Victor Fuchs presents a comprehensive, integrated account of recent changes in family, work, health, and education in the United States.

This is a book about choices--the choices we make for ourselves, those that are made for us, and those that we make for others. It examines the choices we make in our private lives and also the ones we make collectively as citizens and voters. Through these choices--especially those concerning family, work, health, and education--we are constantly defining and redefining American society, that is, we are determining 'how we live.'