This extensive discussion provides an examination of issues concerning dual-career families in the United States. Section I explores changes in the paid labor force and factors contributing to such changes. Section II discusses sex stratification in the family and briefly points out changes needed to strengthen the interface between work and family systems. Section III focuses on interfaces between work and family, family work patterns, and the characteristics and significance of the dual-career family. Section IV discusses dual-career husband/wife relationships in terms of family role theory, power and decision making, marital adjustment, rewards and gains, and childless marriages. Section V explores aspects of parental roles in dual-career families, describing childhood socialization, division of labor in the home, employed mothers, "the Renaissance of fathering," and strains within families. Section VI describes coping strategies, specifically considering employment, day care, and social supports. The final section, section VII, envisions the future of dual-career families. (RH)