Among the landmarks in the 2013 Women’s History Month is the 50th anniversary of the publication of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique—a work that was once hailed as the “the spark that ignited second-wave feminism.” Yet Friedan’s dictum that women be “liberated” actually had limiting consequences. A perspective with 50-year hindsight reveals that, as the foundations of the family began to deteriorate, a rise in single-mother households had repercussions for the health, happiness, and financial well-being of women and children. Today, a steady decline in the rate of marriage and sharp decrease in the proportion of adults who have married...
