This Center defends the natural family as the source of social order and the guarantor of liberty. The Center affirms those cultural and economic patterns which sustain healthy home life while exposing contemporary threats to family integrity.

In an age where the natural family has been attacked by certain ideologues as oppressive and antiquated and redefined by others to embrace deviant styles of life, The Family in America Studies Center proceeds from a firm definition of family. The lessons of Scripture, science, and history reveal that:

The natural family is the fundamental social unit, inscribed in human nature, and centered around the voluntary union of a man and a woman in a lifelong covenant of marriage for the purposes of:

• satisfying the longings of the human heart to give and receive love

• welcoming and ensuring the full physical and emotional development of children;

• sharing a home that serves as the center for social, educational, economic, and spiritual life;

• building strong bonds among the generations to pass on a way of life that has transcendent meaning: and

• extending a hand of compassion to individuals and households whose circumstances fall short of these ideals.

From this definition, the scholars affiliated with the Center draw conclusions rooted in abiding concepts, including:

• recognition of religious belief as a necessary foundation for family life, and the need for people of good will from America’s varied religious communities to cooperate in the defense of the family;

• respect for the natural, complementary differences between men and women, the vital responsibilities and authority of the father, and the dignity of the mother as the irreplaceable nurturer of the young;

• celebration of the birth of children, and the welcoming of large families as signs of social well being;

• respect for the central importance of the home or domestic economy, rooted in altruistic sharing, which invigorates the family as an institution and provides a natural balance to individualism and a foundation for ordered liberty; and

• defense of the family against hostile ideologies and state actions that would undermine marriage and family autonomy.

 The Center pursues this work through the following projects:

The Family in America, a monthly periodical founded in 1987, and now available on the internet, analyzes the status of the family in this nation and time. It seeks to clarify the importance of the family in binding generation to generation, inspiring love and intimacy in the home, and fostering industry and lawfulness within the broader community. Feature essays explore issues such as:

• the possibility of a pro-family income tax;

• the misuse of child abuse laws to disrupt families;

• the real depopulation crisis looming in the early 21st century;

• the epidemic of child diseases linked to day care;

• and the economic pressures on young families caused by the dismantling of the voluntary "family wage."

New Research is a supplement to The Family in America. Each New Research supplement features ten to twelve readable abstracts from professional journals in the fields of sociology, psychology, medicine, law, anthropology, and history. These cast light on the vital importance of the natural family and the serious consequences that derive from its decline.

Over 1,000 abstracts are available in our "members" section. It has received high praise for its usefulness to scholars, journalists, policy makers, and family advocates.