This volume is the printed version of a survey carried out in conjunction with a B.B.C. series called "The changing world" which was broadcast in 1932. Four of the talks were monologues by Beveridge (
The changing family, The family and the population question, Nature and nurture
and
The enduring family: a first impression of the returns
). The others were dialogues: Hugh Dalton and Eleanor Barton (of the Women's Co-operative Guild) on
The economics of family life
; Beveridge and Morris Ginsberg on
The family as a social group
; and, Beveridge and Jennie Laurel Adamson on
Some problems for solution
. The talks were part of an attempt by the BBC to collect information from listeners which would be useful for social scientists. The BBC would arrange the talks and distribute/collect the forms and the LSE would analyse the forms.