News and Events

Brief report from CCF Early Career Scholar Dr. Vanessa Delgado shows that parental immigration status shapes adult children’s decisions to “give back” in immigrant families.

AUSTIN, TX – May 23, 2024  It might not seem surprising that women provide more unpaid care to family and friends with illness and disability than men. However, is this only… Read more: NEW FROM CCF! Men Provide Less Unpaid Care for Family and Friends Than Women, But Only Among Heterosexuals

Brief report from CCF Early Career Scholar Dr. Meredith Zhang summarizes new research on how providing unpaid care for family and friends differs by gender, sexual orientation, and partnership status.

Big congratulations to this year’s fantastic cohort of Early Career Scholars who are making a major impact with their research on American families: Dr. Mia Brantley, Dr. Vanessa Delgado, Dr. Hope Harvey, and Dr. Jamie O’Quinn!

Honoring the outstanding contributions of our membership to the public understanding of contemporary family issues. Nominations due by July 1, 2024!

In a recent roundtable, Deadric and Stephanie try and help us understand why marriage has become so political.

A new CCF symposium highlights what emerging research tells us about changes to family & work life during the COVID-19 pandemic and what they mean for the future of gender equality in the U.S.

The program offers a unique professional development & mentorship opportunity to early career scholars conducting research on American families. Applications due March 31, 2024.

In a new brief report from CCF, Jessica Su finds that breastfeeding benefits are modest, and reach some children more than others

AUSTIN, TX – MAY 31, 2023  Major health and medical organizations universally recommend six months or more of exclusive breastfeeding to promote children’s development. But meeting this ideal is tough for… Read more: New From CCF! Breastfeeding Benefits Are Modest, And Reach Some Children More Than Others

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AUSTIN, TX – May 11, 2023  Here’s a great tip for dads who want to give their partners a Mother’s Day gift that will last all year long.  Skip the… Read more: New From CCF! It’s Not a Zero-Sum Game: Handling the Mental Load of Monitoring Household Needs Increases Stress and Depression for Mothers; Sharing That Load Decreases Fathers’ Stress and Depression

A new brief report from CCF takes a look at how cognitive labor related to household management influences well-being in different ways for mothers and fathers.

New research on how mothers’ concerns about community COVID-19 transmission affects their labor force participation.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Daniel L. Carlson / University of Utah / daniel.carlson@fcs.utah.edu AUSTIN, TX – April 20, 2023 A briefing paper released today from the Council on Contemporary Families, “Between… Read more: NEW FROM CCF! Mothers’ Concerns About COVID-19 and Other Illnesses Keep Them Out of the Workplace

CCF Expert and Director of Research and Public Education Stephanie Coontz spoke at the recent opening of Legacy Washington’s “Love, Equally” exhibit.

Maureen talks with host Krys Boyd to discuss “the working conditions of parents who must return to work weeks after giving birth and the challenges they face raising healthy children.”

Family formation has long been touted as a source of racial inequality, but what does the research actually say?

Through their fantastic research on American families, these scholars are already having quite the impact on their fields. Congratulations to all!

Dr. Coleman takes part in a discussion on parental estrangement for The Atlantic. Listen here: How to Start Over: Parents Are Not All Good and All Bad

It turns out there is a big difference between dividing up the tasks so that each partner does different ones versus sharing or alternating the same tasks, so that partners contribute equally to each.

AUSTIN, TX – April 25, 2022 In a new briefing paper released today from the Council on Contemporary Families, “Mine and Yours, or Ours: Are All Egalitarian Relationships Equal?”, family… Read more: NEW FROM CCF! Are Couples Happier Sharing Household Chores? It Depends on How You Define “Sharing”

New rankings from Academic Influence rank CCF Director of Research and Public Education Stephanie Coontz as the 18th most influential woman historian of the last 10 years. Congratulations, Stephanie!

The CCF Scholars Early Career Program offers a unique professional development and mentorship opportunity to early-career scholars conducting research on American families. Applications due April 8, 2022.

A new brief report authored by CCF Experts Jennifer Glass and Joanna Pepin was featured in Deseret News and MarketWatch this week. The brief centers around their recent study which… Read more: Recent Brief Report by CCF Experts Glass, Pepin Featured in Deseret News, Market Watch

Click here to listen to WPR’s episode “Why aren’t more younger people getting married?”

A new study estimates that about 70% of U.S. moms can expect to be primary financial providers before their children turn 18.

CCF Experts Joanna Pepin, Daniel Carlson, Kathleen Gerson, Philip Cohen, and Barbara Risman discuss which policies would be most beneficial to American families.

