Generation Unbound: Drifting into Sex and Parenthood without Marriage

(Paperback)

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Over half of all births to young adults in the US nowoccur outside of marriage, and many are unplanned. The result isincreased poverty and inequality for children. The left argues formore social support for unmarried parents; the right argues for a return totraditional marriage. Generation Unbound offers a third approach: changedrifters into planners. Sawhill contrasts planners,who are delaying parenthood until after they marry, with drifters, who arehaving unplanned children early and outside of marriage. These two distinctpatterns are contributing to an emerging class divide and threatening socialmobility.

Reviews

This superbly written book, drawing on insights from behavioral economics, provides clearheaded, actionable recommendations on how we can change course and ensure that every young person can achieve their full potential."- Mark Edwards, Executive Director, Opportunity Nation;

"Forty years ago, Isabel Sawhill inspired a generation of scholars, including myself, with her landmark research on divorce. Now she does it again, turning her sharp eye on nonmarital childbearing with equal success. Free of ideology and comprehensive in scope, her story highlights how the decline in marriage is affecting children's life chances and what might be done to reverse the trend."- Sara S. McLanahan, William S. Tod Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs, Princeton University;

"No one is better qualified than Isabel Sawhill to tackle two of the most important questions facing America today. At a time of rapidly changing family structure, who is best able to raise children And how can we do a better job of making sure the children who are born are welcomed by parents who are prepared to give them the love and sustained attention they deserve Full of new research and analysis, this book will make you re-think what you know about both."- Judy Woodruff, PBS Newshour;

"Dr. Sawhill makes a thoughtful, fresh, rigorously documented case for reducing unplanned pregnancies. She pushes against a strong headwind to argue for two-parent families as often as possible. If she is right about the economic and cultural implications of our changing procreation behavior, we have a lot of work to do."- Donna Shalala, former Secretary of Health and Human Services

Author Bio

Isabel V. Sawhill is a senior fellow in Economic Studies at Brookings, where she holds the Cabot Family Chair. She also serves as codirector of the Center on Children and Families. She is the coauthor (with Ron Haskins) of Creating an Opportunity Society (Brookings, 2009) and board president of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.