For Better and Worse: The Complicated Past and Challenging Future of Marriage

A provocative, authoritative reckoning with the past and future of marriage, explaining why it’s become more rewarding as well as riskier

Marriage rates have fallen dramatically since the 1970s. Yet far from devaluing marriage, people still overwhelmingly describe marriage as the highest commitment they can imagine. Most Americans say they want to marry eventually, and couples who do marry have a lower chance of divorce than at any time since the 1970s. Increasingly, though, people tell poll...