"The timely arrival of this brilliantly written theoretically and scientifically sound interrogation of transitions to young adulthood could not be more fortuitous. As fundamental social, cultural, and economic necessities for positive adult development are being reconstituted based on ‘imaginary wisdom’ and romanticized notions of certainty and success ascribed to select populations of society, it is imperative that decision-makers who are contextually and politically gambling with the life chances of current and future generations of young adults read this book. Your ‘aha’ moment awaits."
—LINDA M. BURTON, University of California, Berkeley

"The Journey into Adulthood in Uncertain Times is a joy to read. The authors have provided a scholarly and stunning glimpse into the lives of young adults in America today. They persuasively argue that the journey from the late teens through the early twenties is not as fraught as some commentators would have us believe, nor is it hewing to the patterns seen earlier. America’s youth are neither a lost generation nor a lockstep generation. The piercing of myths is as delightful as it is real (or as the authors say, messy). The combination of a national longitudinal survey, responses to a series of questions about youths’ lived experiences, and context-setting cross-sectional yearly data on economic, educational, and work conditions as well as alcohol use and depression is brilliant. The window into the journey from eighteen to twenty-six years is nuanced, avoiding generalizations and instead focusing on different pathways. Robert Crosnoe and Shannon Cavanagh ‘thread the needle’ between looking at development within youth and trends across youth—a difficult feat! I am particularly taken by the distinction between ‘hard times’ (economic vulnerability) and ‘uncertain times’ (rapid changes in political conditions, technological growth, institutional trust, and demographic trends). The authors make a beautiful case that both contribute to development within and across youth—and are prescient in predicting their contribution to future youth. The book concludes with a discussion of much-needed policy initiatives geared to this specific life phase, which is often overlooked, as well as a warning that difficulties some youth experience are due to hard and uncertain times (social trends) rather than youth predispositions. In a sense, this critical look at youth might be seen as a wake-up call for all of us in terms of the challenges that youth face today."
—JEANNE BROOKS-GUNN, Columbia University

"Robert Crosnoe and Shannon Cavanagh have produced an invaluable resource for scholars of the life course in general. The Journey into Adulthood in Uncertain Times is a notable contribution to the literature on early adulthood and a worthy successor to the research conducted by the Network on Adult Transitions."
—FRANK F. FURSTENBERG, University of Pennsylvania

Concerns about the welfare of young adults have received increasing public attention. Numerous magazine and newspaper articles ask, “Are young adults failing to launch?” and “Are global crises creating generations of lost youth?” These questions are driven by worries that young people are either unable or unwilling to transition to adulthood, even when they have aged past traditional definitions of childhood and adolescence. In The Journey into Adulthood in Uncertain Times, sociologists Robert Crosnoe and Shannon E. Cavanagh examine whether young people today are either refusing or failing to grow up.

Drawing on both quantitative and qualitative survey data over five decades, Crosnoe and Cavanagh find that young adults are, in fact, waiting longer to take on “real” adult roles, such as worker or parent. However, this is not out of a reluctance to grow up. Instead, increased inequality and changes in the economy have forced young people to adapt their lives in new ways. Young adults are now spending more time in school, have more trouble finding their footing in the labor force, and consequently postpone getting married and having children. They also mix and match roles in more complicated ways now than in the past—going back and forth between school and work over longer periods of time or disconnecting parenthood from their romantic relationships. While the period from late teens to mid-twenties does look different now than in the past, the change has been slow and steady rather than a dramatic shift due to social crises. The Great Recession, for example, had a more muted effect on young people’s social and economic attainment and family formation than fears of a lost generation would suggest.

Crosnoe and Cavanagh find that while the panic over young adults today may be somewhat overblown, this conclusion should not obscure some clear concerns. Young adults do struggle with their social and emotional well-being. They are more depressed than their counterparts in previous generations, drink less alcohol in ways that suggest less engagement with social life, and express deep distrust of social institutions and the idea of the American Dream. The authors argue that worries about the state of young adulthood today should trigger more reflection about how to support young people rather than how to fix them.

The Journey into Adulthood in Uncertain Times is a comprehensive and illuminating examination of the challenges faced by contemporary young adults.

