The research conducted by family historians over the past three decades challenges, modifies, and ultimately enriches sociological understandings about American family life today. By looking closely at the historical record, the author is able to debunk certain myths, such as the belief that the “ideal” family (male breadwinner and female domestic manager) has been historically prevalent; that the “traditional” family has been disintegrating in recent years; that the presumed breakdown of the family has left children more vulnerable than in the past.
This book provides a fuller context for assessing the kinds of concerns that have dominated the family values debate—or, more broadly, the turn to family politics—of recent decades, by exploring the changes and continuities in key life stages in American families over time.
