Book excerpt: This book provides a comprehensive description of the social demography of the American family. Looking at family continuity and change in the latter half of the 20th century, it explores such topics as the growth in cohabitation and changes in childbearing and how these trends affect family life. Other topics include the changing lives of single mothers, fathers, and grandparents and increasing economic disparities among families; childcare and child well being; and combining paid work and family.