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The French-Canadian farmer of Quebec has maintained to a striking degree the family structure which became stabilized in New France two centuries ago. In the industrial centers, and even in large rural towns, there has been some alteration of the system in response to new types of economy. In this article, the author focuses on the family system in the agricultural parishes and such structural changes as have occurred even in these most traditional regions. The basis of rural life in Quebec is close family cooperation. All members of the family share in the responsibilities. Not only is unified family effort necessary but a large family is essential. The short cultivating season of four months makes it impossible for a family to farm large acreages with the traditional methods. The economic balance has been evolved on farms of about a hundred acres. Such lands can be farmed by two or three able males. Female labor is necessary to feed and clothe these men and boys and to help with the farm work. Both male and female labor is provided by large families.

The article presents a study on the attitude of Canadian students toward parenthood. The data for the study was collected from student sample in French and English Canada during the winter of 1967-68 using an anonymous questionnaire technique. English sample members favored the use of birth control more than the members of French sample. English members had more egalitarian attitude towards division of parenthood responsibilities and disciplining children than the French members. English members were also more tolerant toward divorce than French members.

Patterns of French Canadian women had previously been the mother, the nun and the school teacher, in other words, they confined their activities exclusively to family life, the education of the young and welfare work, taking no part in either the economic or political life of the country. Since the beginning of the century however, radical changes have taken place in the status and position of French Canadian women. The proportion of married women working outside the home is well below the national average. This is due to the social and cultural traditions of the Province of Quebec. According to a survey, Quebec woman who continued to work after marriage tended to cease work directly she had children, unless she was the sole or the main breadwinner of the family. Since 1940, French Canadian women have had equal political rights with men. They vote in provincial government elections and are eligible for all government offices. There is certain ambiguity in the French Canadian attitude to the mother.

The concept of familism suggested certain questions to be asked about 160 Saskatchewan farm families, in which the mothers were interviewed in 1953. The goal was to detect possible changes in the familistic pattern which had been assumed to be more characteristic of pioneer days. Rough measures were developed for six aspects. No consistent pattern of interrelationship was revealed among the measured aspects. Grain-farm families ranked high on integration. The relatively prosperous families were the ones most interested in continuity on the land. The younger families displayed division of labor that was most sex- and age-related. These are examples of tentative conclusions. The question is raised, whether a situation is emerging which is actually more favorable to certain of the familistic aspects than was the pioneer culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A previous statistical study has shown that in Prince Edward Island the size of the family has remained unusually stable for two generations. Field study of rural life on the Island revealed features which have helped to maintain relatively high fertility. The rural neighborhood corresponds to the school district. While its primary function is educational, it defines a group of people who recognize mutual obligations. Within the neighborhood, a unified school system and the absence of marked inequalities of wealth have encouraged tolerant and egalitarian attitudes. The organizational basis of the neighborhood gives social prestige and leadership to successful parents of large families, and it appears to function most successfully where there are many children in the group. Geographical and psychological isolation from the mainland has helped till recently to preserve Island ways of life from disintegrating contacts. The pattern of life described already shows signs of disintegration and is unlikely to endure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on social changes in Canada which have a bearing on family life. The larger family group has disappeared to a considerable extent leaving a small and comparatively defenseless family unit living in a more complex social situation. Such modern families are faced with problems of maintenance and morale never met by an older generation, and with far less resources upon which to rely. This change has been accompanied by a discernible shift in emphasis and a greater provision for community social services. Modern Canadian social welfare programs had their major beginning in the field of child welfare towards the end of the nineteenth century. To be sure, there always had been the old standard poor relief with its accompanying almshouses and there were at the same time charity organization societies in a few eastern Canadian cities. In Canada, economic aid to families varies considerably according to provisions in the ten separate provinces. However, there are federal government programs as follows: Family allowance payments to all on behalf of children under sixteen on a rights basis guarantees an additional income to families, and is of particular significance to the low income family with many children.

The article discusses the measures which are being taken in Canada toward family preparedness, protection and defense. An old and established institution, the family has strong survival value. Crises come and go but the family somehow muddles through and seems immortal. Of all the factors of social change no two have borne more heavily upon the family than industrialism and war. Family life at its best has its roots cast deep into a community. Again an observer of the Canadian scene cannot fail to note the phenomenal increase in the marriage rate. In Canada as a whole there were 34,880 more marriages in 1940 than in the last full pre-war year. The greatest single gain which the Canadian family is receiving from the war lies in the enhanced status of woman. In a recent survey of a cross-section of the civilian population made by the Canadian Institute of Public Opinion 44% were said to be economically worse off than a year ago. Family welfare, as based upon durable monogamous wedlock, receives a further war-time set-back through the growth of illegitimacy. War multiplies the number of common-law marriages and of children born out of wedlock. War reveals, as perhaps nothing else does, the importance of fathers.

The article presents a study conducted in Canada, about geographical mobility and kinship. The nuclear family was the important unit in kin relations, there was no evidence of any but equalitarian relations and geographical propinquity was in no case a condition for the existence of ties with kin. The modified extended family is said to provide social, psychological and economic support to its members, despite geographical mobility. The respondents in this study, whether geographically mobile or non-mobile, reported essentially the same kinds of relationships with kin. Two other types of "substantial changes" mentioned, bring out two factors which may be much more significant in disrupting kin relations than geographical mobility. The death of connecting relatives is highly disruptive of relations was also indicated during the course of the study. Mother's siblings were found to be more important than father's siblings for contact and mutual aid. The other factor was specific quarrels. The presented cases suggest that attitudes to kinsmen are by no means directly reflected in behavior.

This section deals with several mass media resources about marriage and family living in 1953. One of these resources is the television program, This Is the Life, produced by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Family life situations, and the contributions of the Christian religion toward meeting these situations, are depicted interestingly in the program. Another is the publication, Motion Pictures on Child Life, published by the Children's Bureau. The publication lists 450 films and its directory of distributors. Meanwhile, WOI Radio-TV at Iowa State College continues with a rich program of education for family life. A program on one of the TV farm shows used short films of fathers who were known to take constructive interest in their children. In Flint, Michigan, 20 beautifully colored models are used to illustrate lectures on the beginning of life, development of the baby and labor and delivery. Classes are given by the Clara Elizabeth Fund for Maternal Health to hundreds of women. Another information resource is the film, Frustrating Fours and Fascinating Fives, produced by the National Film Board of Canada for the Department of National Health and Welfare. The film tackles child development from two to seventeen years.

A factor analysis was applied to the responses made to the items of the Bardis Familism Scale by a sample of 304 female members of the Christian Family Movement in Canada. This analysis shows the scale to be, at best, a weak indicator of some of the dimensions of familism. This, plus the fact that the word "family" in several of the items may be interpreted variously by different respondents, makes the use of the Bardis Scale problematical. Proposals for revision of the Scale are offered, along with suggestions for improving the administration of the items with a view to establishing clearly the family referent of the respondent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of education on current migration propensities in the United States are examined for each age group, and an estimate is made of how these age-specific differentials cumulate over a lifetime in determining the number of times that individuals at different educational levels can expect to move over the course of their lives. The independent effects of age, education, and occupation are also examined. Two other sections investigate trends in educational selectivity of migration in the United States and international comparisons of occupational differences in migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the highlights of the First International Seminar of the International Scientific Commission of the Family, on the campus of the Université Laval in Quebec. The seminar aimed at bringing together a limited number of scientists from various countries and representing various disciplines so that they could appraise family policy. The last day of the seminar was devoted to conclusions drawn from the previous days' discussions and the formulation of research proposals. Several research proposals were suggested and registered.