When Canadian parents look back on their own lives and the lives of their parents, they see changes across a generation that have profoundly affected their parenting experience, compared to when they themselves were young children. Supports for today's parents must take into consideration these changes that affect the care and nurturing of children. Over the past two decades, the family environment in which young children have grown up in Canada has changed dramatically. Today, most young women complete their education and begin their careers before they have children. Babies are born into many different types of families--married couples, common-law couples, single parent families, and blended families. Many children--even in the first five years of their lives--will experience a change in their family circumstances as their parents separate or divorce, marry or remarry. Today, most young children have two parents who both hold jobs in the paid workforce because today it more often takes two earners to maintain a desirable family income. Nonetheless, more parents understand the importance of the first five years and, despite today's pressures of balancing work and family, they spend more time with their young children than parents did a decade ago. Today, young children are surrounded by more adults than children were a generation ago, mainly due to the rising importance of caregivers in a child's life. This report visually shows how these changes relate to child development and explain how families have adapted their parenting roles. Findings from current research are used to discuss the implications of the data presented in each respective chart. In the concluding section, policies to support families with young children are described. (Contains 60 footnotes.)