House Rules : Changing Families, Evolving Norms, and the Role of the Law

The paradigm of family has shifted rapidly and dramatically, from nuclear unit to diverse constellations of intimacy.

At the same time, some norms resist change, such as women’s continuing role as primary care providers despite their increased uptake of paid work.

This tension between transformation and stasis in family arrangements has an impact on economic, emotional, and legal aspects of daily life. House Rules critically explores the intertwining of norms and laws that govern familial relationships.

The authors in this incisive collection engage with four countries – Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Taiwan – and expose the ingrained and unsettled norms that affect families and the law’s role in regulating them.

Over recent decades, the law has struggled to adjust to transformations in what typifies the structures and practices of family life.

House Rules provides tools to analyze those difficulties and, ultimately, to design laws to better respond to ongoing change and avoid entrenching inequalities.