“Debating the American Dream offers our most broadly satisfying account of Americans’ differing beliefs about economic inequality and the competing policy preferences that follow from them. Most importantly, it brings the country’s cultural ideals down from the clouds to engage with the realities of partisan politics. The book also offers valuable new takes on race, sex, and ideology in American politics. I expect it to be quickly recognized as a landmark contribution.”
—JOHN ZALLER, University of California, Los Angeles

“This is an all-around fabulous assessment of the place of the American Dream in American politics. It is truly a political analysis, because we get the history of the way parties and politicians have used the American Dream, as well as a thorough and nuanced investigation of when and how this rhetoric shows up in the thoughts of members of the public. Debating the American Dream is an indispensable tool for understanding the role of perceptions about inequality and mobility in contemporary U.S. politics.”
—KATHERINE CRAMER, University of Wisconsin–Madison

“In this powerful book, Elizabeth Suhay shows us how a key element of our shared national mindset—belief in the American Dream of inclusive economic opportunity—got swept up in the partisan polarization of the twenty-first century. Democrats and Republicans now disagree vehemently, not only about preferred economic policies, but also about the nature of economic reality. Debating the American Dream is a story with big implications for both political psychology and public policy.”
—LARRY M. BARTELS, Vanderbilt University

Faith in the American Dream—the idea that anyone who works hard can achieve success—has waned in the 21st century. Decreases in economic mobility, increases in the wealth gap, and other economic shifts have undoubtedly influenced this decline. Politics, however, are an overlooked contributor to confidence, or lack of confidence, in the American Dream. In Debating the American Dream, political scientist Elizabeth Suhay investigates how politics and political identity are intertwined with beliefs about the American Dream and the causes of inequality.

Drawing on public opinion surveys spanning more than four decades, Suhay finds that Americans’ belief in the American Dream is strongly related to their political party affiliation. Democratic Party leaders have increasingly questioned the fairness of the American economy, and, in effect, have called into question whether the American Dream is “real.” Republican Party leaders, by contrast, have consistently defended the fairness of the economy and the American
Dream. While it is true that Americans have become more skeptical of the American Dream overall, Suhay finds this skepticism is concentrated among Democratic members of the public. Despite the increasingly working-class make-up of the Republican coalition, most Republican members of the public continue to believe the American Dream is reality.

Suhay finds that both Democrats and Republicans tend to adhere to their party’s economic narratives when identifying the causes of inequality between rich and poor, White and Black and Latino Americans, and men and women. Democrats and liberals often attribute inequality between these groups to societal causes, such as lack of access to education and jobs or discrimination. Republicans and conservatives, on the other hand, are more likely to blame individuals and
lower-income groups for their difficulties. However, Americans’ beliefs are less polarized when they consider socioeconomic inequalities rarely debated by politicians. For example, when surveys ask Republicans and Democrats about the roots of rural-urban and White-Asian inequality, there is no clear unequal opportunity–individual responsibility partisan divide. Suhay argues that the availability of partisan “scripts” helps to explain differences in the public’s views on inequality between groups that have been politicized. These beliefs appear to bolster support for the two parties’ policy agendas among party supporters, driving a wedge between Democrats and Republicans in support for redistributive economic policy as well as the political candidates who support or oppose redistribution.

Debating the American Dream provides fascinating insights into politics’ role in Americans’ beliefs and attitudes concerning inequality.

“Catherine Simpson Bueker tells the fascinating story of Wellesley’s transformation over the last century from a White Protestant town to one with significant numbers of Italians, Jews, and Asians, focusing on relations between established residents and newcomers as well as institutional changes resulting from the inflow of new groups. Beyond White Picket Fences is a valuable and welcome addition to our understanding of diversity andchange in America.”
—NANCY FONER, Hunter College and CUNY Graduate Center

“Anyone interested in the often-surprising history of diversity in suburban communities will learn a lot from this meticulously researched book about Wellesley, Massachusetts! Highly recommended.”
—NATASHA WARIKOO, Tufts University

“In Beyond White Picket Fences, Catherine Simpson Bueker takes readers inside Wellesley, Massachusetts, to see the racial, ethnic, religious, and class dynamics unfolding across the United States. Using rich interviews and historical data, Bueker’s analysis slashes through seductively simple, either-or takes on how immigration shapes communities like Wellesley. Bueker shows how racism, assimilation, xenophobia, understanding, and mutual adaptation shape one another in ways that will enlighten even the most seasoned experts of these processes.”
—TOMÁS R. JIMÉNEZ, Stanford University

Wellesley, Massachusetts, has long been considered the archetypal New England WASP community. However, as new groups moved in over the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Wellesley has undergone slow but consistent change, transforming into a more demographically diverse and multilayered town. In Beyond White Picket Fences, sociologist Catherine Simpson Bueker explores how Wellesley has been shaped—and continues to be shaped—by its diversity.

