Linda J. Waite

Linda Waite is a well known sociologist who studies issues of marriage, family, and health. Many of the findings on the benefits of marriage that have been collected over the past few decades are pulled together nicely and simply here. At the same time, in their eagerness to support their thesis, the authors ignore some of the down sides of typical marital arrangements. For example, they claim that in a household economy specialization is what allows the whole to function so well. They do show more not proscribe which partner specializes in which function (ie childcare, cleaning, etc. vs paid labor), so they claim to be neutrally pointing out the benefits of specialization. But by ignoring the very real social forces that shape the roles into which partners are placed, they fail to address some of the fundamental flaws of the institution they are defending. They make a strong case for marriage, but by engaging a bit further with the potential downside to marriage, they could have written an even more convincing book on the topic. show less

Solid case for the benefits of marriage for men, women, and children. Also makes a solid case that the negative consequences of divorce are greater than the positives in most cases. Makes some decent recommendations for public policy and society to put their thumbs on the scale in favor of marriage as opposed to the alternatives.

In a culture that is increasingly anti-marriage, these researchers provide a preponderance of facts illustrating the superiority of the "traditional" nuclear family to all of the alternatives we have tried to validate in recent decades.

This books should be required reading for every high school student.