The Vital Family

The average American household has changed dramatically in recent decades. Fewer couples are marrying, fewer are having children, and more people are living alone. Today, children in the United States are more likely to live with a singe-parent than anywhere else in the world.

These and other changes have led some to argue for “decentering” the traditional family and its incumbent roles and relationships. According to this view, the traditional family—just one lifestyle among many—is no longer the normative path to flourishing for Americans, and our institutions, public policy, and culture should reflect that change.

But this would be a mistake. Decades of social science research has affirmed again and again the importance of healthy families to human and social flourishing. More than promoting “family values,” this conference aims to equip participants with a strong, reasoned, and data-driven understanding of why the family still matters and deserves its privileged status as the “first and vital cell of society.” Rapidly changing norms lend urgency to the task of mounting a persuasive case for re-centering family life and developing new strategies for supporting it.

During this conference, expert scholars will present from a variety of perspectives and disciplines, including sociology, philosophy, theology, and economics. They will tackle themes like the social effects of fatherhood and motherhood, human anthropology, subsidiarity, and the vital economic role of family life. Conference participants will have the opportunity to engage the speakers and other attendees throughout the weekend in a relaxed and comfortable setting.

Space is limited and conference attendance is considered by application only. This conference is ideal for graduate students, seminarians, and young public policy professionals.

Conference fees, meals, lodging, and travel will be covered for accepted applicants.

W. Bradford Wilcox is Professor of Sociology at the University of Virginia, where he directs the National Marriage Project, and a senior fellow at the Institute for Family Studies. He is also a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he directs The Home Economics Project. He is the author of “When Marriage Disappears: The Retreat from Marriage in Middle America” and the coauthor, with Kathleen Kovner Kline, of “Gender and Parenthood: Biological and Social Scientific Perspectives.” His latest book, Get Married: Why Americans Must Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families, and Save Civilization, will be released Feb. 13.

Catherine Ruth Pakaluk is Associate Professor of Social Research and Economic Thought at the Catholic University of America, where she also serves as Director of the Social Research academic area. Formerly, she was Assistant Professor and Chair of the Economics Department at Ave Maria University. Her primary areas of research include economics of education and religion, family studies and demography, Catholic social thought and political economy. Dr. Pakaluk is the 2015 recipient of the Acton Institute’s Novak Award, a prize given for “significant contributions to the study of the relationship between religion and economic liberty.” She is author of the forthcoming book “Hannah’s Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth”.

Michael Matheson Miller is Chief of Strategic Initiatives and Senior Research Fellow at the Acton Institute. He is the Director and Producer of the award-winning documentary, Poverty, Inc. the PovertyCure DVD Series, and The Good Society Series, and was the founding director of PovertyCure, which promotes entrepreneurial solutions to poverty in the developing world. He writes and speaks extensively on the intersection between moral philosophy and theology and economics, poverty, entrepreneurship, and culture. He is the host of the Moral Imagination Podcast and a Distinguished Fellow at the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America, and the author of Digital Contagion and the forthcoming Excluded: How Global Humanitarianism Excludes the Poor from Justice and Prosperity from Crossroad.

Dr. Anthony Bradley is Distinguished Research Fellow at the Acton Institute, having previously served as an affiliate scholar and research fellow with Acton since 2002. Prior to joining Acton full time, Dr. Bradley was Professor of Religious Studies at The King’s College in New York City where he also served as director for the Center for the Study of Human Flourishing. Dr. Bradley is the author of several books including The Political Economy of Liberation: Thomas Sowell and James Cone on the Black Experience, Black and Tired: Essays on Race, Politics, Culture, and International Development, Liberating Black Theology: The Bible and the Black Experience in America, Ending Overcriminalization and Mass Incarceration, and co-editor of John Rawls and Christian Social Engagement: Justice As Unfairness.