Books by Andrew J. Cherlin

Andrew J. Cherlin's three decades of study have shown him that marriage in America is a social and political battlefield in a way that it isn't in other developed countries. Americans marry and divorce more often and have more live-in partners than Europeans, and gay Americans have more interest in legalizing same-sex marriage. The difference comes from Americans' embrace of two contradictory cultural ideals: marriage, a formal commitment to share one's life with another; and individualism, which emphasizes personal choice and self-development. Religion and law in America reinforce both of these behavioral poles, fueling turmoil in our family life and heated debate in our public life. Cherlin's incisive diagnosis is an important contribution to the debate and points the way to slowing down the partnership merry-go-round.

Two leading sociologists of the family examine the changing role of American grandparents-how they strive for both independence and family ties.

Revised and enlarged, this edition has updated graphs and tables and also presents new findings on cohabitation and single life. It has a new chapter on the meaning of marriage in our society and the chapter on black-white differences is now an essay on relations among race, poverty and marriage.