Over the past quarter-century, the pace of family change in most western countries has been extremely rapid; we have witnessed the substantial erosion of the traditional, male-breadwinner, two-parent family form. This change inherently makes obsolete those laws and policies that assume the breadwinner/homemaker family structure. Jane Lewis' Should We Worry about Family Change? unpacks the current controversies and larger issues surrounding family change: the nature of family change; the impact of family change on the lives of women; and the need for amendment to our social policies and laws to reflect today's diverse family patterns. Drawing on her vast understanding of the historical development of the family and the social policies that have attempted to meet familial concerns, Lewis comments on such pivotal topics as absent fathers, the increasing economic independence of women, and the effects of the rise of cohabitation. Lewis ultimately suggests that there are policy options available that may increase the choices men and women make about their contributions to family life and promote family responsibility by enabling rather than punishing. Relying on a range of interdisciplinary literature and cross-national data and policy approaches, Lewis engages her readers in a highly public and timely debate.

Jane Lewis is Barnett Professor of Social Policy at the University of Oxford.