About the Council on Contemporary Families

The Council on Contemporary Families is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to providing the press and public with the latest research and best-practice findings about American families. Our members include demographers, economists, family therapists, historians, political scientists, psychologists, social workers, sociologists, communication scholars, as well as other family social scientists and practitioners.

Founded in 1996 and based at the University of Texas at Austin, the Council’s mission is to enhance the national understanding of how and why contemporary families are changing, what needs and challenges they face, and how these needs can best be met. To fulfill that mission, the Council holds annual conferences, open to the public, and issues periodic briefing papers and fact sheets, which journalists can sign up to receive by writing to Stephanie Coontz, Director of Research and Public Education, at coontzs@msn.com.

Membership is open only to professionals in the field, so that we can send out confidential inquiries from journalists researching new stories. Our weekly news briefing is an outstanding resource for professionals in the family field, and non-professionals can receive this, along with our periodic news releases, by registering as Friends of CCF. CCF’s College Internship Program accepts applications from undergraduate and graduate students who are invited to apply and be supervised by current members of CCF’s Board of Directors.