Living on the Edge

Richard A. SetterstenJr. is the Barbara E. Knudson Endowed Chair and professor of human development and family sciences and head of the School of Social and Behavioral Health Sciences at Oregon State University. He is author or coauthor of several books, including Not Quite Adults and On the Frontier of Adulthood, the latter published by the Press.Glen H. Elder Jr. is the Odum Distinguished Research Professor of Sociology at UNC Chapel Hill. He is the author or editor of many books including The Craft of Life Course Research and Children of the Great Depression, the latter published by the Press. Lisa D. Pearce is professor of sociology at UNC Chapel Hill. She is co-author of Religion in America and A Faith of Their Own.

“Living on the Edge is a must read for all interested in the promises and perils of social change and how individuals adapt to rapid successions of boom and bust, entering an uncharted world.”

• Part 1 Entering an Uncharted World1 Americans in a New Century: The 1900 GenerationPart 2 Making a Life: 1910–302 California, Here We Come!3 Men on Their Way4 Becoming Women5 Together and Apart in MarriagePart 3 The Depression Years: The Worst and Best of Times6 Misfortune and Privilege7 Hard Times Turned Bad8 Having Children in Troubled Times9 In the Midst of KinPart 4 War on the Home Front10 War’s Impact at Home11 Women at Work12 From Generation to GenerationPart 5 Transforming Times and Lives13 The Past in Later Life AcknowledgmentsAppendix A: Additional Tables and FiguresAppendix B: The Sample, Data Sources, and MethodsAppendix C: The Story of the Project, 1962–2019NotesIndex