Read their thoughts on how housing instability impacts children in “Why pausing evictions likely won’t help kids harmed by housing uncertainty and instability”

Stephanie Coontz presented the State of Women’s Rights at Legacy Washington’s 2019 “Ahead of the Curve” event. Watch her talk here!

Read more about why mothers need continuous care even after children are born

A new study explores how behaviors once seen as maladaptive may actually protect youth.

Read more here: https://www.wunc.org/2021-04-12/what-would-you-do-without-student-debt-a-study-from-unc-greensboro-put-the-question-to-recent-graduates/ Also, check out this feature in Rutgers-Camden News Now: https://news.camden.rutgers.edu/2021/04/additional-student-loan-debt-cancellations-needed-says-sociologist/

For Immediate Release CONTACT: Arielle Kuperberg / UNC Greensboro / atkuperb@uncg.edu March 24, 2021, Austin Texas In the past 30 years, the percentage of students at 4-year colleges who take… Read more: New from CCF! What Recent College Grads Say About the Impact of their Student Loans

Despite the important temporary relief provided to many families by the March 2020 CARES Act, millions of American families are experiencing financial hardship as we enter the new year.

Read his thoughts in his new essay for Aeon, “Modern culture blames parents for forces beyond their control“

See what author Gracie Staples has to say aobut CCF expert Christia Spears Brown’s new brief report.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Kristi Williams / The Ohio State University / ccf@osu.edu Do the Media’s “Sexy Girl” Messages Trump Their “Girl Power” Ones? On average, children in elementary school… Read more: New from CCF! Do the Media’s “Sexy Girl” Messages Trump Their “Girl Power” Ones?

Children face continued social isolation this fall, with 21 of the 25 largest school districts in the country choosing remote learning instead of in-person classes.

Read her op-ed in the Chicago Tribune: “A new Works Progress Administration could create ‘learning pods’ for all schoolchildren.“

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Virginia Rutter / Framingham State Sociology vrutter@gmail.com What’s the Role of Child Protective Services? New Study Points to Parallels with Policing Each year, U.S. child protection… Read more: New From CCF! What’s the Role of Child Protective Services? New Study Points to Parallels with Policing

Telecommuting Gets Mixed Results for Gender Equity at Home, and Women Are More Depressed.

Before and During COVID-19: Telecommuting, Work-Family Conflict, and Gender Equality A briefing paper prepared by Thomas Lyttelton (Yale Sociology), Emma Zang (Yale Sociology), and Kelly Musick (Cornell Policy Analysis and… Read more: Before and during COVID-19: Telecommuting, Work-Family Conflict, and Gender Equality

“Legacy Washington recently recorded an interview with author/historian Stephanie Coontz. Watch Legacy Washington historian Bob Young interview Coontz, an expert on family and marriage whose writing influenced the U.S. Supreme… Read more: CCF’S Stephanie Coontz Interviewed by Legacy Washington

Although children appear to be less vulnerable than adults to serious COVID-19 medical complications, new data from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate that they are disproportionately endangered by the pandemic’s economic toll.

Parents often rely on their networks for child care, but how has that changed since COVID-19? CCF’s Executive Director Jennifer Glass has some thoughts in The Christian Science Monitor’s “‘I… Read more: CCF’s Executive Director Jennifer Glass on the Struggle for Child Care in a Pandemic

CCF experts Dan Carlson, Richard Petts, and Joanna Pepin discuss the findings of their latest brief report on gendered division of labor during the covid-19 pandemic with Deseret News’ Lois M.… Read more: CCF Experts Featured in The Washington Post, Boston Globe, Deseret News

Read her thoughts on the challenges mothers are facing in “Coronavirus Is Killing the Working Mother”

The Marriage Strengthening Research & Dissemination Center (MAST) recently released a new research brief, “Trends in Relationship Formation and Stability in the United States: Dating, Cohabitation, Marriage, and Divorce.” Co-authored… Read more: New MAST Center Brief on Trends in Relationship Formation and Stability

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Virginia Rutter / Framingham State Sociology vrutter@gmail.com Men pick up (some) of the slack at home: New national survey on the pandemic at home For many… Read more: New from CCF! Men pick up (some) of the slack at home: New national survey on the pandemic at home

A briefing paper prepared by Daniel L. Carlson (University of Utah), Richard J. Petts (Ball State University), and Joanna R. Pepin (University of Buffalo – SUNY) for the Council on… Read more: Men and Women Agree: During the COVID-19 Pandemic Men Are Doing More at Home

