ABSTRACT
This chapter considers issues relevant to numerous specific outcome variables, including the implications of the research for social policy and for future research. An increase in single-mother families can be viewed as social progress as it marks women's ability to survive economically outside of marriage. Popular culture clings to the myth that the only way to rear happy, healthy children is in a traditional two-parent home. The larger proportion of African-American families headed by single mothers is at least partially the result of a smaller proportion of employed African-American males, making African-American family disruption a consequence, rather than a cause, of persistent poverty in the African-American community. Members of the legal profession, members of divorcing families, and social policy makers need accurate information and an understanding of the processes producing that information. So-called "experts" continue to use untested assumptions and unsubstantiated generalizations to guide their recommendations.
