The relationship between learning and family formation and dissolution was examined through a review of the literature that focused on education and family life in Great Britain and elsewhere. The following topics were examined: learning, marriage, and cohabitation; learning, dissolution, and divorce; changing patterns of childbearing in contemporary Britain; learning as a protective factor in parenthood; and education and late childbearing. The literature review yielded evidence that education, qualifications, and learning opportunities play a major part in all aspects of family formation and dissolution. The evidence documented that, as education extends for increasing numbers of people and careers become a defining feature of adult life for men and women alike, decisions about the timing of marriage and parenthood become more problematic. A theoretical framework in which to locate the relationship between family formation and learning was proposed. According to the framework, studies of the relationship between family formation and learning must include consideration for the specific context in which specific groups make specific family-building decisions. Policymakers were advised to bear in mind both the value of education as a resource in family life and the different kinds of tension and incompatibility it triggers as people are forced to make choices between employment and family. (Contains 86 references.) (MN)