Considering the effects of a Catholic heritage on families as a whole and on individuals within families, William Sander looks at the patterns of marriage and intermarriage, divorce, and fertility. He then turns to human capital issues, including the effects of a Catholic background on academic achievement, earnings, employment, and health habits.

Examining the effects of Catholic schooling, Sander takes into account the select nature of the Catholic school population and shows that Catholic high schools have a large negative effect on dropout rates but a positive effect on the test scores of African Americans and Hispanics.