Does Marriage Matter?

Abstract

The last several years have witnessed an active-sometimes acrimonious-debate, occasionally joined by demographers, over the state of the family. Some, like David Popenoe (1993), decry what they see as a dangerous erosion of the family as an institution, with dire consequences for society. Others, like Judith Stacey (1993), see the traditional family, balanced on the monogamous couple, as fundamentally incompatible with women's well-being. Although these two positions seem extreme, both have numerous adherents and are held by serious scholars.