Announcements:

Let's face it: The road to happily-ever-after is pitted with potholes. Children, finances, and in-laws can all put stress on a marriage. But what about who cleans the floor? This matters, too. A survey released this week by the Pew Research Center shows that most Americans now regard sharing household chores as more vital to a good marriage than such traditional measures of marital success as having children. This does not mean couples are neglecting their kids. Indeed, both moms and dads are now spending more time with their children than in 1965, the heyday of the female homemaker.

Job and income loss, spiraling gas prices, and growing residential insecurity top the list of sources of family stress, according to a briefing report presented today to the Council on Contemporary Families. "Families and the Current Economic Crisis," submitted by Evergreen State College Professor Stephanie Coontz and CCF research intern Valerie Adrian, examines the maelstrom of financial dilemmas facing Americans today, along with the far-reaching human impact. We know financial stress is bound to family stress; Coontz and Adrian report what that family stress looks like in today's economy.

CCF Annual Conference: April 17 and 18, 2009 at the University of Illinois, Chicago.