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

Abstract

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 recognized 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, causing 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 socioeconomic 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 parent’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 contraceptives. 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 differentials. In order to understand and interpret the demographic 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 communities and social groups, which lead the author to conclude S. Briles (&) Maurer School of Law, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN, USA e-mail: sbriles@indiana.edu