All Research
Report
Marriage Is Still the Best Way to Bond a Father to His Children
…Institute on April 25, 2023. The event, which was moderated by IFS senior fellow Brad Wilcox, featured a discussion between Richard Reeves and Ian Rowe on the question: “Does strengthening fatherhood depend upon…
Op-Ed
Now Political Polarization Comes for Marriage Prospects
Marriage rates in America are falling fast: Many men and women are marrying later, and more and more people are never marrying at all. Marriage is in retreat for a host of reasons, but…
Report
The Power of the Success Sequence
Introduction The “Success Sequence,” a formula to help young adults succeed in America, has been discussed widely in recent years, including by Brookings Institution scholars Ron Haskins and Isabel Sawhill….
Report
Education Freedom and Work Opportunities as Catalysts for Increasing the Birth Rate Among Married Couples
Summary Pursuing new, commonsense approaches to education reform and work–family policies, from childcare and early education through higher education and workforce flexibility, will foster the conditions for family flourishing and…
Report
Education Freedom and Work Opportunities as Catalysts for Increasing the Birth Rate Among Married Couples
Summary Pursuing new, commonsense approaches to education reform and work–family policies, from childcare and early education through higher education and workforce flexibility, will foster the conditions for family flourishing and…
Report
The Mainline Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Social Capitalism
…and areas with many mainliners the best. Sociologists have observed these trends in prior work, including our colleague, W. Bradford Wilcox. Wilcox argues that mainline adherents tend to “talk left…
Report
A Debate on Fatherhood
…of the National Marriage Project at UVA, W. Bradford Wilcox moderated the discussion between Reeves and Rowe that explores the question, “Does strengthening fatherhood depend on renewing marriage in America?”…
Op-Ed
Prioritizing Money Over Marriage, Today’s Parents Are Making a Big Mistake
As parents of teens, we have kids who are beginning to think about their adult future—including college, career and family. One recent conversation Alysse had with her 17-year-old daughter is…
Op-Ed
Personal Responsibility, Not Victimhood, Is the Path to Success
…success. Wendy Wang is the director of research at the Institute for Family Studies. Brad Wilcox is a professor of sociology at the University of Virginia, a nonresident senior fellow at the…
Event
Realizing the Dream: What Does the Success Sequence Have to Do with the Economic Welfare of Black and Hispanic Young Adults?
…Dr. Wilcox and Dr. Wang previewed a new series of videos aimed at communicating the value of the success sequences to young adults. A panel discussion with Dr. Wilcox, Catholic…
op-Ed
The Changing Face of Social Breakdown
Last month, two of my colleagues at the American Enterprise Institute (Brad Wilcox and Lyman Stone), along with co-authors from the Wheatley Foundation and the Institute for Family Studies, published…
Report
The Divided State of Our Unions
Executive Summary Where is the American family headed as COVID-19 finally seems to be abating? Focusing on family formation in the United States, this report considers three possibilities: (a) the…