The 10 Most Popular Family Studies Blog Posts of 2017

Sex differences, divorce, sexual behavior, and parenting were some of the most popular topics on the Institute for Family Studies blog in 2017. Similar to last year, we’ve compiled a list of the 10 most-read articles of 2017, which are listed and summarized below. But this year, we are doing something a little different. Starting tomorrow and through the end of the December, we will re-post the top 10 articles (two per day except on Christmas) to make it easier to read and share them again. Counting down, the most popular IFS blog posts of 2017 were:

10. Naomi Cahn and June Carbone—"A Closer Look at the Jobs With the Highest and Lowest Divorce Rates"
Law professors Naomi Cahn and June Carbone analyzed findings from a recent report on divorce rates and occupation by looking at the minimum education level and the median income for the 10 jobs most and least likely to have high divorce rates.

9. Lyman Stone—“In Georgia, a Religiously-Inspired Baby Boom?”
Economist and new IFS research fellow, Lyman Stone, explained why the country of Georgia is an “ideal test-case to see if national leaders can use social capital to effect social changes,” like boosting the fertility rate.

8. Linda Nielsen—“10 Surprising Findings on Shared Parenting After Divorce or Separation” 
Wake University professor Linda Nielsen highlighted 10 findings from her research about the benefits of shared parenting custody arrangments for children.

7. Leila Miller—“The Adult Children of Divorce Find Their Voice”
Author Leila Miller shared excerpts from her new book, Primal Loss: The Now-Adult Children of Divorce Speak, which contains the stories of 70 adults whose parents divorced when they were children.

6. Helen Alvaré—“Mapping the New Mating Market: A Review of Cheap Sex”
George Mason University law professor Helen Alvaré offered her take on the new mating market in an in-depth review of Mark Regnerus’ new book, Cheap Sex.

5. Justin Coulson—“How to Reduce Sibling Conflict”
Dr. Justin Coulson, a popular Australian parenting expert, offered helpful tips for parents on reducing conflict among siblings.

4. Nicholas H. Wolfinger—“America’s Generation Gap in Extramarital Sex”
University of Utah professor Nicholas Wolfinger analyzed General Social Survey data to show that since 2000, older Americans are cheating more, while younger Americans are cheating less.

3. David C. Geary—“Straight Talk About Sex Differences in Occupational Choices and Work-Family Tradeoffs”
In an article that was part of a roundtable we hosted on men and women at work, University of Missouri psychology professor David Geary shared findings from the large body of research on fundamental sex differences that help explain the gendered nature of work.

2. Nicholas H. Wolfinger—“Sex in Red and Blue America”
In our second most popular post (and his second appearance on the top 10 list), Nicholas Wolfinger explored the effects of party ID on sexual behavior.

1. Susan Pinker—“His Standards or Hers? How Men and Women Define Success”
Finally, in our most popular post of 2017, psychologist and author Susan Pinker argued that when it comes to work-family choices, we should stop expecting “the majority of women to adopt male-determined goals as their own.”

Congratulations to the writers who made our top 10 list this year! We are incredibly grateful for the top-notch researchers and writers that we are privileged to feature on the Family Studies blog every week, and in 2017, we published some of the best, including scholars from the Left and Right and in between. We want to thank all of our guest writers and regular contributors for helping IFS provide cutting-edge research and perspective on marriage and family-related issues over the past year. And we want to say a special thanks to our supporters for reading and sharing our articles, research briefs, and reports. We are looking forward to another great year in 2018 when we can work together to strengthen marriage and family life and promote the well-being of children in the United States and around the world.