Canadian families differ from one another to the degree that it is now customary for researchers, helping professionals, teachers, and others to declare their interest in families, not "the family." The proliferation of different family forms has led some, who disregard the fact that the traditional family has had a very brief history, to lament the decline of family and the erosion of true family values. While modern families are structurally diverse, they function in the traditional way as the primary places where persons care for each other; produce, consume, and distribute goods and services; and try to satisfy family members' emotional needs. What is truly notable about today's family is the proportion of young women with children who have entered the labor force or remained in the labor force while their children are young. Several considerations suggest that women are in the labor force to stay. Increasingly under pressure, the family is no longer a refuge, but has become a zone from which members seek refuge in individual pursuits. To respond to the needs of families in the 21st century, Canadians will have to recognize and respect the diversity of family forms and be sensitive to the particular circumstances of families which they seek to help and support. (RH)