In this important, groundbreaking book, Andrew Cherlin explores the profound changes that have taken place in American family life during the past half centuryhow we have evolved from a culture that supported marriage with children at a young age and boasted low rates of divorce into one with a bewildering range of alternatives. Cherlinone of the foremost authorities on American family lifemakes clear that Americans today marry more repeatedly and have more live-in partners than people in any other Western country; that these patterns of recurrent divorce, remarriage, and short-term cohabitation have resulted in a core upheaval in the American family; and that American children, more than any others, must cope with the frequent and disruptive comings and goings of parents. The author describes how Americans have come to uphold two contradictory models of family life: the sanctified commitment to a shared life in marriage, and the embrace of an individualist emphasis on personal growth and development. And he delineates the ways in which each of these models has been culturally reinforced by both religion and law. A fascinating book that illumines the shifting nature of America's oldest and most cherished social institution, the subject of intense and ever-increasing national debate.