This document is the proceedings of a statewide conference on the family sponsored by the Family Study Center and the Office of University Extension, Oklahoma State University. Participants and resource persons from eight states and 39 communities came together to consider new options for families as they face the adversities of a world with a changing resource base. An interrelated set of topics was considered through a format of general sessions interwoven with smaller panel discussions. Starting with the insights of family economist Gordon Bivens, the conference explored the major unpaid contributions of goods and services that family members make to each other. Bivens focussed on the meaning of change in the grants economy of the household in terms of costs to human development and the market economy. Other presentations dealt with the relationships between perceived quality of life and marital status, fertility patterns and employment; the effects of unemployment on family life; the process of formulating government policy affecting families; and the importance of family energy conservation. Concurrent panel sessions supplemented each major presentation. (Author)