Recent family-related news included a look at whether the United States is really “family friendly,” why grandparenting is often more enjoyable than parenting, how Judge Kennedy’s retirement could negatively affect the right to marry in the LGBTQ community, a rush to divorce for some in wealthier communities, and research into why more Americans are having fewer babies.
Americans Love Families. American Policies Don’t Emily Badger and Claire Cain Miller, The New York Times, June 24, 2018 “There’s a basic inconsistency in saying we support families, we have family-friendly policies, when in fact we have the worst family policies of any developed high-income democracy,” said Dorothy Roberts, a professor of law and sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. “We don’t have family-friendly policies at all.” The left and the right disagree about which intertwined factors to emphasize in helping families: larger structural forces like the economy, or more personal choices like whether to marry.
The Joy of Grandparenting Paula Span, The New York Times, June 27, 2018 Parenting… often is consuming and exhausting… most parents are simultaneously trying to build careers, manage expanding households, maintain marriages or other relationships, all while preparing our kids for this crazy world… But grandparenting for many feels different, perhaps because the task has changed, and because we have changed also.
Why the Supreme Court Opening Could Affect Gay Marriage as well as Abortion Liam Stack and Elizabeth Dias, The New York Times, July 3, 2018 In the week since Justice Anthony M. Kennedy announced his retirement, the future of Roe v. Wade has dominated the conversation among both liberals and conservatives… The effect Justice Kennedy’s retirement could have on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights has received less attention… LGBT groups have made great advances in recent years thanks largely to a string of Supreme Court decisions written by Justice Kennedy, including cases that legalized gay sex and established a right to same-sex marriage.
Hurry Up and Get a Divorce? For the Rich, There’s an Incentive Jim Tankersley, The New York Times, July 2, 2018 For the wealthiest Americans, there may never be a better time to get divorced. A change in the new Republican tax law will eliminate a tax break for alimony payments that are finalized after Dec. 31, prompting financial planners and lawyers to warn wealthy clients that if they have been contemplating filing for divorce, they had better act fast.
Americans Are Having Fewer Babies. They Told Us Why Claire Cain Miller, The New York Times, July 5, 2018 Wanting more leisure time and personal freedom; not having a partner yet; not being able to afford child-care costs — these were the top reasons young adults gave for not wanting or not being sure they wanted children, according to a new survey conducted by Morning Consult for The New York Times.
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