IV.

Current Trends

In contrast to the conservative, rural, and Catholic values of the past, the contemporary lifestyles and values of French Canadians are quite similar to those of the majority of English-speaking Canadians. Today the transformation of Québécois society is most clearly seen in the changing role of women. The overwhelming urge to modernize produced a Québécois women’s movement that has been the most militant in Canada. The birthrate in Québec declined sharply from an annual rate of 30 births per 1,000 people in 1951 to 13 per 1,000 in 1991. By the end of this period, over 90 percent of Québécois women of childbearing age practiced some form of birth control. By 1990 abortions became slightly more common in Québec than in the country as a whole.

During the early and mid-1990s, almost 44 percent of all Québec infants were born to nonmarried couples or single mothers. The divorce rate grew from less than 10 percent in the late-1960s to over 40 percent in 1995. Québécois women have achieved post-secondary education rates equal to, and in some fields exceeding, those of male Québécois. From 1961 to 1990 the portion of Québécois women working outside the home increased from 27 percent to 44 percent. Through their advocacy organizations and labor unions, women have led struggles for equal pay and child support and against sexual harassment and violence.

Like all Western societies, Québec is now experiencing the rapid aging of its population. Québec, which receives less than 20 percent of annual immigration into Canada, consistently fails to attract younger foreign immigrants. Many young Québécois migrate to other regions of Canada and to the United States in search of employment.

Although Québec voters have twice rejected independence, the issue refuses to die. A substantial proportion of Québécois continue to demand either special constitutional status for Québec as a distinct society within the federation, or the secession of the province from Canada. Other French Canadian communities express concern about the gradual erosion of French-speaking culture in provinces dominated by English-speakers.