The period following the Second World War marked an era of high marriage rates. This era between the 1950s and early 1960s was marked by improved economic conditions, high fertility, and a social climate which encouraged an earlier onset of adult transitions. Since the 1960s, marriage rates have declined while divorce rates have increased. The […]
The percent of non-marital births in the United States has steadily increased over the past few decades, from an estimated 4.5% in 1955 to 35.6% in 2004. Several factors account for such trends. Over the past decades, an increasing proportion of women has postponed marriage, while increased numbers of unmarried couples cohabit. The rates of […]
The percentage of children under the age of 18 who live with two parents decreased steadily for several decades (from approximately 85% in 1970 to approximately 68% by the mid-1990s1). Beginning in the mid-1990s, this decrease leveled off and the proportion of U.S. children who live with two married parents has since remained at approximately […]
A bibliography of resources on cohabitation and marital outcomes.
A bibliography of resources on divorce and remarriage.
A bibliography on gender roles and family relationships.
A fact sheet of the 5 elements of a healthy marriage is provided by the Thriving Couples, Thriving Kids organization at Syracuse University.
American attitudes toward marriage have undergone changes in recent years, with shifts toward an increased acceptance of nontraditional family forms. Data show that Americans are developing increasingly favorable attitudes toward nontraditional family structures, such as cohabitation. While most American adolescents express positive attitudes toward marriage and a desire to become married themselves, more and more […]
The primary purpose of this project is to bring evidence and policy development together by using theories, quantitative evidence, and ethnographic findings about the interactions between marriage, employment, and family functioning to formulate new approaches for programs and policies — approaches that can be tested with rigorously evaluated demonstrations. The focus of the analysis and […]
This testimony was given before the Subcommittee on Human Resources, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives. On April 27, 1999, Turetsky testified on ways to encourage poor mothers and fathers to work together to support and raise their children, including full distribution of child support to families receiving TANF. 8 pages.