Chapter 1

1. Barbara LeBey outlines four factors that contributed to the decline of the traditional family: the sexual revolution, women’s liberation, divorce, and increased mobility. David Blankenhorn argues that the decline in nuclear families is abating. Considering each author’s argument, do you think that modern families will revert to a traditional structure after decades of modernization? Explain your answer using specifics from both viewpoints and your own personal observations.
2. Maggie Gallagher argues that parents should avoid divorce at all costs because of the damaging effect divorce has on children. Suzanne Moore contends that divorce, per se, is not harmful, but rather it is contentious divorce resulting in estrangement of one or both parents from their children that is damaging. With whose argument do you most agree? Explain your answer.
3. According to Richard Lowry, stay-at-home mothers provide better care for their children...