Title: Fatherhood and Marriage Are Indispensable for Children and Society - The Hausvater Project
Headings: 
Book Reviews
Fatherhood and Marriage Are Indispensable for Children and Society
1. Fatherlessness
2. Fathers in History
3. Why Fathers Matter
4. Popenoe's Recommendations
Evaluation

Content: However, the coming of the Great Depression showed the weakness of men in the provider role as well. Popenoe considers World War II to have had an ambiguous impact on the status of fatherhood, for while it stressed the vital importance of the protector role, it also showed that millions of women and children were able to get along just fine while fathers were away for months or years at a time. The 1950s saw a flowering of familism in America, perhaps inspired by the wish to get back to a simple domestic life after the trauma of war. The modern nuclear family reached its zenith, with men going to work each day and women staying home to keep the house and care for the children. However, as quickly as it appeared, the 1950s family vanished in the 1960s. Popenoe says that the sexual revolution of the 1960s, the divorce revolution of the 1970s, and the women's liberation movement of the 1980s all continued trends that had been evident as far back as the roaring 1920s but had been put on hold due to the upheavals of the Great Depression and World War II (119). The end result, in Popenoe's opinion, is that the modern nuclear family is finished. It has outlasted its social purpose and society right now is desperately trying to come up with an alternative. Popenoe believes that whatever this alternative is, it needs to include an emphasis on fatherhood. 3.