*本书已有简体中文版权报价，请尽快索取书稿，并在9/14之前做出决定！
*结婚率下降如何导致美国许多最大的经济问题。
作者在书中以数据为依据，展示了婚姻制度的衰落如何导致了一系列经济困境。这些问题导致了美国社会的分裂，并使弱势群体变得更加脆弱。作者避开了长期以来主导这场对话的宗教和基于价值观的论点，展示了婚姻的最大功劳实际上是经济：当两个成年人结婚时，他们的经济和家庭生活能改善，不仅为个人带来许多好处，同时也是为了他们的孩子。研究表明，如今这些影响比以往任何时候都更加明显，而且分布也更加不均匀。作者研究了美国婚姻下降的根本原因，并为美国如何扭转这一趋势以确保国家未来的繁荣吸取经验教训。
基于十多年的经济研究，包括她的原本工作，作者表明，一个有结婚父母的家庭——在上流社会的成年人中保持稳定，在大多数其他阶层的人群中却越来越罕见——作为一种经济工具，对这家的孩子有利超过其他孩子。它们的影响不仅包括儿童的行为和教育成果，还包括对成年男性惊人的破坏性影响，他们在劳动力和社会中的角色似乎因美国新社会规范的新兴经济而受到难以挽回的损害。
对于许多人来说，双亲家庭可能是田园诗般的美国梦的老式象征。但书中清楚地表明，尽管婚姻存在种种挑战和缺陷，但它可能是我们通向更公平未来的最佳途径。通过直面家庭构成在塑造儿童生活和未来方面所发挥的关键作用，作者对婚姻下降对经济和社会意味着什么以及我们必须采取哪些行动来改变方向进行了批判性评估。
好评：
“The failure to speak honestly about how the decline in marriage is affecting both children and the nation is an issue Kearney addresses forthrightly in this fabulous book. As usual, her analysis is trenchant, her common sense shines through, and her writing excels. This book may spark controversy, but in my view, it is right on the mark.” – Isabel Sawhill, senior fellow, Brookings Institution and author of “Generation Unbound: Drifting into Sex and Parenthood without Marriage”
“Kearney has written and extraordinary and deeply important book. Any conversation about the major economic and social issues facing American today should start here. Highly recommended.” – Tyler Cowen, George Mason University
“Kearney has written a courageous persuasive and profoundly important book. Our children will be better off, and our country will be stronger if her compelling analysis of the benefits of two-parent families is widely heard and acted on.” – Lawrence H. Summers, Harvard Kennedy School
“Among the many great advances that American women have made since 1960, singe-parenthood is not one of them. It’s brutally challenging for mothers. It’s epidemic amon g the families who can least afford it. And it deprives children of the economic and emotional resources that foster success in adulthood. This candid book by a superb scholar sets aside judgements and bromides to confront the urgent question of how America can do better by its children.” – David Autor, MIT
目录：
Preface
Chapter 1: The Elephant in the Room
Chapter 2: Mother-Only Households
Chapter 3: 2 > 1
Chapter 4: Marriageable Men (or Not)
Chapter 5: Parenting Is Hard
Chapter 6: Boys and Dads
Chapter 7: Declining Births
Chapter 8: Family Matters
Acknowledgments
Notes
References
Index
关于作者：
Melissa S. Kearney is the Neil Moskowitz Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland, Director of the Aspen Economic Strategy Group, a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.