Catharsis is good, but effectiveness matters more.
Stephanie Coontz
Stephanie Coontz, the director of research at the Council on Contemporary Families, teaches history and family studies at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. She is the author of Marriage, a History: From Obedience to Intimacy, or How Love Conquered Marriage and The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Can the Working Family Work in America?
America still hasn’t adjusted to family realities in the 21st century. Here’s what needs to be done and why we need to do it.
Posted inBooks
The Real Story of the American Family
Two new books explain how rising inequality shattered the working-class family of the mid-20th century.
Posted inArticle
Marriage, Poverty, and Public Policy
Marriage, Poverty, and Public Policy A Discussion Paper from the Council on Contemporary Families Prepared for the Fifth Annual CCF Conference, April 26-28, 2002 by Stephanie Coontz and Nancy Folbre One of the stated objectives of welfare legislation passed in 1996 was “to end dependence by promoting marriage.” With this legislation coming up for re-authorization, […]
Posted inFeatures
Nostalgia as Ideology
The more I listen to debates over whether we should promote marriage, the more I am reminded of one of my father’s favorite sayings: “If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride.” Yes, kids raised by married parents do better, on average, than kids raised in divorced- or single-parent homes. Yes, the long-term commitment of […]