21st Annual Symposium on Family Issues – Diverging Destinies: Families in an Era of Increasing Inequality

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In a provocative article published in 2004, Sara McLanahan described the diverging destinies of American families and children. She noted that women were following two trajectories, one involving delays in childrearing and increases in employment, and the other involving high levels of divorce and non-marital childbearing. Women with the most opportunities were following the first trajectory, whereas women with the fewest opportunities were following the second. Consequently, changes in family demographics were exacerbating social class disparities in children’s access to resources.

The diverging destinies of children have been unfolding within the context of three decades of growing economic equality in the U.S. Moreover, the Great Recession, which began in December 2007, increased economic hardship for millions of families. Although it ended officially in June 2009, rates of child poverty and unemployment, particularly among young adults, remain higher today than they had been a few years earlier.

This symposium will address how children, young adults, parents, and families are faring in an era of increasing social inequality. The sessions will focus on social class differences in family demographic trends, the consequences of growing inequality for parenting and child development, the consequences of growing inequality for the transition to adulthood, and effective program and policy responses to address these problems.

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Symposium Sponsors

The 2013 Symposium on Family Issues is sponsored by Penn State's Population Research Institute, the Children, Youth, and Families Consortium, the Departments of Sociology, Psychology, Human Development & Family Studies, Anthropology, Biobehavioral Health, Labor Studies & Employee Relations, and the Prevention Research Center. The Symposium on Family Issues is sponsored annually by The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Book Citation

Amato, P. R., Booth, A., McHale, S. M., & Van Hook, J. (Eds.).(2015). Families in an era of increasing inequality: Diverging destinies. New York: Springer

Book Access Information

If your university library subscribes to Springer's eBook package, you will now be able to read the book online, download chapters and/or purchase a $24.95 paperback version of the book through the service MyCopy. Check with your university library to find out if the eBook package has been purchased and if the MyCopy feature is turned on. Then search in your library's catalog system for the book title. You should be directed to www.springer.com.