Drawing on interviews, archival data, and participant observations, Bueker examines how Italian, Jewish, and Chinese newcomers
influenced and were influenced by the established Wellesley community. She examines the ways in which immigrant and ethnic groups assimilate, retain their cultural backgrounds, and respond to discrimination, sometimes simultaneously, and, in doing so, alter the mainstream. Some new residents responded to Wellesley by assimilating to it. They developed relationships with long-term resident neighbors, volunteered in their children’s schools, and ran for elected positions. In adapting themselves to their new community, however, they also influenced it by virtue of their distinct cultural backgrounds.

Other new residents worked to preserve their cultures by establishing ethnic-specific organizations, lobbying to have new holidays incorporated into the calendar, and hewing to their own ethnic culinary traditions. Their efforts also influenced the established community. When newcomers attempted to retain their culture by requesting ethnic-specific food items be stocked at the local grocery store, opening ethic restaurants, or renting space for a new organization, for example, they impacted the established community. New individuals and groups also responded to experiences of hostility and discrimination. Italian residents fought against attempts at school redistricting targeting them in the 1930s, Jewish residents pushed back against housing discrimination in the 1950s and 1960s, and Chinese residents responded to anti-Asian incidents in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. These groups had to engage with the larger community to rectify these injustices. Some of the changes in Wellesley have come about with little recognition or response; others have been met with resistance and anger. Whether the changes are subtle or obvious and whether new groups are embraced or resisted, the whole town is altered in an ongoing process as new groups continue to move to and settle in Wellesley.

Beyond White Picket Fences is a timely and compelling examination of the ways newcomers become part of and shape American communities.

“Legalized Inequalities makes a critical contribution to our understanding of how the state, legal system, and current regulatory structures make employment so uncertain for many vulnerable workers. It’s a powerfully written, accessible must-read for anyone interested in immigration, work, and race.”
—ADIA HARVEY WINGFIELD, assistant vice provost, professor of sociology, and Mary Tileston Hemenway Professor of Arts and Sciences, Washington University

“Legalized Inequalities is a landmark contribution to the study of law, labor, and migration—an unflinching exposé of how US legal regimes actively construct and sustain racialized precarity in the low-wage workplace. Drawing on over three hundred in-depth interviews with immigrant workers and fifty advocates across the New York metropolitan area, Kati L. Griffith, Shannon Gleeson, Darlène Dubuisson, and Patricia Campos-Medina reveal how labor and employment law, immigration policy, and the enduring legacies of slavery and colonialism converge to produce and legitimize workplace precarity. With interdisciplinary rigor and moral clarity, the authors illuminate the state’s central role—not as a passive bystander but as an architect of inequality—while foregrounding the quiet, creative, and sometimes collective ways workers assert dignity and resistance. This book is essential reading for scholars of labor, immigration, race, and social inequality, and for anyone committed to understanding how power operates in the contemporary American political economy.”
—DANIEL J. GALVIN, professor of political science, Northwestern University

Beyond unlivable wages and a lack of upward mobility, low-wage work in the United States is rife with danger and degrading treatment. Immigrants and people of color are overrepresented in these “bad jobs” and often feel as though they are unable to change their working conditions. In Legalized Inequalities, law scholar Kati L. Griffith, sociologist Shannon Gleeson, anthropologist Darlène Dubuisson, and political scientist Patricia Campos-Medina investigate the government’s role in perpetuating poor and dangerous work environments for low-wage immigrant workers of color.

Drawing on interviews with over three hundred low-wage Haitian and Central American workers and worker advocates, the authors reveal how U.S. policies produce and sustain job instability and insecurity. Contemporary U.S. labor and employment law, immigration policy, and enduring racial inequality work in tandem to keep workers’ wages low, lock them into substandard working conditions, and minimize opportunities for change. Regulations meant to protect workers are weak and underenforced, privileging employers over workers. At-will employment policies, which allow employers to terminate employees without cause, discourage workers from bargaining for better jobs or holding employers accountable for even the most egregious mistreatment. Federal immigration policy further disempowers workers by deputizing employers to act as immigration enforcement agents leading undocumented workers to believe they must endure maltreatment or risk deportation. Anti-immigrant sentiment—encouraged by U.S. policy—impacts workers across all status groups. Additionally, despite a proliferation of civil rights legislation, racial disparities remain in the workplace. Workers of color are often paid less, forced to complete more dangerous and demeaning tasks, and subjected to racial harassment.

