Are Families Deteriorating or Changing?

Many observers of contemporary American family life view current sociodemographic and psychological trends in family affairs with alarm, as evidence of an irrevocable "decline" in the viability of "the" family as the fundamental "building block" of American social orga nization and development. This article presents the postmodern thesis that family structures are changing for the better, in response to post- materialist transformations in social values that are associated with greater freedom of choice, equality, and autonomy, especially for women.