Since 1950, marriage behavior in the United States has changed dramatically. Though most men and women still marry at some point in their lives, they now do so later and are more likely to divorce. Cohabitation has become commonplace as either a precursor or an alternative to marriage, and a growing fraction of births take place outside marriage.…

The United States shows striking racial and ethnic differences in marriage patterns. Compared to both white and Hispanic women, black women marry later in life, are less likely to marry at all, and have higher rates of marital instability. Kelly Raley, Megan Sweeney, and Danielle Wondra begin by reviewing common explanations for these differences,…

American families and workplaces have both changed dramatically over the past half-century. Paid work by women has increased sharply, as has family instability. Education-related inequality in work hours and income has grown. These changes, says Suzanne Bianchi, pose differing work-life issues for parents at different points along the income…

Robert Hummer and Erin Hamilton note that the prevalence of fragile families varies substantially by race and ethnicity. African Americans and Hispanics have the highest prevalence; Asian Americans, the lowest; and whites fall somewhere in the middle. The share of unmarried births is lower among most foreign-born mothers than among their U.S.-born…

Since the 1970s, the share of U.S. children growing up in single-parent families has doubled, a trend that has disproportionately affected disadvantaged families. Paul Amato and Rebecca Maynard argue that reversing that trend would reduce poverty in the short term and, perhaps more important, improve children's growth and development over the long…

Children who experience parental divorce exhibit more problems, both as children and as adults, than do children from intact families, but the overall group differences between offspring from divorced and intact families are small. Factors that affect adjustment to divorce are discussed. (SLD)

Kathryn Edin and Joanna Reed review recent research on social and economic barriers to marriage among the poor and discuss the efficacy of efforts by federal and state policymakers to promote marriage among poor unmarried couples, especially those with children, in light of these findings. Social barriers include marital aspirations and…

Explores the remarkable shift in marriage and divorce practices that has occurred in the last third of this century in the United States. Information is presented on trends in this country and other industrialized nations, and some reasons for these changes are explored. (SLD)

Over the past fifty years, powerful cultural and social forces have made marriage less central to Americans' family lives. In reaction, the United States is now engaged in a wide-ranging debate about the place of marriage in contemporary society. In this article, Steven Nock examines the national marriage debate. He begins by reviewing the social…

Reviews available research studies of high-conflict divorce and its effects on children. Factors believed to contribute to high-conflict divorce are explored, and a model of their interrelationships is proposed. Dispute resolution, intervention, and prevention programs are discussed, and implications for social policy are outlined. (SLD)

Examines the financial impact of divorce on children and their families. The preponderance of evidence suggests that women and children experience substantial declines after divorce whereas the relative income of divorced men remains stable or increases. The impact of public assistance is also considered. (SLD)

About 26% of all children under age 18 live with a divorced or separated parent or with a stepparent. Since divorce is a crucial factor in the lives of millions of children in this country, this issue is devoted to its social, economic, and psychological impacts. (SLD)

The living arrangements of American children have been strongly affected by revolutionary social changes in the past 30 years, including a large decrease in first-marriage rates and an increase in divorce. Each year more than one million children are affected by divorce. Statistics on divorce and social trends are presented. (SLD)

During the past century the U.S. family system has seen vast changes--in marriage and divorce rates, cohabitation, childbearing, sexual behavior, and women's work outside the home. Andrew Cherlin reviews these historic changes, noting that marriage remains the most common living arrangement for raising children, but that children, especially poor…

Provides a historical analysis of how demographic changes in American family life from the mid-1880s to the present have shaped the demand for programs to complement the efforts of families in educating and caring for their children. The author notes a second child care revolution currently taking place and argues for public funding for early…