The Supporting Healthy Marriage Evaluation – Early Lessons from the Implementation of a Relationship and Marriage Skills Program for Low-Income Married Couples has been released. This report presents early implementation and operational lessons from the Supporting Healthy Marriage (SHM) evaluation. Funded by the Administration for Children and Families, SHM uses a rigorous research design to […]

That's the latest news from the land of Gen X parenthood. Apparently, these children of the divorce boom of the 1970s would rather put chocolate syrup in the baby bottles than put the children through a family break-up. The number of divorces has been in decline since it peaked in 1980, and that is particularly […]

Results of a new study show that engaging in activities that you and your spouse view as exciting can help you feel more satisfied in your marriage. "We did one experiment where we had people for two hours a week do something new and exciting and it dramatically increased the quality of their marriage," says […]

Shattering gender stereotypes, an international study has found that men need cuddling more than women. Researchers from the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University discovered that cuddles and caresses are key to a couples' satisfaction in their long-term relationship, but tenderness is more important to men than women. The study, which looked at more than 1,000 […]

Building Strong Families (BSF), a program of relationship skills education for unwed parents, has been found in a rigorous random assignment evaluation to have limited effects on couples who signed up for the program (Wood, McConnell, et al. 2010). Averaging results across the eight local programs that participated in the evaluation, BSF had no effect […]

The role of fathers in the modern American family is changing in important and countervailing ways. Fathers who live with their children have become more intensely involved in their lives, spending more time with them and taking part in a greater variety of activities. However, the share of fathers who are residing with their children […]

This paper is an endeavor to look at healthy marriage education programs funded by the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) designed specifically to meet the needs of unmarried couples expecting a child or co-parenting a newborn. We will look at the unique challenges of the participants, varied program designs and service delivery strategies, as well […]

Compared with most other western nations, the U.S. has one of the highest marriage rates as well as one of the highest divorce rates. According to data compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), there were more new marriages per 1,000 people in the U.S. in 2006 (7.4) than in any European […]