American Families: Changes in the Twentieth Century

What narrative best characterizes the history of American families? Should their story be read nostalgically, as one of decline from an era when two-parent families with children dominated the domestic landscape but as one of relative stability over time or should it emphasize fundamental changes undermining the very concept of “family” itself? Did a singular “American family” ever exist or has diversity been the hallmark of America’s families throughout the twentieth century?

These questions underlie the exchange between E. Kay Trimberger and Arlene Skolnick that followed Skolnick’s article on marriage. (Dissent, Fall 2006 and Spring 2007). Trimberger emphasizes change; Skolnick argues that both conservative and progressive writers on family overlook continuity. Both cite statistics that buttress their cases. How, then, are we to resolve the issue? The question is important because, as both authors contend, divergent narratives of family history lead in different directions. Conservatives, for instance, have equated “family decline” with moral decay and used it to justify a variety of antiprogressive positions.

In part, the disagreement between Trimberger and Skolnick rests on what at first...