This article discusses major methodological challenges in the comparative study of the drivers of international mobility (between different times and places) when using household surveys. Noting the difference between the study of coterminous and stage-specific drivers of migration, I highlight the problems of obtaining data with adequate representation across periods and geographies, which are pressing for all social science research but especially for cross-local comparative endeavors.

From the groundbreaking author team behind the bestselling Winner-Take-All Politics, a timely and topical work that examines what’s good for American business and what’s good for Americans—and why those interests are misaligned.

INTRODUCTION:

New data shows that Latinos weathered the recession well and are poised to seize opportunities for further social mobility.

This analysis revisits recent controversial findings about children of gay and lesbian parents, and shows that family instability explains most of the negative outcomes that had been attributed to gay and lesbian parents. Family transitions associated with parental loss of custody were more common than breakups of same-sex couples among family transitions experienced by subjects who ever lived with same-sex couples. The analyses also show that most associations between growing up with a single mother and later negative outcomes are mediated by childhood family transitions.