Just Like Family: How Companion Animals Joined the Household

Just Like Family explores the growing role of companion animals in our families, becoming a multi-billion-dollar industry in the United States. It highlights their various roles in our lives, including as siblings, animal children, and even grandchildren, and how they have changed the structure of the American family in surprising ways.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 336 pages
Publication date: 13 July 2021
Publisher: New York University Press

The American Sociological Association's Winner, 2023 Animals and Society's Distinguished Book Award, Just Like Family by Andrea Laurent-Simpson, explores the growing role of companion animals in our families. From homemade meals for dogs to high-end feline veterinary care, pets are a multi-billion-dollar industry in the United States. Laurent-Simpson examines why and how these animals have become an important part of our households, highlighting their various roles in our lives, such as siblings to our existing children, animal children themselves, and even grandchildren, particularly as fertility rates decline and a growing number of younger couples choose to live a childfree lifestyle. Ultimately, Just Like Family highlights how animals—and their place in our lives—have changed the structure of the American family in surprising ways. It provides a fascinating inside look at our complex relationships with our beloved animal companions in the twenty-first century.

Weight: 474g
Dimension: 152 x 228 x 21 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781479852628