Stephanie H. Murray

3 weeks 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.

3 weeks 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.

2 months ago | 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.

Dec 17, 2024 | theatlantic.com | Stephanie H. Murray

In the video, my siblings and I stand with our mother on the large porch of a house somewhere in Virginia, before a small crowd gathered across the street. We’re dressed plainly, except for my mother, who wears a festive sweater and headband. And we are singing—“The 12 Days of Christmas,” “Carol of the Bells,” my grandpa’s arrangement of “Hey Ho, Anybody Home” with “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.” For most of the performance, my mother conducts us from a music stand, pitch pipe in hand.