Could we combat poverty by reducing the number of unintended and nonmarital births? This article proposes a federal policy that would provide all women with information about, and free access to, a range of contraceptive services, including long-acting reversible contraceptives; reviews what it is that we do and do not know; discusses several…

This study analyzed trends in marital behavior for unwed mothers who gave birth between 1960 and 2004. With nationally representative data on 15,353 White and Black unmarried mothers, results indicated that mothers who gave birth after 1989 were waiting much longer to marry than were mothers giving birth before 1968. The most pronounced delays…

Using a sample of 335 young adults and their parents, this study investigated the intergenerational transmission of marital attitudes from parents to their children and how parental marital quality moderates that relationship. Results suggested that the marital attitudes of both mothers and fathers are related to the marital attitudes of their…

This qualitative study explores assumptions of family scholars who draw on age heterogamy and marriage-gradient approaches to suggest that marriages between older husbands and much younger wives are likely to be male-dominated, with traditional gender arrangements. Drawing on resource theory and marital power perspectives, we analyze the life…

The sexual values of absolutism (abstinence until marriage), relativism (sexual decisions made in reference to the nature of the relationship), and hedonism ("if it feels good, do it") were assessed in a convenience sample of 783 undergraduate students at a large southeastern university. Results revealed that relativism (62.1%) was the predominate…

Ryan Kelty, Meredith Kleykamp, and David Segal examine the effect of military service on the transition to adulthood. They highlight changes since World War II in the role of the military in the lives of young adults, focusing especially on how the move from a conscription to an all-volunteer military has changed the way military service affects…

Interracial dating on American campuses has had a relatively stormy past. Until the past three decades or so, it was outlawed in some states. Southern institutions, in particular, such as the infamous Bob Jones University have made this issue divisive even among their own constituencies. Age and generation seem to be cogent factors with younger…

The females' relatively low participation in higher education is discussed within the Nigerian society in a way that such issues are discursively placed in often contradictory, as well as extremely complicated contexts. Dominant discussions draw on the interplay between gender and students' performance across subjects, as well as on the influences…

A decade ago we published a book reporting an extensive analysis of nationwide panel data from the Monitoring the Future (MTF) project showing impacts of post-high school experiences on substance use (Bachman, Wadsworth, O'Malley, Johnston, & Schulenberg, 1997). One of the most important findings was that various categories of marital status,…

This paper examines a timely topic in international youth studies--the transition to (middle-class) marriage--in a developing country, Indonesia. While early marriage in Indonesia is still common in rural areas and marriage itself remains almost universal, these trends are moving into reverse for urban, tertiary-educated middle-class young people.…

This study examines women's choice of surname upon marriage, using a nationally representative Norwegian sample (N = 1,276). Regression analyses revealed that age at marriage, own and mother's education, urban residence, importance of paid labor, liberal family values, and egalitarian work-family roles positively influence marital name keeping.…

Richard Settersten and Barbara Ray examine the lengthening transition to adulthood over the past several decades, as well as the challenges the new schedule poses for young people, families, and society. The authors begin with a brief history of becoming an adult, noting that the schedule that youth follow to arrive at adulthood changes to meet…

This study compared 55 men and 78 women who had same-sex marriages in Massachusetts, 101 men and 120 women who had domestic partnerships in California, and 35 men and 86 women who had civil unions in Vermont, all in 2004. Couples were surveyed on demographic and relationship information, conflict, contact with family of origin, social support,…

Marital relationships, like individuals, follow a developmental trajectory over time with ups and downs and gains and losses. We work from a life course perspective and use growth curve analysis to look at trajectories of change in marital quality over time. Although the tendency is for marital quality to decline over time, some groups begin with…

Although research has examined marital satisfaction in later life, little is known about the specific relationship challenges that older couples experience. Thus, the objective of the study was to explore the challenges older couples face. Data came from the USC Longitudinal Study of Generations. Qualitative analysis was conducted on 105 older…