The TwoParent Privilege, Melissa S. Kearney
The TwoParent Privilege, Melissa S. Kearney
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The Two-Parent Privilege
How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind

Author: Melissa S. Kearney

Narrator: Cait Raymond

Unabridged: 7 hr 6 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 03/05/2024

Synopsis

In The Two-Parent Privilege, Melissa S. Kearney makes a data-driven case for marriage by showing how the institution's decline has led to a host of economic woes—problems that have fractured American society and rendered vulnerable populations even more vulnerable. Eschewing the religious and values-based arguments that have long dominated this conversation, Kearney shows how the greatest impacts of marriage are, in fact, economic: when two adults marry, their economic and household lives improve, offering a host of benefits not only for the married adults but for their children. Studies show that these effects are today starker, and more unevenly distributed, than ever before. Kearney examines the underlying causes of the marriage decline in the US and draws lessons for how this trend can be reversed.

Kearney's research shows that a household that includes two married parents functions as an economic vehicle that advantages some children over others. For many, the two-parent home may be an old-fashioned symbol of the American dream. But this book makes it clear that marriage may be our best path to a more equitable future. By confronting the critical role that family makeup plays in shaping children's futures, Kearney offers a critical assessment of what a decline in marriage means for an economy and a society—and what we must do to change course.

About Melissa S. Kearney

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.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jason

The word “important” is overused in describing books. Part of why overusing it is a problem is that it diminishes the power it carries when it is truly merited. And Melissa Kearney’s The Two-Parent Privilege truly deserves to be called important. Economists' discussions of poverty have largely shied......more

Goodreads review by Jillian

I was a bit wary of this book going into it, but my worries were quickly assuaged. The author doesn’t slam single mothers, nor does she advocate for a return to nuclear families with traditional gender roles (she herself is a working mom with a PhD). Rather, this book is a thoroughly researched econ......more

Goodreads review by Gabrielė

Not all childhoods are equal. The data shows that children from single-parent households are statistically less likely to succeed in almost every area of life (it doesn’t mean they won’t). Published in 2023, the book offers the newest research on the matter. Although mainly focused on the USA, the f......more

Goodreads review by Sherif

A terrific synthesis of the advantages of being raised by married parents, the causes of the rise in single-parent households and how America has become the single-parent capital of the world. "The Two-Parent Privilege" is a careful, methodical and non-judgmental analysis of decades of research into......more

Goodreads review by Lindsey

I admire Kearney’s academic research in economics and I think the topic is important, but this doesn’t work as a “popular book.” It should be a literature review article in an academic journal. It is a fairly dry summary of descriptive facts and empirical studies pertaining to the long-run effects o......more

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