American Families: A Multicultural Reader

In the past forty years, American families have become more racially and ethnically diverse than ever before. Different family forms and living arrangements have also multiplied, with single-parent families, cohabiting couples with children, divorced couples with children, stepfamilies, and newly-visible same-sex families. During the same period, socioeconomic inequality among families has risen to levels not seen since the 1920s.

This second edition of American Families offers several benefits:

• clear conceptual focus


• new attention to the historical origins of contemporary family diversity


• well-chosen essays by leading names from across the curriculum


• explores the interactions between race-ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality in shaping family life


• cCompletely updated and expanded bibliography of related sources


• new companion website with student and instructor resources to enhance learning.

Leading off with a comprehensive and teachable introduction to the topic, this completely updated, revised, and expanded second edition of Stephanie Coontz's classic collection American Families remains the best resource available on family diversity in America.

For additional information and classroom resources please visit the American Families companion website at www.routledge.com/textbooks/9780415958219.

Katha Pollitt

This is the best single-volume guide I know to the way we live now. -- Nation

Stephanie Coontz is Professor of Family History at the Evergreen State College. She is the author of numerous books, including Marriage, a History: How Love Conquered Marriage.

Maya Parson is a doctoral candidate in Cultural Anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Gabrielle Raley is a doctoral candidate in Sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles.