About this ebook
The editors of this volume explore the motivation to marry and the role of matrimony in a diverse group of men and women. They compare empirical data from several emerging family types (single, co-parent, gay and lesbian, among others) to studies of traditional nuclear families, and they consider the effect of public policy and recent economic developments on the practice of marriage and the stabilization or destabilization of family. Approaching this topic from a variety of perspectives, including historical, cross-cultural, gendered, demographic, socio-biological, and social-psychological viewpoints, the editors highlight the complexity of the modern American family and the growing indeterminacy of its boundaries. Refusing to adhere to any one position, the editors provide an unbiased account of contemporary marriage and family.
About the author
H. Elizabeth Peters is professor of policy analysis and management and director of the population program at Cornell University. Her research focuses on family economics and family policy, examining the effects of public policies such as divorce laws, taxes, and welfare reform on family formation and dissolution decisions, inter- and intra-household transfers, and investments in children. Her research has been widely published in journals of economics, demography, and sociology.
Claire M. Kamp Dush is an assistant professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Science and is a faculty affiliate of the Initiative in Population Research at The Ohio State University. Her current work centers on romantic relationship quality and stability and their impacts on and interactions with human development.
