Brad Wilcox is Professor of Sociology and Director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, Future of Freedom Fellow at the Institute for Family Studies, and a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. The author of Get Married: Why Americans Should Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families and Save Civilization (Harper Collins, 2024), Wilcox studies marriage, fatherhood, and the impact of strong and stable families on men, women, and children.

Professor Wilcox is the author and coauthor of six books and has written for scientific journals such as The American Sociological Review and The Journal of Marriage and Family, as well as popular outlets like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and National Review.

With Nicholas H. Wolfinger, Wilcox is the co-author of Soul Mates: Religion, Sex, Love, and Marriage Among African Americans and Latinos (Oxford, 2016), which shines a spotlight on the lives of strong and happy minority couples. He is also the coauthor of Gender and Parenthood: Biological and Social Scientific Perspectives (Columbia, 2013) with Kathleen Kovner Kline. His research has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, National Review Online, NPR, NBC’s The Today Show, and many other media outlets. Wilcox consults regularly with companies such as Nestle, Procter & Gamble, and Kimberly-Clark on fertility and marriage trends in the United States.

As an undergraduate, Wilcox was a Jefferson Scholar at the University of Virginia (’92) and later earned his Ph.D. from Princeton University. Prior to coming to the University of Virginia, he held research fellowships at Princeton University, Yale University, and the Brookings Institution.

For his recent popular writings, see:

• Who is Happiest?
• The Married-Mom Advantage
• Now Political Polarization Comes for Marriage Prospects
• The Group that is Happiest in the Pandemic May Surprise You

Follow Brad Wilcox on X: @BradWilcoxIFS

Selected Publications

Books

Brad Wilcox Get Married: Why Americans Should Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families and Save Civilization

Harper Collins, 2024.

W. Bradford Wilcox (Editor), Naomi Cahn (Editor, June Carbone (Editor) and Laurie F. DeRose (Editor)
Unequal Family Lives: Causes and Consequences in Europe and the Americas
Cambridge University Press, 2018.

W. Bradford Wilcox and Nicholas H. Wolfinger 
Soul Mates: Religion, Sex, Love, and Marriage among African Americans and Latinos
Oxford University Press, 2016.

W. Bradford Wilcox (Editor) and Kathleen Kovner Kline (Editor)
Gender and Parenthood: Biological and Social Scientific Perspectives
Columbia University Press, 2013.

Eric Kaufmann (Editor) and W. Bradford Wilcox (Editor)
Whither the Child? Causes and Consequences of Low Fertility
Paradigm Press, 2013.

Journal Articles

W. Bradford Wilcox.  2011. “If Momma Ain’t Happy: Explaining Declines in Marital Satisfaction Among New Mothers.” Journal of Marriage and Family 73: 1-12. (With Jeffrey Dew).

W. Bradford Wilcox 2011. “Motherhood and Marriage: A Response.” Journal of Marriage and Family 73: 29-32. (With Jeffrey Dew).

What's love got to do with it? Equality, equity, commitment and women's marital quality. Social Forces, vol. 84, no. 3, March 2006, pp. 1321-1345.  

Happily Ever After?: Religion, Marital Status, Gender and Relationship Quality in Urban Families. Social Forces, vol. 86, no. 3, March 2008, pp. 1311-1337.

Measure of American Religion: Toward Improving the State of the Art,The; Steensland, Brian; Park, Jerry Z.; Regnerus, Mark D.; Robinson, Lynn D.; Wilcox, W. Bradford; Woodberry, Robert. 79 Social Forces. 291 (2000-2001)

Listing of top journal articles by W. Bradford Wilcox