with household income levels of $30,000 or more to believe that low income is a risk factor in early childhood that can have a severe negative impact on academic achievement and behavioural problems (37% vs. 26%).
• The proportion of those who believe low income is a risk factor that can have a severe negative impact by age of children living in household is: Children age 0-5 (22%), children age 6-11 (28%), children age 12-17 (27%).

Only one in seven Canadians (15%) believe that in early childhood genetics is a severe negative impact risk factor in that can cause behavioural problems and academic achievement later in life. Over half of Canadians (56%) believe that genetics has a somewhat negative impact. One quarter (26%) believe genetics have no impact at all. The remaining 2% do not volunteer an opinion.

• Directionally, parents living in Quebec (23%) are the most likely to believe that genetics is a severe negative impact risk factor and cause behavioural problems and poor academics later in life, followed by parents living in Ontario (19%), Atlantic Canada (13%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (9%), Alberta (6%) and British Columbia (4%).
• Older parents age 55+ (28%) are significantly more likely than middle age parents age 35-54 (15%) and younger parents age 18-34 (13%) to believe that genetics is a severe negative impact risk factor in early childhood that may cause behavioural problems and poor academic achievement later in life.

Seven in Ten (68%) Say They Spend More Time With Their Children Then Their Parents

A majority of seven in ten (68%) parents agree with the statement "I spend more time with my children than my parents did with me" (29% agree somewhat, 40% agree completely), while a minority of three in ten (31%) disagree (22% disagree somewhat, 9% disagree completely). The remaining 1% of respondents does not offer an opinion.

• Agreement with the statement "I spend more time with my children than my parents did with me" by region: Alberta (74%), Ontario (72%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (72%), British Columbia (69%), Atlantic Canada (65%), and Quebec (60%).
• Disagreement with the statement "I spend more time with my children than my parents did with me" by region: Quebec (40%), Atlantic Canada (34%), British Columbia (31%), Ontario (28%), Alberta (26%), and Saskatchewan/Manitoba (25%).
• Older parents 55 years and over (78%) and middle age parents age 35-54 (71%) are more likely than parents age 18-34 (59%) to agree that they spend more time with their children than their parents did with them.
• Parents with younger children are directionally less likely to agree that they spend more time with their children than their parents did with them: Children age 0-5 (61%), children age 6-11 (70%), children age 12-17 (74%).

Please open the attached PDF to view the factum and detailed tables.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900