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Virginia Rutter / Framingham State Sociology vrutter@gmail.com Cohabiting in the Time of Covid19: The good, the bad, and the need for support Eighteen million people in… Read more: New From CCF! Cohabiting in the Time of Covid19: The good, the bad, and the need for support

A briefing paper prepared by Amanda Miller, University of Indianapolis, and Sharon Sassler, Cornell University, for the Council on Contemporary Families. Much has been written about the challenges couples face… Read more: Challenges Facing Cohabiting Couples Differ from those of Married Couples in this Crisis

Are you having trouble convincing your family to take COVID-19 seriously? CCF senior fellow Joshua Coleman has some advice! Read his thoughts in The Atlantic’s “What Do You Tell Someone… Read more: CCF’s Joshua Coleman on Helping Your Family Take COVID-19 Seriously

When “Helicopters” Go to School: Who Gets Rescued and Who Gets Left Behind? A briefing paper prepared by Jessica McCrory Calarco, Indiana University, for the Council on Contemporary Families. We’ve… Read more: When “Helicopters” Go to School: Who Gets Rescued and Who Gets Left Behind?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Virginia Rutter / Framingham State Sociology vrutter@gmail.com Uber-rich parents and their fixers may be just the tip of the iceberg. Turns out it’s hard for teachers… Read more: New From CCF! When “Helicopters” Go to School: Who Gets Rescued and Who Gets Left Behind?

Listen here to see what CCF President of the Board Kristi Williams had to say about romantic love and the modern American marriage on WHYY Philadelphia’s “Solitude and the creative life”.… Read more: CCF’s Kristi Williams on WHYY Philadelphia

Five years after marriage equality, CCF Director of Research and Public Education Stephanie Coontz asks: What can different-sex couples learn from same-sex couples? Featuring research by CCF experts Joanna Pepin, Dan… Read more: CCF’s Stephanie Coontz for The New York Times: What Can Different-Sex Couples Learn From Same-Sex Couples?

Council on Contemporary Families Honors USA Today for Outstanding Media Coverage of Family Issues (2020) Austin, TX–The Council on Contemporary Families (CCF) is pleased to present its Fourteenth Annual Media… Read more: CCF Announces USA Today as 2020 Award Recipient for Outstanding Media Coverage of Family Issues

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: Virginia Rutter / Sociology @ Framingham State Universityvrutter@gmail.com How Can Colleges Define Consent and Reduce Unwanted Sex? No easy answers here. CCF’s Online Symposium, Defining Consent, takes… Read more: CCF PRESS ADVISORY: How Can Colleges Define Consent and Reduce Unwanted Sex? No easy answers here.

In a recent article for the New York Times, CCF Director of Research and Public Education Stephanie Coontz discusses the potential implications of paying stay-at-home parents, a role most often… Read more: CCF’s Stephanie Coontz on Paying Stay-at-Home Parents in The New York Times

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Barbara J. Risman / Sociology @ University of Illinois at Chicago brisman@uic.edu *Press advisory prepared for CCF by Barbara J. Risman, College of Liberal Arts &… Read more: CCF PRESS ADVISORY: Parents Can’t Go It Alone—They Never Have: What to Do for Parents to Help Our Next Generation

A new profile from The Seattle Times takes a look at the life and career of CCF Director of Research and Public Education Stephanie Coontz. From her involvement in the Seattle… Read more: The Seattle Times Profiles CCF’s Own Stephanie Coontz

In her Op-Ed for NBC News, CCF Director of Research and Public Education Stephanie Coontz writes about the origins of gendered wedding traditions and possible implications for marital satisfaction. Coontz… Read more: Stephanie Coontz on History of Wedding Traditions in NBC News

For Mother’s Day, the Population Reference Bureau released a report on time use patterns of married, cohabiting and single mothers based on research by CCF Member Joanna Pepin. This researched… Read more: Research by CCF Member Joanna Pepin Featured in Population Reference Bureau Report

   Council on Contemporary Families 2020 Media Awards for Outstanding Coverage of Family Issues The Council on Contemporary Families (CCF) announces the opening of nominations for its Fourteenth Annual Media Awards competition. We honor… Read more: Council on Contemporary Families Announces Media Awards for Outstanding Coverage of Family Issues

Submissions for the 2020 CCF Media Awards are now CLOSED Deadline for submission: December 15, 2019 Read more about the award here  

