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November 17, 2023
You are familiar with the litany of ills blighting our society: declining rates of work and marriage; rising rates of obesity and loneliness; soaring deaths of despair. All of these trends reflect the falling fortunesof the American male, a malaise magnified when we look at boys and men in poor and working-class communities. When the male malaise…
October 27, 2023
There’s no question the bond between fatherhood and marriage is weaker today than it was 60 years ago. Whereas almost 80% of children were raised in an intact, married home with their father in the early 1960s, today only about 51% have that privilege. In the face of what seems like a fraying father-marriage bond, some left-leaning men’s advocates…
October 2, 2023
Stable, two-parent families have always mattered for kids. But today, we have new evidence that they may matter more than ever. A new study from the Institute for Family Studies (IFS) indicates that an intact family is increasingly tied to the educational, financial, and social welfare of children. Meanwhile, family instability appears to harm kids more than…
September 21, 2023
“Isn’t divorce less of a big deal for kids these days?” A colleague’s wife asked me this question as we hiked down Parkman Mountain last summer, while taking a break from an academic conference. She asked the question after she learned that I studied American families. “After all,” she added, “we’re more accepting now of…
September 20, 2023
The share of American men and women who think that marriage and a stable family are not important for children in our contemporary world is growing. Either because they adhere to progressive ideas about family diversity, discount the unique value of marriage, or believe that single parents are just as capable of raising children as two parents,…
September 17, 2023
Utah was just acknowledged by WalletHub as the happiest state in the nation, and it’s no secret that Utah leads many state performance rankings in America. From the economy — including growth, a favorable business climate, work environment and economic mobility — to life satisfaction, Beehive State residents enjoy enviable levels of success. What’s the key to…
September 12, 2023
Social media and mainstream media are replete with stories suggesting marriage and parenthood are not fulfilling, especially for women. Not surprisingly, many Americans now believe the key to being happy is a good education, work, and freedom from the encumbrances of family life—not getting married and having a family. These cultural developments raise an important question answered by this Institute for Family…
August 17, 2023
Utah ranks at the top of many rankings of state performance across America. But perhaps the Beehive State is best known for its top rankings on the economic front. The “Utah economic miracle” — marked by exceptional economic growth, a favorable business climate and high rates of economic mobility — has garnered attention across the…
August 16, 2023
Growing numbers of young adults across America — including here in Utah — are moving into adulthood without a durable connection to two benchmarks strongly connected to human well-being: work and marriage. Taking the second benchmark first, a record-high 25% of 40-year-olds in the United States were never married as of 2021, according to new data…
August 14, 2023
Utah lands at the top of many rankings of state performance across America. But the Beehive State is perhaps best known for its top rankings on the economic front. Utah’s economy is widely seen as the best in the nation. The “Utah economic miracle”—marked by exceptional economic growth, a favorable business climate, and high rates…