Cousins Are Disappearing. Is This Reshaping the Experience of Childhood

Highlights

• A Canadian woman aged 35 would have had about 20 living cousins in 1950, while a woman the same age would have half that — 10 living cousins — in 2020. By 2095, a Canadian woman aged 35 is projected to have just five living cousins, according to the data. (View Highlight)
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• “Disregarding cousins means that we ignore a ‘weak’ but important tie that individuals rely on for support and company at different stages of their lives.” (View Highlight)
• Cousins take up an interesting space in many family dynamics — not quite siblings, not quite friends. (View Highlight)
• “If our society and culture celebrate and value developing close friendships and communities and building family we choose to a greater extent, we may not need to worry about a cousin decline so much.” (View Highlight)