BACKGROUND Statistics Canada ceased publishing vital statistics on marriage and divorce in 2008, leaving a knowledge gap in these important demographic indicators. OBJECTIVE This paper makes the methodological contribution of examining how best to operationalize divorce with tax data, and the substantive contribution of presenting recent trends in divorce in Canada. METHODS We examine trends in divorce using both vital statistics and administrative tax data and compare them during the period for which they are available (through 2008). Then, using administrative tax data, we update trends in divorce through 2016. We examine overall, age-specific, and age-standardized trends in divorce. RESULTS We document “gray divorce” from the 1990s through 2008 and then flat divorce rates for older adults and a continued decline in divorce for younger adults through 2016. CONCLUSIONS Tax data show a recent decline in divorce trends in Canada. However, there are important limitations to estimating divorce with tax data. We discuss data gaps and make suggestions for more accurate measures of union dissolution. 1 Corresponding author. Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Western Ontario, Canada. rachel.margolis@uwo.ca. 2 Department of Sociology, University of Western Ontario, Canada. 3 Social Analysis and Modeling Division, Statistics Canada, Canada. Margolis et al.: Capturing trends in Canadian divorce in an era without vital statistics 1454 http://www.demographic-research.org CONTRIBUTION Divorce is important for demographers to measure well, and this paper carefully examines recent trends and critically evaluates administrative data’s ability to fill the void left by the termination of vital statistics.

中文翻译：

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在没有重要统计数据的时代捕捉加拿大离婚趋势

背景技术加拿大统计局于2008年停止发布有关婚姻和离婚的重要统计数据，在这些重要的人口统计指标上存在知识空白。目的本文为研究如何最好地利用税收数据实施离婚提供了方法论上的帮助，并为加拿大提出最近的离婚趋势提供了实质性帮助。方法我们使用人口动态统计数据和行政税收数据检查离婚趋势，并在可用期间（到2008年）进行比较。然后，使用行政税收数据，我们更新到2016年的离婚趋势。我们研究了离婚的总体，特定年龄和年龄标准化的趋势。结果我们记录了从1990年代到2008年的“灰色离婚”，然后到2016年，老年人的离婚率持平，而年轻成年人的离婚率持续下降。结论税收数据显示加拿大的离婚趋势最近有所下降。但是，用税收数据估算离婚有重要限制。我们讨论了数据缺口，并提出了更准确的工会解散衡量标准的建议。1位通讯作者。加拿大西安大略大学社会学系副教授。rachel.margolis@uwo.ca。2加拿大西安大略大学社会学系。3加拿大统计局社会分析和建模司。Margolis等人：在没有生命统计的时代捕获加拿大离婚趋势1454 http：//www.demographic-research。