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B O O K R E V I E W

Marcia J. Carlson and Paula England: Social Class and Changing Families in an Unequal America

Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, 2011, 230 pp, ISBN: 978-0-8047-7088-0

Stephen Briles

Received: 10 November 2013 / Accepted: 13 November 2013 / Published online: 21 November 2013

� Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

Marcia J. Carlson and Paula England have compiled and

edited a number of important chapters that explore

changing family patterns and how they adapt to a more

unequal America in their book Social Class and Changing

Families in an Unequal America. Each chapter addresses a

different aspect in the changing formation or behavior of

families within the United States. Since the beginning of

the twentieth century, families have undergone a diverse

and complex change that has led to a larger socioeconomic

divide than ever before. Inequalities continue to be rec-

ognized most notably in education, social class, and in the

financial health of families. Carlson and England have

chosen topics on how family life has changed and adapted

in light of the socioeconomic divide that infects the United

States. Some changes are a product of the growing

inequalities in education or the difficulties of social

mobility, while other changing family patterns seem to

have contributed to the growing divide. Not surprisingly,

Carlson and England have concluded that family life in the

United States remains unequal, and the chapters in their

book highlight how family patterns have adapted in light of

those inequalities.

In the first chapter, ‘‘Birth Control Use and Early,

Unintended Births,’’ the authors begin their discussion by

acknowledging the changes that have occurred between the

current generation and generations past. While young

adults traditionally married early and had their first birth

shortly after, this trajectory has changed drastically, caus-

ing unanticipated consequences. More than anything the

change has been due to what the authors term the ‘‘retreat

from marriage,’’ which has occurred at all socioeconomic

levels, but has hit the poor or less privileged classes

hardest. Many young adults are getting married later, no

matter their socioeconomic status, but those adults coming

from middle or upper class families tend to have less

unplanned births prior to their marriages. Furthermore, the

authors go on to state that youths from higher socioeco-

nomic backgrounds are waiting longer before their first

time having sex as well as having greater access to birth

control, which only further contributes to the difference

between youths born into wealthier backgrounds compared

to youths born into less privileged homes in terms of

unplanned pregnancies. Also of note is the impact a par-

ent’s education and social status has on whether a youth

will engage in sex or even whether a youth will have an

unintended birth. Those youths who have parents with a

college education or more financial resources tend to have

less sex, less unplanned births, and greater access to con-

traceptives. The chapter concludes by effectively saying

social class begets social class. Those born to educated and

financially stable parents will more than likely go on to get

an education themselves, while those whose parents do not

have more than a high school education are more likely to

have sex earlier and with that earlier, unintended births.

The second chapter, ‘‘Thinking about Demographic

Family Difference,’’ examines the link between ethnicity,

race, religion, and socioeconomic status and fertility dif-

ferentials. In order to understand and interpret the demo-

graphic information that is in abundance, the author first

explores a theory that he and his colleagues created called

the ‘‘Theory of Conjunctural Action’’ (TCA). The basic

idea behind the TCA is that individuals store stimuli and

experiences called schemas. Many of these schemas are

experiences that are shared or reinforced among commu-

nities and social groups, which lead the author to conclude

S. Briles (&) Maurer School of Law, Indiana University Bloomington,

Bloomington, IN, USA

e-mail: [email protected]

123

J Youth Adolescence (2014) 43:314–317

DOI 10.1007/s10964-013-0065-8

that schemas are an effective way of establishing behav-

ioral patterns among similarly situated groups. Here the

author is mostly interested in the diverse range of schemas

with regards to fertility in differing social classes. First, the

author examines the wide range of responses to fertility

schemas during transitional phenomena, specifically shift-

ing economic circumstances. As the economy becomes

more advanced fertility also shifts going from high fertility

to low fertility, though this shift does not happen equally

among social classes or in rural areas compared to urban

areas. Second, the author examines factors of fertility that

have persisted and remained stable over generations. One

factor that appears to be constant is how education affects

fertility. As predicted, those with lower education tend to

have children earlier and those births tend to be unplanned.

Compare that with individuals who have higher levels of

education, they tend to have less unplanned births as well

as fewer children in total. Third, the author advances this

notion of dynamic differentials where groups can choose

their fertility desires based on intergroup relations. This can

take the form of political relations, religious relations, or

really any personal relationship with a group. And these

intergroup relations can create stable views of fertility or

for individuals that are a part of several different groups

can create fluctuating views of fertility. Schemas appear to

be an effective, albeit unique, way of evaluating the data

available to social scientists, and it truly helps to under-

stand the ways in which women and families process their

decisions with regards to fertility.

The third chapter, ‘‘Between Poor and Prosperous,’’

takes a closer look at those Americans who are moderately

educated in light of the 2009 economic recession. By

moderately educated the author means those individuals

who have obtained a high school education or GED as well

as having taken some college courses or advanced techni-

cal classes. Prior to the economic downturn those consid-

ered moderately educated were still relatively well off, but

their job opportunities and pay have been declining since

the 1950 and 1960s. Today, the job opportunities for the

moderately educated continue to dwindle because they are

over-qualified for menial jobs, but they are not educated

enough to be working in most professional related fields.

