Changing Family and Household: Contemporary Lessons from Historical Research

This essay examines the recent historical research on the family with the objective of identifying useful lessons for students of the contemporary family. The following themes in the historical research are discussed: household and family structure, production and reproduction, life course transitions, the emotional content of family life, and the distinctiveness of the 1950s. The essay concludes with a discussion of theoretical and methodological issues in historical research on the family.