This year marks the tenth fielding of the American Family Survey, a collaborative effort between the Wheatley Institute and Center for the Study of Elections and Democrat at Brigham Young University and the Deseret News.

There has been an immense, gaping hole in Christianity for lack of a fully articulated civic theology. And in the absence of a civic theology of how Christians should address our common culture and politics, there has been the inrush of all these other forces we've seen–such as toxic polarization and partisanship.

"There are many reasons people choose not to have children or not to get married, but false messages about happiness should not be one of them. The articles I read long ago were right that parenting (and marriage) can often be exhausting. But they ignored the sense of meaning that comes from parenthood and the connection of physical touch at the core of family life."

Magnify the Podcast featured Wheatley Family Fellow Jenet Erickson discussing findings from a recent Pew Research study on women of faith. Latter-Day Saint women were found to have very high rates of happiness and spiritual well-being, in sharp contrast to negative pop culture depictions. Pew Research concluded: "“It may be the confluence of the religious values and practices, reinforced by social ties and norms, that give religious communities their powerful effects on so many aspects of human flourishing.”

Brian Willoughby, a Wheatley Institute Family Fellow, contributed an article to the Deseret News about a sharp decline in dating among young American adults. Willoughby cites financial pressures, low confidence, and shifting priorities as factors in this "disconnect from romance, dating and marriage."