The widening gap between the rich and the poor is turning the American dream into an impossibility for many, particularly children and families. And as the children of low-income families grow to adulthood, they have less access to opportunities and resources than their higher-income peers--and increasing odds of repeating the experiences of their parents.

¿I. Diverging Destinies for American Children.- Diverging Destinies Revisited.- Divergent responses to family inequality.- Diverging Destinies in Rural America.- Diverging Destinies Revisited: The Threat to Child Development and Social Mobility.- II .Social Inequality, Parenting, and Child Development.-Inequality Begins at Home: The Role of Parenting in the Diverging Destinies of Rich and Poor Children.- Subjective Rationality, Parenting Styles, and Investments in Children.- Inequality Begins Outside the Home: Putting Parental Educational Investments into Context.- Stressful Life Experiences and Contexts: The Effects on Parents and Parenting.- III. Social Inequality and the Transition to Adulthood.- Diverse Pathways: Rethinking the Transition to Adulthood.- The Transition to Adulthood Matters.- The Family Foundation: What do Class and Family Structure have to do with the Transition to Adulthood?.- Different Social Class Dimensions Play Different Roles in the Transition to Adulthood.- IV. Program and Policy Responses to Growing Family Inequality.- No Way Out: Dealing with the Consequences of Changes in Family Composition.- Struggling to Stay Afloat: Dynamic Models of Poverty-related Adversity and Child Outcomes.- The Diverging Destinies of Children and What it Means for Children's Lives.-V. Reflecting on Diverging Destinies of American Families.- Reflecting on The Diverging Destinies of American Families: Policy Approaches as we Move Forward.