ANN ARBOR—There is much to be pessimistic about these days in America, but according to a University of Michigan author, we are better off now in several respects than we were in the recent past.

“We are a healthier, better educated, richer nation than we were a quarter-century ago,” says Reynolds Farley, U-M professor of sociology and a research scientist at the U-M Population Studies Center. Farley is the author of “The New American Reality: Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We Are Going,” just published by the Russell Sage Foundation.

In the book, he analyzes data from the 1960, 1970, 1980 and 1990 U.S. censuses to illuminate trends in U.S. social values and the economy. “The most important indicators show that remarkable medical innovations, more government spending for health and changes in our lifestyles, including less smoking, have added five years to the average life span since 1970 and cut the infant mortality rate in half,” Farley notes. “Babies, both white and Black, were twice as likely to die before their first birthday in 1970 as in 1994.”

Despite the criticism of U.S. public education, Americans have become more educated, says Farley. “The percentage of adults who finished high school rose from 55 percent in 1970 to 81 percent in 1994; and the percentage of people who hold college degrees doubled during that time from 11 percent to 22 percent.” Per capita income has risen steadily at a rate of 1.5 percent a year, Farley points out, increasing from $11,400 in 1970 to $16,600 in 1994 (in 1994 dollars). The typical American in 1970 had only 69 percent as much to spend as the typical American in 1993.

In addition to the economic shifts, the American family system has undergone far-reaching changes since the Civil Rights decade of the 1960s, Farley points out. Age at first marriage has gone up rapidly and, for the first time, the majority of people in their 20s have never been married. Cohabitation has replaced marriage as the typical way people begin their relationships, Farley notes, and marriages that eventually occur are more likely to end in divorce. Almost one-third of the nation’s babies are delivered by unmarried mothers. This, combined with high divorce rates, means that one-half of all children will live in single-parent families at some point before they graduate from high school.

“Changes in social values about marriage and family life give people many more options than they had in the past,” says Farley, “but they also put many women and children at risk of poverty since, on all economic indicators, married couple families are much more prosperous than single parent families. “The United States has endured previous painful economic shifts that increased inequality?the transition from agriculture to urban manufacturing and the travail of the Great Depression. But the nation has never before simultaneously experienced both a fundamental economic restructuring and a basic shift in family life.”

Instead of bemoaning the changes and yearning for the good old days, Farley urges Americans to search for ways to increase opportunities for children, women, Blacks and those who lack college diplomas and to stop the trend toward greater economic inequality. “How well we accomplish these goals will determine how well we adapt to life in the 21st century,” he says.

U-M News and Information ServicesUniversity of Michigan