The widely-popular anthology Shifting the Center: Understanding Contemporary Families is a carefully selected collection of the most important family scholars and topics in the study of the contemporary family today. In the new Fifth Edition, Susan J. Ferguson includes articles from the leading family journals and excerpts from a number of classic book-length studies. The readings address the intersectional nature of families, illustrate well how the institution of the family is changing, and push students’ critical reading and thinking skills. New to this Edition: Added readings on LGBTQ families that challenge the heteronormative ideal of family in the United States. An updated Families in Poverty section includes some of the most important scholarship in sociology right now such as Matthew Desmond's “Severe Deprivation in America: An Introduction” and H. Luke Shaefer, Kathryn Edin, and Elizabeth Talbert's “Understanding the Dynamics of $2-a-Day Poverty in the United States.” Expanded coverage of Racial-Ethnic diversity deconstructs white, middle-class families as the norm. Increased coverage of immigrant families.