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The Demography of Families: A Review of Patterns and Change
Author(s) -
Smock Pamela J.,
Schwartz Christine R.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of marriage and family
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.578
H-Index - 159
eISSN - 1741-3737
pISSN - 0022-2445
DOI - 10.1111/jomf.12612
Subject(s) - cohabitation , remarriage , ethnic group , immigration , race (biology) , stepfamily , fertility , sociology , demography , gender studies , demographic economics , geography , population , psychology , developmental psychology , archaeology , anthropology , economics
The authors review demographic trends and research on families in the United States, with a special focus on the past decade. They consider the following several topics: (a) marriage and remarriage, (b) divorce, (c) cohabitation, (d) fertility, (e) same‐gender unions, (f) immigrant families, and (g) children's living arrangements. Throughout, the authors review both overall trends and patterns as well as those by social class and race–ethnicity. The authors discuss major strands of recent research, emphasizing emerging themes and promising directions. They close with a summary of central patterns and trends and conclude that recent trends are not as uniform as they tended to be in earlier decades, making the description of family change increasingly complex.