A steady drumbeat of bad news-the opioid epidemic, decreased lifespans, skyrocketing suicide and mental illness rates, and mediocre student achievement scores-has convinced Americans that our country has gone badly off the rails. But where, exactly, did we go wrong? In this provocative book, Maxine Eichner argues that our fundamental problem is with American families, who are being crushed by the weight of economic pressures. Market forces are taking an increasing toll on US families across the economic spectrum. Poor and working-class adults face uncertain job prospects and low wages, which impair their forming stable relationships. Their kids are therefore likely to be raised by single parents, and tight budgetsprevent them from getting a good start. Meanwhile, professional parents' lives have become a grinding slog between long hours of paid work and of parenting. At the same time, economic inequality imposes heavy pressure on their kids to achieve to secure their financial futures. The harms these marketforces inflict on families reduce the wellbeing of Americans and cause our social fabric to fray. The damage the market is wreaking on US families is far from inevitable. Instead, it is the fault of US policymakers' flawed belief that deregulated markets serve the wellbeing of American families. Families, they assert, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, do best when they privatelyprovide all their members need, without the help of government. Five decades of this "free-market family policy," Eichner shows, have decimated the well-being of American families. What we need instead, she demonstrates, are commonsense market reforms that support families and allow their members toachieve the American Dream. | The Free-market Family by Maxine Eichner, Hardcover | Indigo Chapters