Despite the increasing prevalence of interethnic marriages, remarkably little empirical literature exists for guiding clinical interventions offered to these couples. This study compared the marriages of 72 couples with one Mexican-American partner and one non-Hispanic White American partner 75 Mexican-American couples, and 66 non-Hispanic White couples. Overall, the interethnic couples were more similar to non-Hispanic […]

Although scholars have documented many links between marital relationships and parenting, these associations are not commonly explained in terms of behavior that is learned or achieved over time. This paper examines the idea that good fathering–conceptualized here as competent fathering–is the result of a developmental process, and that a loving, committed relationship between parents creates […]

This study examines the effects of changes in family structure on children’s economic well-being. An initial shift-share analysis indicates that, had the proportion of children living in female-headed families remained constant since 1970, the 1998 child poverty rate would have been 4.4 percentage points lower than its actual 1998 level of 18.3 percent. We then […]

This article examines the impact of the recent dramatic changes in the social policies, particularly the expansion of the EITC and welfare reform on labor supply, marriage, and cohabitation. Altered policies have increased incentives to work or marry for some, diminished incentives for others. The results strongly indicate expanded work by single mothers and reductions […]

Conservatives have decidedthat what ails America is that not enough of us aregetting and staying married. They have a point. Not only arefewer people marrying than in the past but, more disturbingly,one out of every three children is born outside of marriage.The life chances of these children are seriously compromised.Far more of them will grow […]

This document offers a brief examination of the key policy issues surrounding the EITC and marriage penalties. The EITC is designed to support low income working families with children. It provides a subsidy (up to $3,816 in 1999) for families with children and low earnings. Current research shows that the EITC has been successful in […]

Presentation prepared for the Ohio State University Family Life E-Seminar on Relationship and Marital Enrichment Education (April 2006). The goals of this module are threefold: to explain the impact of couple functioning on individual, family and community well being; articulate the rationale for addressing couple relationships in family life education; and describe appropriate goals and […]

This research tracks parents’ marital outcomes for eight years after their first child’s birth, with a primary focus on parents whose first child was born outside of marriage. Data come from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979. Though much has changed since the 1980s, when many of the respondents had their first child, the […]