The Two-Parent Privilege

‘A data-rich book that takes a close look at how deeply family structure influences both children’s current well-being and their future academic and career prospects’ - Wall Street Journal, Best Books of the Year


In The Two-Parent Privilege, Melissa S. Kearney makes a data-driven case for marriage by showing how the institution’s decline has led to a host of economic woes. When two adults marry, their economic and household lives improve, offering a number of benefits not only for the married adults but for their children. By confronting the critical role that family makeup plays in shaping children’s lives and futures, Kearney offers an assessment of what a decline in marriage means for an economy and a society – and what we must do to change course.


‘Having two parents who are married to each other, Kearney argues, provides offspring with economic and social advantages. And by joining their particular strengths, a married couple can give their progeny more than the sum of their parts’- New Yorker, Best Books of the Year