Family change and the state of family sociology

Profound changes in family-related behavior have occurred over the past 40 years in the US. To evaluate the extent to which family sociology has kept pace with these changes the article first reviews four prominent sociology journals from 1993 to 2011, investigating the range of family types covered in published articles over nearly two decades and the kinds of approaches taken to study non-traditional families. The article then presents two case studies of research areas that have always been central to family studies – reproduction and household labor – to review how changes in family structure impact core family processes and alter the approaches for studying them. The advent of assisted reproductive technologies and the range of living arrangements in which the division of household labor now occurs challenge the parameters of the ‘traditional’ family. The findings indicate that family sociologists have been slow to rethink underlying categories of analysis, methodological approaches and scope of inquiry in the wake of significant changes in family experience. Assumptions about the kinds of family forms and household arrangements underlying family research have not yet expanded to meet new realities in American family life.