The Age of Independence: Interracial Unions, Same-Sex Unions, and the Changing American Family
by: Michael Rosenfeld

Softcover. Cambridge MA, Harvard University Press, 1st pbk, 2009, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 264 pages. Michael Rosenfeld offers a new theory of family dynamics to account for the interesting and startling changes in marriage and family composition in the United States in recent years. His argument revolves around the independent life stage that emerged around 1960. This stage is experienced by young adults after they leave their parents' homes but before they settle down to start their own families. During this time, young men and women go away to college, travel abroad, begin careers, and enjoy social independence. This independent life stage has reduced parental control over the dating practices and mate selection of their children and has resulted in a sharp rise in interracial and same-sex unions--unions that were more easily averted by previous generations of parents. Clean copy.