Across the country, 13% of Canadians say themselves or their partner have experienced a miscarriage.
Vancouver, BC [June 4, 2021] – A sizeable proportion of Canadians are in favour of allowing people who have experienced a pregnancy loss to have paid time off from work, a new Research Co. poll has found.
New Zealand’s Parliament recently voted to pass legislation that would allow couples who go through a miscarriage or stillbirth to have three days of paid leave.
In the online survey of a representative national sample, 78% of Canadians support enacting similar legislation in Canada, while only 10% are opposed and 13% are undecided.
Support for allowing paid leave to people who experience a pregnancy loss reaches 80% among women, 81% among Canadians aged 55 and over, and 83% among British Columbians.
Across the country, 13% of Canadians say themselves or their partner have experienced a miscarriage, defined as the loss of a pregnancy before 20 weeks of gestation. In addition, about one-in-five say they know a family member (19%) or a friend (18%) who went through this complication.
Fewer Canadians have faced two other setbacks. Just under one-in-ten (8%) report that themselves or their partner experienced infertility, or trying to get pregnant for at least a year with no success, and 3% endured a stillbirth, defined as the loss of a pregnancy after 20 weeks of gestation.
Most Canadians who have experienced miscarriage and/or stillbirth say they received enough information and support from their family (70%) and their friends (66%). The numbers are lower for their family doctor or general practitioner (58%) and their workplace (41%).
Three-in-ten Canadians (30%) who endured a miscarriage or stillbirth state that their family doctor did not provide enough information and support after the loss, while one-in-four (24%) feel the same way about their workplace.
Methodology: Results are based on an online study conducted from May 17 to May 19, 2021, among 1,000 Canadian adults. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region. The margin of error—which measures sample variability—is +/- 3.1 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty.
Find our data tables here and download the press release here.
For more information on this poll, please contact:
Mario Canseco, President, Research Co.
778.929.0490 [e] mario.canseco@researchco.ca