Families in an Era of Increasing Inequality ― Diverging Destinies

The widening gap between the rich and the poor is turning the American dream into an impossibility for many, particularly children and families. And as the children of low-income families grow to adulthood, they have less access to opportunities and resources than their higher-income peers--and increasing odds of repeating the experiences of their parents.

Families in an Era of Increasing Inequality probes the complex relations between social inequality and child development and examines possibilities for disrupting these ongoing patterns. Experts across the social sciences track trends in marriage, divorce, employment, and family structure across socioeconomic strata in the U.S. and other developed countries. These family data give readers a deeper understanding of how social class shapes children's paths to adulthood and how those paths continue to diverge over time and into future generations. In addition, contributors critique current policies and programs that have been created to reduce disparities and offer suggestions for more effective alternatives. Among the topics covered:

• Inequality begins at home: the role of parenting in the diverging destinies of rich and poor children.
• Inequality begins outside the home: putting parental educational investments into context.
• How class and family structure impact the transition to adulthood.
• Dealing with the consequences of changes in family composition.
• Dynamic models of poverty-related adversity and child outcomes.
• The diverging destinies of children and what it means for children's lives.

As new initiatives are sought to improve the lives of families and children in the short and long term, Families in an Era of Increasing Inequality is a key resource for researchers and practitioners in family studies, social work, health, education, sociology, demography, and psychology.

Paul Amato, Ph.D., is the Arnold and Bette Hoffman Professor of Family Sociology and Demography at The Pennsylvania State University. He has received the Distinguished Career Award from the Family Section of the American Sociological Association, the Stanley Cohen Distinguished Research Award from the American Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, the Ernest Burgess Distinguished Career Award from the National Council on Family Relations, and the Distinction in the Social Sciences Award from Pennsylvania State University.

Alan Booth, Ph.D., is Distinguished Professor of Sociology, Demography, and Human Development & Family Studies at The Pennsylvania State University. He has been a senior scientist in Penn State's Population Research Institute since 1991. Dr. Booth has co-organized the university's National Symposium of Family Issues since its inception in 1993. He is the author of more than 100 scholarly articles, four books, and editor of 16 volumes. He was editor of Journal of Marriage and The Family from 1985-1991.

Susan McHale, Ph.D., is Director of the Social Science Research Institute and The Children, Youth, and Family Consortium and Professor of Human Development at The Pennsylvania State University. Her research focuses on children's and adolescents' family roles, relationships, and daily experiences and how these family dynamics are linked to youth development and adjustment.

Jennifer Van Hook, Ph.D., is Professor of Sociology and Demography and Director of the Population Research Institute at The Pennsylvania State University. Her work spans a variety of family-related topics, including extended family living arrangements, family poverty, cohabitation, inter-racial marriage, and fertility patterns, and has appeared in major journals such as the Journal of Marriage and the Family, International Migration Review, Social Forces, and Demography.