And the jobs they once held in factories and on assembly

lines are disappearing. But what does this mean for the

family patterns of moderately educated people? According

to the author, the greatest change is that individuals are

engaging in multiple partnerships. As seen in other chap-

ters of this book, education and social status continue to be

intertwined. The author points to the less educated as

having the most amount of partners in a life time, which

includes marriage and cohabitation, but the group with the

second largest amount of multiple partners are the mod-

erately educated. Again, the data shows that the least

educated and moderately educated Americans are engaging

in more relationships, ending those relationships more

frequently, and producing children in those multiple part-

nerships. Education continues to be inexorably tied to the

social status and living patterns of Americans with those

with more education living in more stable, long-term

relationships, and those with less education constantly

changing partners living in less stable relationships such as

cohabitation.

In the fourth chapter, ‘‘Daddy, Baby: Momma, Maybe,’’

the authors study an important, though often overlooked

area in family and sociological studies: the relationships

that fathers have with their children. However, the authors

take a different approach and look at the father-child

relationship in the context of the father-mother relation-

ship. Often, low-income or economically disadvantaged

fathers are portrayed as deadbeats who are incapable of

providing for their children. Though there are quite a few

fathers who fit this image, there are also fathers who desire

a relationship with their children, and are prevented from

nurturing the relationship due to the poor relationship many

fathers have with their children’s mothers. This is certainly

not true for all fathers. There are couples that stay together

following the birth of a child, though this is not as com-

mon. In those instances, fathers have nearly equal access to

their child. However the author’s focus was on those

families where the father and mother no longer cohabited.

Fathers crave a relationship with their child, and though the

bond is not as strong as a mothers bond, fathers feel a

particular closeness to their own biological child. Unfor-

tunately, for economically disadvantaged fathers, they are

more widely involved in other problems such as multiple

partners, substance abuse, criminal activity, and mistrust by

the mother, which only furthers this divide between the two

parents. No matter the situation most fathers find them-

selves in, they want to have a relationship with their child,

but this proves much harder for them than they expected

when they are not on good terms with the mother. The

authors conclude by saying fathers do want that father-

child relationship, but they are often prevented from nur-

turing that relationship due to the mother’s ability to thwart

the relationship. The evidence supports the notion that

fathers want to be a part of their child’s life, but for various

reasons, mostly related to their relationship with the

mother, fathers simply do not have that great of access to

their child.

The fifth chapter, ‘‘Family Instability and Complexity

After a Nonmarital Birth,’’ focuses on fragile families,

which are defined as couples that have children outside of

marriage. At the outset, these families are viewed as less

functional for the well-being of children, and the data

confirms this belief. The authors of this chapter lay out

their findings in four distinct categories, which are in

J Youth Adolescence (2014) 43:314–317 315

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response to a series of questions posed to fragile families.

First, the authors were surprised to see that many couples

that have a child out of wedlock continue to cohabitate

following the birth. More surprising was the amount of

involvement each parent had in the upbringing of the child.

However, not surprisingly, the authors found that mothers

carried a majority of the burden in terms of involvement,

but of note was the amount of mothers who had positive

feelings toward the involvement of the fathers. Second, the

structure of the families simply provided less support

financially and emotionally to the children born into the

nonmarital relationship. While this was true across all

social classes, those fragile families that were considered

low-income (which made up a majority of the fragile

families) were more likely to provide less support, meaning

even those children born into wealthy nonmarital rela-

tionships were almost certainly guaranteed to grow up with

more financial and emotional support. Third, there was less

stability in the nonmarital relationships, even though fol-

lowing the births the parents were more likely to remain

cohabiting. The cohabitation period would most likely end

and in order to support the child, many mothers would

cohabitate with different and multiple partners. Fourth, the

economic resources available to fragile families were sig-

nificantly less than those resources available to traditional

families, which inherently add a level of instability. While

fragile families do provide better circumstances than single

parent households, the authors conclude that fragile fami-

lies are not the ideal environment for children.

The sixth chapter, ‘‘Social Class and the Transition to

Adulthood,’’ the author explores the critical transition from

adolescence to adulthood in the midst of an unequal

America, especially in light of the most recent economic

recession. Several different factors play into this transition,

ranging from race and ethnicity to education to location,

among many other dynamics. The authors use a unique

methodology to compare three different categories of white

and African American youths to highlight the difference

that social class can have on the transition into adulthood.

The results are quite indicative of the economic situation

facing young adults from three different families: middle-

class families, working-class families, and poor families.

The information presented by the authors is interesting,

though not surprising. The middle-class families that had

educated parents saw their children not only graduate high

school but go on to excel at colleges, though this was not

representative of every family. As for the youths of

working-class families, they tend to graduate high school

and attempt college. Some youths stick with college, while

most drop out of college to do jobs that require a certain

degree of skills, but are not considered menial. Finally, the

youths who are raised in poor families tend not to graduate

high school, and typically find themselves working menial

jobs. As with most of the chapters in the book, the authors

conclude that the amount of education a youth’s parents

had as well as the social class they were born into almost

certainly predicts the trajectory of their lives. There are

exceptions, but even in those rare cases, it proved incred-

ibly hard to break out of the cycle.