While these workers face formidable barriers to fighting for their rights, they are not entirely powerless. Some low-wage workers filed formal complaints with government agencies. Others, on their own or collectively, confronted their employers to demand fair and dignified treatment. Some even quit in protest of their poor working conditions. The authors argue that reforming labor and employment law, immigration law, and civil rights law is necessary to reshape the low-wage workplace. They suggest increasing funding for workers’ rights enforcement agencies, removing the mandate for employers to verify a worker’s immigration status, and making it easier to prove that employment discrimination has occurred to help empower and protect low-wage immigrant workers of color.

Legalized Inequalities not only highlights the crushing consequences of U.S. policy on low-wage immigrant workers of color but showcases their resilience in the face of these obstacles.

“Colleen M. Heflin and Madonna Harrington Meyer provide the most comprehensive mixed-methods analysis of food insecurity facing older adults to date. The detailed descriptive data are expertly complemented with rich contextual experiences of those seniors facing food hardship in their daily lives. The authors offer keen insights into the policy environment these vulnerable seniors must navigate and present a set of provocative recommendations to improve federal, state, and local policies. Food for Thought is a must-read for any scholar or policymaker interested in confronting the public health challenge of senior food insecurity.”
—JAMES P. ZILIAK, University of Kentucky

“Colleen M. Heflin and Madonna Harrington Meyer lift the veil on an unfolding crisis in America but one that is hidden from view. Simply put, as America ages, more and more of our fellow citizens will reach retirement age only to find that they must embark on a perilous quest just to get enough food to eat. With precision, the authors describe the myriad dimensions of the crisis and the multiple failures of both public and private strategies to address it to date. Food for Thought offers clear, tractable policy solutions to alleviate food insecurity so that more elderly Americans can live with the dignity they deserve.”
—KATHRYN J. EDIN, Princeton University

“This book combines the immense talents of two well-known scholars, one who studies aging and the other who studies food insecurity, stressing the importance of consistent access to a nutritious diet to maintain health in old age. The result is an eminently readable, understandable, and fact-filled volume about the seven million older adults in the United States who are food insecure. There are rich descriptions of how financial problems lead to competing claims on funds, with food often losing out to medicine or housing costs among older Americans. Food for Thought soberly assesses the limits to feeding programs, food-support programs, and income-support programs, concluding that many cost-effective policies could help seniors avoid having to choose between food and other needs, suggesting once again, if we just have the political will, the problem is solvable.”
—TIMOTHY M. SMEEDING, University of Wisconsin–Madison

While food insecurity among households with children often makes the headlines, a quieter issue that receives much less attention is the food insecurity faced by older adults. In 2023, over nine percent of Americans age sixty and older were food insecure. Without policy intervention, that number is only expected to grow as the U.S. population continues to age. In Food for Thought social policy scholar Colleen M. Heflin and sociologist Madonna Harrington Meyer illuminate the challenges faced by food-insecure older adults.

Through analysis of national data sets and interviews with lower-income older adults, Heflin and Harrington Meyer describe why many older adults do not have enough money to afford food and other essentials. As a result of chronic economic disadvantage, food insecure older adults are often forced to make budget trade-offs between food and other expenses. In these trade-offs, food typically ranks below housing and energy costs and competes with other household bills, such as medical costs, transportation, and phone and internet coverage. While finances play a large role, nonfinancial factors, such as poor physical, cognitive, and mental health; lack of access to healthy food; and transportation challenges, also contribute to food insecurity in old age. In the
face of these difficulties, food insecure older adults may go hungry, skip meals, or eat unhealthy foods to help make ends meet.

While SNAP and community-based programs, such as food pantries and home-delivered meals, are intended to help address the issue of food insecurity, they are typically inadequate to address the needs of food-insecure older adults. SNAP has enrollment and maintenance procedures that are particularly difficult for older adults to navigate, pays out an insufficient amount of money to cover food costs, and varies greatly by state. Availability of community programs varies by municipality, and these programs often lack nutritious foods that are complementary to health conditions common among older adults. They also can be difficult to access due to a lack of reliable transportation, disability, or cost. Heflin and Harrington Meyer advocate for addressing all the issues that increase older adults’ risk of food insecurity, not just financial barriers. They suggest updating screening tools to include these factors, increasing SNAP benefits and income support for older adults, and implementing other policies to help combat food insecurity in older adults. 

Food for Thought highlights the increasingly important issue of food insecurity in old age and lays bare the overlooked challenges faced by food-insecure older adults.