Barbara Risman, President of CCF, receives the 2019 Distinguished Lectureship Award from the Southern Sociological Society! This award honors a record of excellence as a scholar and lecturer. It was… Read more: CCF President Barbara Risman Receives Distinguished Lectureship Award

Jennifer Glass, Executive Director of CCF, receives the 2019 Harriet B. Presser Award offered by the Population Association of America! This award honors a record of sustained research contributions to… Read more: CCF Executive Director Jennifer Glass Receives Harriet B. Presser Award

JSTOR looks beyond the hype to examine what the “sex recession” is and whether we should be concerned about it. Several CCF experts weighed in on why the fear of… Read more: CCF Experts Weigh in on the “Sex Recession”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Virginia Rutter / Sociology @ Framingham State University vrutter@gmail.com Sociologist Jill Yavorsky conducted a field audit on gender discrimination in hiring and shares this early exclusive… Read more: New from CCF: Even Gender Inequality is Unequal

In a new opinion piece for CNN, CCF Expert Philip Cohen reflects on the divorce of Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos and sheds light on the burden divorce places on regular… Read more: Divorce is damaging and often unfair, says CCF’s Philip Cohen

According to The Deseret News, CCF experts played a big role in shaping what we learned about the family in 2018 (“Here are 10 things studies taught us about the… Read more: CCF Experts Featured in Review of What We Learned About the Family in 2018

CONTACT: Virginia Rutter / Sociology @ Framingham State University vrutter@gmail.com Who Cohabits? Evidence about wealth and religion tells a changing story Sociologist Arielle Kuperberg conducted new data analysis exclusively for… Read more: CCF Press Advisory: Who Cohabits? Evidence about wealth and religion tells a changing story

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Virginia Rutter / Sociology @ Framingham State University vrutter@gmail.com Gender Matters in Every Aspect of Our Lives – and what you need to know to keep… Read more: CCF Press Advisory: Gender Matters in Every Aspect of Our Lives – and what you need to know to keep up

In her piece for Harvard Business Review, CCF Director of Research and Public Education, Stephanie Coontz, writes about a pernicious form of nostalgia – a collective nostalgia that involves people… Read more: CCF’s Stephanie Coontz Writes for Harvard Business Review

New research by CCF Board Member, Arielle Kuperberg, published with CCF Member Alicia Walker in the Archives of Sexual Behavior examines heterosexual college students who hook up with same-sex partners. This… Read more: CCF’s Kuperberg and Walker Publish New Research on College Hookups

New research by CCF members Daniel Carlson and David Cotter is featured in the Deseret News. Carlson and Cotter presented two new reports to CCF about gender differences in household… Read more: Men are helping more around the house and favor more gender equality, new research shows

In an opinion piece for the New York Times, CCF Director of Research and Public Education Stephanie Coontz writes about the importance of cultivating “the skills of successful singlehood.” These… Read more: Stephanie Coontz Writes about Marriage for the New York Times

CONTACT: Virginia Rutter / Framingham State University Sociology vrutter@gmail.com   CCF Press Advisory In Time to Join #MeToo, Research Highlights Men’s Growing Support for Gender Equality   April 3, 2018,… Read more: CCF PRESS ADVISORY: In Time to Join #MeToo, Research Highlights Men’s Growing Support for Gender Equality

Not All Housework is Created Equal: Particular Housework Tasks and Couples’ Relationship Quality A brief report prepared for the Council on Contemporary Families by Dan Carlson, Assistant Professor, Family and… Read more: CCF BRIEF: Not All Housework is Created Equal: Particular Housework Tasks and Couples’ Relationship Quality

Patterns of Progress? Changes in Gender Ideology 1977-2016 A briefing paper prepared for The Council on Contemporary Families by David A. Cotter, Department of Sociology, Union College, cotterd@union.edu. April 3,… Read more: CCF BRIEF: Patterns of Progress? Changes in Gender Ideology 1977-2016

CCF releases the 7th Edition of Unconventional Wisdom, highlighting new and under-reported research on creating and conceiving families in the 21st Century.   AUSTIN, TX/March 1, 2018 — In preparation… Read more: The Council on Contemporary Families releases Unconventional Wisdom, Volume 7

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – February 14, 2018 CONTACT: Christie Boxer, cboxer@adrian.edu Council on Contemporary Families Honors Nina Martin (ProPublica) for Outstanding Media Coverage of Family Issues (2018) Austin, TX–The Council… Read more: CCF Press Advisory: CCF Announces Nina Martin (ProPublica) as 2018 Award Recipient for Outstanding Media Coverage of Family Issues