The seventh chapter, ‘‘Family Change, Public Response,’’

advances three different public policy goals that family and

social policy should work to achieve for complex and

unstable families. The primary goal of public policy should

be to support families, though some of the policies put for-

ward do more to change families, which begs the question is

this really the role of public policy and social science?

Should we be trying to change families? The authors suggest

three policy domains. First, public policy should seek to

maintain and increase family resources, which refers almost

exclusively to financial support, but also includes emotional

support as well. Complex families need programs that pro-

vide food, unemployment assistance, employment guidance,

among others, but families also need to feel supported.

Second, the authors believe that resources should be pro-

vided to strengthen family relationships, which if done

properly and without condescension is not only wise, but also

helpful to families. These resources consist of father training

programs, couples therapy, and teaching parents to co-parent

together. When implemented and used effectively, these

programs can lead to stability for families, but done poorly,

these programs can offend families and turn them off of these

helpful resources. Third, the author states public policy

should prevent unstable families. While it is certainly ben-

eficial to society as a whole to prevent unstable families,

policy makers should be careful when labeling certain fam-

ilies as unstable. Policies that try and achieve these three

goals are needed, and can be incredibly helpful, but it needs

to be done properly and without alienating the very families

trying to be reached.

In the eighth and final chapter titled ‘‘The Recent Trans-

formation of the American Family’’ the author argues that

the American family has seen unprecedented change in the

last half of the twentieth century, more so than any other

comparable time period in history. What has caused this

transformation and what it entails for future generations is

the primary focus of this final chapter. The author notes that

the ‘‘traditional family’’ was in reality only a passing phase

following the post-war 1950s. With the expansion of privacy,

openness to intimacy, and individual expression, the tradi-

tional, nuclear family was unable to compete. Patriarchy also

fell by the wayside when legislatures and courts started to

recognize the rights of women and children. More than

anything, marriage, a staple of the traditional family, began

to change. Though marriage is still highly revered in our

society, rights have been expanding for domestic partner-

ships and cohabiting couples. Marriage itself has undergone

316 J Youth Adolescence (2014) 43:314–317

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a fundamental change with the growth of same-sex and

polygamous marriages. American families are far more

diverse than ever before in terms of race, ethnicity, and

sexual orientation among other changes. In the post-war

1950s, having children outside of marriage carried a stigma,

but, today, women are having children outside of marriage

with multiple partners. What it means to be a parent has

undergone a shift as well with more parents raising children

who are not biologically theirs. The author concludes by

wondering whether these changes are good or bad,

acknowledging that the family continues to change, and the

issues we are facing with regards to families now, will most

certainly not be the issues we are discussing in five, 15, or

25 years from now.

In sum, Marcia J. Carlson and Paula England have

assembled an interesting and insightful book that looks at

the issues at the heart of the American family. The chapters

in this book weave a story about the American family that

has changed drastically in the past century, acknowledging

that not all the changes are good, but that the future is

bright for families if something can be done about the

educational and financial gap between poor families and

those families that inhabit the upper strata of our society.

Some chapters offered critiques of public policy or the

amount of inequalities many families face; while other

chapters offered a view of the American family few people

ever see or understand. One major point the book misses is

ideas for solutions, not necessarily concrete positions, but

concepts or suggestions on how to fix the divide between

wealthy families and poor families. Something that remains

true is that America persists to be an unequal and divisive

country, but at the heart of this country, family continues to

be incredibly important. They even remain particularly so

for immigrants. Families contribute to minority youth’s

positive health (see Roosa et al. 2012; Lorenzo-Blanco

et al. 2012) and can help them cope with the negative

effects of economic status (Miller and Taylor 2012). In

addition, youth themselves can play critical roles in

assisting their families adjusting to a new society, lan-

guage, and economic status (see Hua and Costigan 2012).

Carlson and England’s book indicates that the future of the

American family is uncertain, but with effective policies

and open-minded discussion on how to cure the inequali-

ties that exist in education and financial resources, Amer-

ican families can recover, regaining their position as the

bedrock of American society.

References

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adolescent language brokering within immigrant Chinese fam-

ilies in Canada. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41, 894–906.

Lorenzo-Blanco, E. L., Unger, J. B., Baezconde-Garbanati, L., Ritt-

Olson, A., & Soto, D. (2012). Acculturation, enculturation, and

symptoms of depression in Hispanic youth: the roles of gender,

Hispanic cultural values, and family functioning. Journal of

Youth and Adolescence, 41, 1350–1365.

Miller, B., & Taylor, J. (2012). Racial and socioeconomic status

differences in depressive symptoms among black and white

youth: An examination of the mediating effects of family

structure, stress and support. Journal of Youth and Adolescence,

41, 426–437.

Roosa, M. W., O’Donnell, M., Ham, H., Gonzales, N. A., Zeiders, K.

H., Tein, J.-Y., et al. (2012). A prospective study of Mexican

American adolescents’ academic success: considering family

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