No single choice about how to organize work and family life is right or possible – for every family. And every choice has tradeoffs. Stephanie Coontz Read Quote
Investing in living-wage jobs and reducing the inequities between local school districts would give young people more, not less, incentive to postpone childbearing and more possibilities for independence. Stephanie Coontz Read Quote
The notion that marriage is an impediment to commitments to the larger community is a long-standing one – and one reason early Christians did not place the institution at the top of their moral hierarchy, complaining that married couples cared more about pleasing each other than doing the Lord’s work. Stephanie Coontz Read Quote
Presidents Reagan and the first George Bush never used the vile language of some Trump supporters, but both blamed scarce resources and decaying communities on ‘welfare queens’ and black criminals like Willie Horton. Stephanie Coontz Read Quote
Cooking ought to be, quite literally, child’s play. And every child ought to have access to the game. Just don’t tell them it’s healthy. Stephanie Coontz Read Quote
As soon as love became the driving force behind marriage, people began to demand the right to remain single if they had not found love or to divorce if they fell out of love. Stephanie Coontz Read Quote
We must recognize that there are healthy as well as unhealthy ways to be single or to be divorced, just as there are healthy and unhealthy ways to be married. Stephanie Coontz Read Quote
Economically as well as emotionally, modern marriage has become like an affluent gated community. It has become harder for low-income Americans to enter and sustain. Stephanie Coontz Read Quote
The place where we keep our clothes isn’t always the only place where we keep our commitments. Stephanie Coontz Read Quote
