Stephanie H. Murray

1 week ago | theatlantic.com | Stephanie H. Murray

On a trip to Prague a couple of years ago, my family piled into a rapidly filling metro car, and I wound up sitting next to my 6-year-old daughter, while her 4-year-old sister sat directly across from us, on her own. At one point, my youngest pulled a knee up to her chest and rested her foot on the seat. Almost immediately, a woman sitting next to her, who looked to be about 70, reached out and gently touched my daughter’s foot, signaling her to put it down.

2 months ago | theatlantic.com | Stephanie H. Murray

Once upon a time, it was fairly common for highly educated men in the United States to marry less-educated women. But beginning in the mid-20th century, as more women started to attend college, marriages seemed to move in a more egalitarian direction, at least in one respect: A greater number of men and women started partnering up with their educational equals. That trend, however, appears to have stalled and even reversed in recent years.

2 months ago | yahoo.com | Stephanie H. Murray

Once upon a time, it was fairly common for highly educated men in the United States to marry less-educated women. But beginning in the mid-20th century, as more women started to attend college, marriages seemed to move in a more egalitarian direction, at least in one respect: A greater number of men and women started partnering up with their educational equals. That trend, however, appears to have stalled and even reversed in recent years.

Jan 31, 2025 | theatlantic.com | Stephanie H. Murray

About 13 years ago, well before I became a parent, I had a conversation with my aunt. She was the kind of aunt a young person could talk to: hilariously frank, slow to judge, and not easily scandalized. We were seated in her rumpus room, me on the couch and her on the floor, as one of her four children (she now has five) toddled back and forth. The topic turned to motherhood. “I’m not sure I like kids,” I said. If she was offended, she didn’t show it. In fact, she seemed to get what I was saying.

Jan 1, 2025 | theatlantic.com | Stephanie H. Murray

If you were to ask me about the lowest point of my life as a parent, I could pinpoint it almost to the day. It was in early March 2021. The United Kingdom was a couple of months into its third and longest COVID lockdown. I had been living in the country for more than a year, but having arrived just a few months before the outbreak, I still felt like a stranger in town. My kids were 2 and 3 years old, and my youngest was going through a screaming phase.