{"product_id":"for-better-and-worse-the-complicated-past-and-challenging-future-of-marriage-9780593299098","title":"For Better and Worse: The Complicated Past and Challenging Future of Marriage","description":"\u003cb\u003eA provocative, authoritative reckoning with the past and future of marriage, explaining why it's become more rewarding as well as riskier\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMarriage 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 \u003ci\u003ewant\u003c\/i\u003e 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 pollsters they \"have no idea\" if they actually \u003ci\u003ewill \u003c\/i\u003eend up married. And unlike in the past, young women are more uncertain than young men. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eFor Better and Worse\u003c\/i\u003e, Stephanie Coontz--author of the \"rich, provocative, and entertaining\" book \u003ci\u003eMarriage, A History\u003c\/i\u003e--unravels the roots of such paradoxical trends. Examining five critical periods of historical transformation, she reveals how shifting romantic ideals, gender expectations, sexual mores, and cultural myths have bequeathed us a welter of contradictory beliefs, dysfunctional habits, and emotional earworms that make it hard to adjust our family relationships to the social and economic challenges of twenty-first-century life. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eCoontz demonstrates that today's widespread nostalgia for a seemingly more stable past is an understandable reaction to heightened economic insecurity and eroding social solidarities. But trying to reproduce a largely imaginary golden age of marriage from the past simply locks us into a restricted future. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eCurrent public debates about marriage are dominated by two diametrically opposed groups. One argues that marriage is the only sure route to personal happiness and social stability; the other, that marriage is inherently oppressive. Coontz puts forward a radical middle ground, pointing to surprising new research on the personal changes and the policy innovations that can help people create successful relationships, in or out of marriage.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Stephanie Coontz\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Viking\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/26\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 304\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.00lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.10h x 6.30w x 1.20d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780593299098\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/01\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eStephanie Coontz \u003c\/b\u003eis the director of research and public education for the Council on Contemporary Families. She has authored five books on gender, family, and history, including \u003ci\u003eMarriage, a History: How Love Conquered Marriage\u003c\/i\u003e, which was cited in the United States Supreme Court decision on marriage equality. A sought-after radio and podcast guest, she has published extensively in both academic and popular media, from \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, CNN, and \u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e to \u003ci\u003eThe Chronicle of Higher Education\u003c\/i\u003e and the \u003ci\u003eJournal of Marriage and Family\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"booksdeli.com","offers":[{"title":"Stephanie Coontz \/ Hardcover \/ English","offer_id":48363628495005,"sku":"9780593299098","price":36.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0619\/5648\/9373\/files\/img_65fd02bf-ee72-4a96-9acc-4804b31fd5f8.jpg?v=1780428110","url":"https:\/\/booksdeli.com\/products\/for-better-and-worse-the-complicated-past-and-challenging-future-of-marriage-9780593299098","provider":"booksdeli.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}