The subject was firmly entrenched within the field of family sociology by 1980 when the
Journal of Marriage and Family devoted a chapter to alternative family lifestyles in their decade review of research and theory.
Despite the increased visibility and tolerance for a variety of lifestyles during the 1990s, concern is voiced from some people over the "demise" of the family. The high divorce rate, increased rates of premarital sexuality, cohabitation, and extramarital sex are pointed to as both the culprits and the consequences of the deterioration of family values. Popenoe and Whitehead write about cohabitation, for example: "Despite its widespread acceptance by the young, the remarkable growth of unmarried cohabitation in recent years does not appear to be in children's or the society's best interest. The evidence suggests that it has weakened marriage and the intact, two-parent family and thereby damaged our social well-being, especially that of women and children" (1999, p. 16). What do the authors mean by "society's best interest"? And what type of family relationship would be in our "best interest"? What invariably comes to mind is the married, middle-class, traditional two-parent family in which the father works outside the home and the mother stays at home to take care of the children, at least while they are young.
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