I am not arguing that women ought to 'settle.' I am arguing that we can now expect more of a mate than we could when we depended on men for our financial security, social status, and sense of accomplishment. — Stephanie Coontz Copy Share Image
As an overly confident college freshman, the first time I received a below-average score on an exam was a needed wake-up call. — Stephanie Coontz Copy Share
For every nineteenth-century middle-class family that protected its wife and child within the family circle, there was an Irish ora German girl scrubbing floors… — Stephanie Coontz Copy Share
A primary motivation for introducing no-fault divorce was, in fact, to reduce perjury in the legal system. — Stephanie Coontz Copy Share
Graduating from high school is certainly a good idea, but it's no longer much protection against poverty. — Stephanie Coontz Copy Share
Almost all scholarly research carries practical and political implications. Better that we should spell these out ourselves than leave that task to people with… — Stephanie Coontz Copy Share
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… — Stephanie Coontz Copy Share
Hyper-parenting has many pitfalls. Overprotected and overpraised children may develop an inflated sense of entitlement. — Stephanie Coontz Copy Share
Social and economic policies constructed around the male breadwinner model have always disadvantaged women. — Stephanie Coontz Copy Share
When I speak on work-family issues to audiences around the country, some of the biggest complaints I hear come from individuals who are described… — Stephanie Coontz Copy Share
Extended families have never been the norm in America; the highest figure for extended-family households ever recorded in Americanhistory is 20 percent. Contrary to… — Stephanie Coontz Copy Share
Unilateral divorce has decreased the bargaining power of the person who wants the marriage to last and has not engaged in behavior that meets… — Stephanie Coontz Copy Share
The closer we get to achieving equality of opportunity between the sexes, the more clearly we can see that the next major obstacle to… — Stephanie Coontz Copy Share
Families have always been in flux and often in crisis; they have never lived up to nostalgic notions about "the way things used tobe."… — Stephanie Coontz Copy Share
A significant minority of senior women I've interviewed say, 'Love the companionship, glad to live with him, but I spent my first marriage picking… — Stephanie Coontz Copy Share
Marriage can provide a bounty of emotional, practical, and financial support. But finding the right mate is no substitute for having friends and other… — Stephanie Coontz Copy Share
