Introduction

Abstract

The last 50 years have brought unprecedented changes in family life, changes that have not yet run their course. There has been a Second Demographic Transition which brought a retreat from marriage, a rise in marital instability, and a surge in nonmarital births. There has been a refocus from the family to the individual, and on every person’s freedom to pursue their own path to happiness. At the heart of this complex of changes is the ongoing struggle to redefine the norms underlying intimate relationships between men and women, as well as between men and men and women and women.