The aging of the population of the United States is occurring at a time of major economic and social changes. These economic changes include consideration of increases in the age of eligibility for Social Security and Medicare and possible changes in benefit levels. Furthermore, changes in the social context in which older individuals and families function may well affect the nature of key social relationships and institutions that define the environment for older persons. Sociology offers a knowledge base, a number of useful analytic approaches and tools, and unique theoretical perspectives that can facilitate understanding of these demographic, economic, and social changes and, to the extent possible, their causes, consequences and implications. New Directions in the Sociology of Aging evaluates the recent contributions of social demography, social epidemiology and sociology to the study of aging and identifies promising new research directions in these sub-fields. Included in this study are nine papers prepared by experts in sociology, demography, social genomics, public health, and other fields, that highlight the broad array of tools and perspectives that can provide the basis for further advancing the understanding of aging processes in ways that can inform policy. This report discusses the role of sociology in what is a wide-ranging and diverse field of study; a proposed three-dimensional conceptual model for studying social processes in aging over the life cycle; a review of existing databases, data needs and opportunities, primarily in the area of measurement of interhousehold and intergenerational transmission of resources, biomarkers and biosocial interactions; and a summary of roadblocks and bridges to transdisciplinary research that will affect the future directions of the field of sociology of aging. Table of Contents Front Matter PART I: FINAL REPORT Summary 1 Introduction and Approach 2 A Conceptual Model of Aging for the Next Generation of Research 3 Data Needs and Opportunities 4 Roadblocks and Bridges to Transdisciplinary Research References Appendix: Biographical Sketches of Panel Members PART II: PAPERS 5 Introduction and Overview--Linda J. Waite 6 The New Realities of Aging: Social and Economic Contexts--Jacqueline L. Angel and Richard A. Settersten, Jr. 7 Research Opportunities in the Demography of Aging--Melissa Hardy and Vegard Skirbekk 8 Networks, Neighborhoods, and Institutions: An Integrated "Activity Space" Approach for Research on Aging--Kathleen A. Cagney, Christopher R. Browning, Aubrey L. Jackson, and Brian Soller 9 Constrained Choices: The Shifting Institutional Contexts of Aging and the Life Course--Phyllis Moen 10 Opportunities and Challenges in the Study of Biosocial Dynamics in Healthy Aging--Tara L. Gruenewald 11 The Loyal Opposition: A Commentary on "Opportunities and Challenges in the Study of Biosocial Dynamics in Healthy Aging"--Maxine Weinstein, Dana A. Glei, and Noreen Goldman 12 Social Genomics and the Life Course: Opportunities and Challenges for Multilevel Population Research--Michael J. Shanahan 13 The Challenge of Social Genomics: A Commentary on "Social Genomics and the Life Course: Opportunities and Challenges for Multilevel Population Research"--Jason Schnittker 14 Interventions to Promote Health and Prevent Disease: Perspectives on Clinical Trials Past, Present, and Future--S. Leonard Syme and Abby C. King Committee on Population

Is the American family a thing of the past? Almost anyone can tell a story that illustrates how dramatically things have changed in the past decades. Nonmarriage, childlessness and divorce are commonplace. Most children leave their parents' home and live for increasing periods before marriage as independent adults. But there are also signs of strengths. Some parents play more equal roles, both financially and in coping with household tasks. In this revealing new study, Frances Goldscheider and Linda Waite discuss cogently the question of whether we are headed for no families, or new families.
Adults across the nation who reached "thirtysomething" in the early 1980s are the primary focus of the book, although broader patterns of social change are seen in the influence of their parents' experiences on them and in their own children's experiences of family life. The authors begin with their subjects as very young adults, examining their plans for work and family and their attitudes toward women's work and family roles. As these young men and women move farther into adulthood, we learn what influences their chances of marriage, their patterns of family building (and dissolving), and the division of labor in the families they form. In each case the authors focus on the effects of exposure to different family structures in childhood and young adulthood. The authors find, surprisingly, that the real threats to the family are in the home itself: the new option of "a home of one's own" in a variety of circumstances outside of marriage, most men's noninvolvement in the home and its tasks, and the fact that knowledge of and respect for basic skills involved in making a home are not being taughtto today's sons and daughters.