A cultural shift is occurring that bodes well forAmerica’s children. After four decades of treating society’s ills with more government spending,elected officials, social scientists, community leaders,and policymakers across the ideological spectrum admit that strong marriages-not government largesse-are key to improving both personal and social well-being. Social science research is showing that children in married families […]

This longitudinal study predicted marital outcome from communication skills gained from participation in the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP; H. J. Markman, S. L. Blumberg & S. M. Stanley, 1989; Stanley et al., 2001) by 39 women and 38 men. Results were in the expected direction for men but not for women. Men’s pre- […]

In recent years, policymakers have become increasingly interested in exploringthe relationship between public benefits rules and marriage. This interest has, in part,been prompted by social science research findings that, on average, children do bestwhen raised by their two married, biological parents who have a low-conflictrelationship. Interest has also been fueled by claims that marriage enhancement […]

The National Marriage Project commissioned this study to provide an overview of some of the more popular and promising marriage and relationship education programs currently in use. This report is not comprehensive in its scope nor does it offer a scientifically based evaluation of program effectiveness or outcomes. It does not attempt to take up […]

This paper briefly gives the background of marriage-promotion efforts within the context of welfare reform and describes the provisions relating to marriage and family formation in the 2003 and 2002 TANF reauthorization efforts.

This unique survey provides detailed information on marriage and divorce in Utah where national data fall short. Specifically, this survey gives precise representative results of the current status of marriage and divorce in Utah, including marital quality. The findings in this report have implications ranging from programs for marriage education to public policies that support […]

The third in a series on Couples and MarriageResearch and Policy, this brief summarizesthe research on the effects of familystructure on child well-being, discusses someof the complexities of the research, andidentifies issues that remain to be explored.

In this CDA Report, the Fragile Families data are used to calculate how much marriage could reduce poverty among couples who are not married at the time of the child’s birth. This analysis finds that marriage would dramatically reduce poverty among the non-married mothers who are romantically involved with the fathers at the time of […]

This report finds that religious institutions are bulwarks of marriage in urban America. By fostering values and virtues that support marriage, these institutions-especially African American churches-help urban parents make the transition to marriage in communities where the practice of marriage has become increasingly infrequent. Moreover, the strong association between religious attendance and marriage in urban […]