In America, the divorce rate increased dramatically during the late 1960s and 1970s and levelled off in the 1980s, at an historically high level. Currently at least half of all first marriages in the United States, and one third of all first marriages in Australia, are projected to end in divorce. The author examines the long term social and economic outcomes for children of divorced families as they enter into adulthood. He also discusses the intergenerational patterns of divorce and parent child relationships after divorce. He provides a comparison of the psychological well being of young adult children raised in divorced and not divorced families, and outlines some policy implications.