ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book outlines a wide range of issues central to the social demography of the family. It provides a forum for some of the most insightful and knowledgeable social scientists currently working in the area of family research. The book examines racial differences in family formation or household structure in the historical context. It describes trends in the prevalence of multigenerational families among whites and blacks from 1900 to 1980. The book also examines racial variation in family behavior in a historical context but shift our attention to the timing of marriage and establishment of independent households in the rural South in 1910. It also describes recent trends for American women in the timing of marriage and the propensity to ever marry. The book explains the similarities and differences in behavior and beliefs between parental and children's generations.
