This working paper assesses the representativeness of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study sample. It compares the demographic, socioeconomic, and health characteristics of children and families participating in the Fragile Families Study to those of the children and families participating in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort of 2001. Read More

Americans strongly believe that having a father and a mother in the home is essential to a child's happiness, although a significant minority of the nation's children still live at least part of their formative years without their fathers in the home. Findings like these galvanize the "responsible fatherhood" movement to investigate ways to improve […]

Back in the 1970s, before we met Dr. Phil; ate, prayed, and loved; and saw a British prince arrange his own marriage, it seemed like the institution of wedlock was doomed. "The divorce rate was going up at an incredible rate. One of the things people were thinking at that time was, 'Wow, does this […]

Americans without a college degree bore the brunt of the recent recession, and so did their marriages, according to a new report by researchers at the University of Virginia. The "Survey of Marital Generosity," conducted on behalf of U-Va.'s National Marriage Project, found that 29 percent of couples reported that the 2007-09 downturn had put […]

The transformative trends of the past 50 years that have led to a sharp decline in marriage and a rise of new family forms have been shaped by attitudes and behaviors that differ by class, age and race, according to a new Pew Research Center nationwide survey, done in association with TIME, complemented by an […]

Imagine that you see two people in the distance walking alongside each other down a busy sidewalk. Maybe they are a couple. Maybe they just happen to be heading in the same direction. In a crowd of people on a city street, it's hard to tell. That same challenge arises when researchers look at possible […]

The Future of Children, a collaboration of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and the Brookings Institution, has just released their Fall 2010 journal, entitled Fragile Families. The executive summary of the journal reads: "The swift rise in nonmarital childbearing in the United States over the past fifty years […]

In a reversal of long-standing marital patterns, college-educated young adults are more likely than young adults lacking a bachelor's degree to have married by the age of 30. In 2008, 62% of college-educated 30-year-olds were married or had been married, compared with 60% of 30-year-olds who did not have a college degree. Throughout the 20th […]

Studies have consistently shown that children fare best when raised by both their biological parents, especially when their parents have a positive and healthy relationship. Helping unmarried couples improve their relationships—particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds—may increase the likelihood that they remain together. Read More