Includes bibliographical references (p. 547-597) and indexes.

Marriages and families over time -- Ways of studying and explaining marriages and families -- Understanding gender : its influence in intimate relationships -- The many faces of love -- Dating, coupling, and mate selection -- Sexuality and intimate relationships -- Living single, living with others : nonmarital lifestyles -- The marriage experience -- Reproduction and parenting -- Evolving work and family structures -- Power, abuse, and violence in intimate relationships -- The process of uncoupling : divorce in the United States -- Remarriage and remarried families -- Marriages and families in later life -- Marriages and families in the twenty-first century : U.S. and world trends.