Public Policy

Experts: Stephanie Coontz

In this briefing paper, we question both this explanation of poverty and the policy prescriptions that derive from it.Marriage offers important social and economic benefits. Children who grow up with married parents generally enjoy a higher standard of living than those living in single-parent households. Two parents are usually better than one not only because they can bring home two paychecks, but also because they can share responsibilities for child care. Marriage often leads to higher levels of paternal involvement than divorce, non-marriage, or cohabitation. Long-term commitments to provide love and support to one another are beneficial for adults, as well as children.

Topics of Expertise: Economic Inequality / TANF & Public Assistance

EXPERTS

Michele Adams

Associate Professor of Sociology, Tulane University

Constance Ahrons

Professor Emerita, University of Southern California

M. V. Lee Badgett

Professor of Economics, School of Public Policy UMass Amherst; Williams Institute UCLA

Jessica Calarco

Associate Professor of Sociology, Indiana University

Daniel Carlson

Assistant Professor of Family, Health, and Policy in the Department of Family and Consumer Studies at the University of Utah

Deborah Carr

Professor of Sociology, Boston University

Gabriella Celeste

Co-Director of the Childhood Studies Program, Schubert Center for Child Studies, Case Western Reserve University

Andrew Cherlin

Professor of Sociology and Public Policy, Johns Hopkins University

Stephanie Coontz

Director of Research and Public Education, Council on Contemporary Families; Professor, The Evergreen State College

Carolyn Cowan

Professor Emerita, University of California, Berkeley

Philip Cowan

Professor of Psychology, Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley

Robert Crosnoe

Chair, Department of Sociology, University of Texas at Austin

Rebecca Davis

Associate Professor of History, University of Delaware

Lori Delale-O’Connor

Assistant Professor of Education, University of Pittsburgh Center for Urban Education

Sinikka Elliott

Associate Professor of Sociology, University of British Columbia

Robert Emery

Professor of Psychology, University of Virginia

Paula Fomby

Associate Research Scientist, University of Michigan Institute for Social Research

Frank Furstenberg

Professor of Sociology, Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania

Katherine Gallagher Robbins

Director of Family Policy, Center for American Progress

Lawrence Ganong

PhD Professor and Co-Chair of the College of Environmental Science, University of Missouri

Elizabeth Gershoff

Professor, University of Texas at Austin

Kathleen Gerson

Collegiate Professor of Sociology, New York University

Jennifer Glass

Professor of Sociology , University of Texas, Austin

Pilar Gonalons-Pons

Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania

Rachel Gordon

Professor of Sociology & Faculty Fellow of the Honors College, University of Illinois at Chicago

Janet C. Gornick

Director, Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality, Graduate Center CUNY

Jeffrey Hayes

Program Director, Institute for Women's Policy Research

Natalie Hengstebeck

Postdoctoral Fellow, Scholars Strategy Network, Duke University

Rosanna Hertz

1919 Reunion Professor of Sociology and Women's and Gender Studies, Wellesley College

Roberta Iversen

Associate Professor and Faculty Director of the Master of Science in Social Policy program, University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice

Arielle Kuperberg

Associate Professor of Sociology, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Tama Leventhal

Associate Professor, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development, Tufts University

Ricci Levy

President and CEO, Woodhull Freedom Foundation

Joan Maya Mazelis

Associate Professor, Rutgers University-Camden

Linda McClain

Robert Kent Professor of Law, Boston University School of Law

Adina Nack

Professor of Sociology, California Lutheran University

Laura Napolitano

Assistant Professor of Sociology, Rutgers University - Camden

Ruth Nemzoff

Resident Scholar, Brandeis Women's Studies Research Center

Abigail Ocobock

Assistant Professor, University of Notre Dame

Elizabeth Peters

Director, Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population, Urban Institute

Richard Petts

Professor of Sociology, Ball State University

Jennifer Randles

Assistant Professor of Sociology, California State University-Fresno

Barbara Risman

Professor of Sociology, University of Illinois at Chicago

Michael Rosenfeld

Professor of Sociology, Stanford University

Luke Russell

Assistant Professor, Illinois State University

Virginia Rutter

Professor of Sociology, Framingham State University

Sharon Sassler

Professor, Cornell University

Kevin Shafer

Associate Professor of Sociology, Brigham Young University & McMaster University

Betsey Stevenson

Associate Professor of Economics and Public Policy, University of Michigan

Susan Stewart

Professor of Sociology, Iowa State University

Reeve Vanneman

Professor, University of Maryland

Ellen Wartella

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani Professor of Communication, Professor of Psychology, and Professor of Human Development and Social Policy, Professor of Medical Social Sciences Director, Center on Media and Human Development School of Communication Chair, Department of Communication Studies

Kristi Williams

Professor, Department of Sociology, The Ohio State University

Justin Wolfers

Professor of Economics and Public Policy, University of Michigan

Nicholas Wolfinger

Professor of Family & Consumer Studies and Adjunct Professor of Sociology, University of Utah

Sarah Wright

Executive Director, Social Work in Progress

Public Policy

Marriage, Poverty & Public Policy

Marriage, Poverty, and Public Policy

EXPERTS