Hillbilly Elegy

United States, the figure is a shocking
8.2 percent—about one in twelve—and
the figure is even higher in the working
class. The most depressing part is that
relationship instability, like home chaos,
is a vicious cycle. As sociologists Paula
Fornby and Andrew Cherlin found, a
“growing body of literature suggests that
children who experience multiple
transitions in family structure may fare
worse developmentally than children
raised in stable two-parent families and
perhaps even than children raised in
stable, single-parent families.”
For many kids, the first impulse is
escape, but people who lurch toward the
exit rarely choose the right door. This is