Have you read an outstanding news story that covers family-related topics in a particularly insightful way? Have you circulated thought-provoking articles in your Family, Gender, or other social science courses,… Read more: 2018 Media Awards: CCF Now Accepting Nominations

Submit Your Nomination for the 2018 CCF Media Awards! [contact-form to=”cboxer@adrian.edu” subject=”CCF Media Award Nominations”][contact-field label=”Your Name” type=”name” required=”1″][contact-field label=”Your Email” type=”email” required=”1″][contact-field label=”Your Nominee” type=”text” required=”1″][contact-field label=”Relevant materials (website,… Read more: Submit a Nomination for the 2018 CCF Media Awards

SAVE THE DATE:  March 2, 2018 for “Conceiving American Families in the 21st Century: Reproductive Policies, Practices and Technologies” DoubleTree Hotel, Austin, Texas   Mark your calendars now and join the Council… Read more: SAVE THE DATE: CCF 2018 Conference

The third week of September is Unmarried and Single Americans week. In a new opinion piece for CNN, CCF Director of Research Stephanie Coontz reflects on the changes in perceptions,… Read more: Unmarried Americans are Changing Everything, says CCF’s Stephanie Coontz

CCF PRESS ADVISORY: Reminder – Marriage is No Longer the Mode   September 14, 2017, Austin, TX: The week of September 17-23 is Unmarried and Single Americans Week. In honor… Read more: CCF ADVISORY: Reminder – Marriage is No Longer the Mode

ADVISORY: Women’s Equality Day Turns 44. Gains, stalls, and setbacks   August 25, 2017, Austin, TX: Since 1973, August 26th has been designated as Women’s Equality Day, offering a chance… Read more: CCF ADVISORY: On August 26, 2017, Women’s Equality Day Turns 44

In a letter to The Wall Street Journal, Ivanka Trump defended the Trump administration’s proposed family leave program, stating that it is not an “entitlement” program, but an “investment” in… Read more: Stephanie Coontz Weighs In On Ivanka Trump’s Defense of Paid Family Leave

       Council on Contemporary Families 2018 Media Awards for Outstanding Coverage of Family Issues The Council on Contemporary Families (CCF) announces the opening of nominations for its Thirteenth Annual Media Awards competition. We honor… Read more: Council on Contemporary Families Announces Media Awards for Outstanding Coverage of Family Issues

CCF President Barbara Risman weighs in on recent findings that millennials want more traditional gender roles at home in a recent article in the GoodCall. Despite these findings, Risman says… Read more: Millennials Aren’t Traditionalists, Says CCF President Barbara Risman

CCF members Daniel Carlson and Amanda Miller respond to new research on declining sexual frequency among American couples. In their Op-ed, they debunk four common myths about couples’ sex lives,… Read more: Daniel Carlson and Amanda Miller Shed Light on Couples’ Sex Lives

Michelle Janning’s recent release, The Stuff of Family Life, offers a timely look at how modern society and technology shapes our relationships and our lives. Like an archaeologist studying ancient… Read more: CCF Chair’s New Book Reveals What Your Underwear Drawer Can Say About You

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Virginia Rutter / Framingham State University Sociology / vrutter@gmail.com Gender, Politics, and Millennials? Research to sort out a hot mess. CCF’s Gender and Millennials Online Symposium… Read more: CCF Press Advisory: Gender and Millennials Online Symposium

AUSTIN, Texas — Black Americans are more likely than whites to experience the loss of a parent during childhood and to be exposed to multiple close family member deaths by… Read more: CCF ADVISORY: Debra Umberson reports on African-Americans’ much greater exposure to the early death of close family members

CCF Board Secretary, Kristi Williams, joined All Sides with Ann Fisher to discuss the links between marriage and health in an episode of Wellness Wednesday entitled: Marriage, Prescribing Opioids, Caring for Cancer Patients. This… Read more: Kristi Williams Updates Ann Fisher on the Health Benefits – and Risks – of Marriage

In a new piece for the Conversation, CCF Member Lynn Prince Cooke takes a look back at the history of chauvinism since World War II in order to contextualize the… Read more: CCF member Lynn Prince Cooke gets us conversant on this election cycle’s gender divide

In Why the ‘ethnic’ aisle is merging with the ‘beauty’ one Kristal Brent Zook explains the significance behind the maintstreaming of the black hair care industry.

CCF Board member, Joshua Coleman, was cited in an article for the Wall Street Journal exploring gender differences in the experience of depression: In Men, Depression is Different, by Elizabeth… Read more: Men and Depression, Joshua Coleman Comments for the WSJ