In the late 1990s, Oklahoma undertook an innovative strategy to strengthen families by reducing its divorce and nonmarital childbearing rates. With leadership and commitment from the highest levels, the state set out to build public support and develop a sustainable multisector initiative through a public-private collaboration. Since then, the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative (OMI) has focused […]

The probability of divorce in the U.S. has remained constant for the last two decades at about half of all marriages. While this estimate is well established, and marked differentials in divorce rates are well known, there are no reliable estimates of differences in the lifetime probability of divorce. Using data from the 1990 June […]

This brief is based on extensive in-person observational data, as well as survey data, from 55 unmarried low-income African-American mothers and fathers who were part of the Fragile Families study. Given that 70 percent of African-American children (compared with one-third of all children) in the U.S. are born to parents who are not married, this […]

Policy makers propose to promote healthy marriage among low-income unmarried couples by providing services to improve relationship skills. This article uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to explore whether enhancing parents’ relationship skills may have spillover effects on parent-child relationships. Drawing on findings that relationship quality is positively associated with parenting […]

This is the ninth publication in CLASP’s Couples and Marriage policy brief series. It explores the attitudinal, experiential, economic, and social contexts in which disadvantaged parents have children and decide to marry or not marry. It also discusses the public policy implications of research on this topic. Like others in the series, this brief is […]

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 […]

The federally-funded Healthy Marriage & Family Formation Project enhances the capacity of child welfare professionals and community service providers capacity to address healthy marriage and family formation issues as a way of improving safety, permanency, and well-being outcomes for children and families in Colorado, Wyoming, and Kansas. The project is also working to identify and […]

This webcast focused on efforts to build healthy relationships and sustain healthy marriages through marriage education. Panelists included: Bill Coffin, Special Assistant for Marriage Education, Administration for Families and Children, HHS; Francesca Adler-Baeder, Auburn University, Alabama; Dana Reichert, TANF Director for the state of Louisiana; and Carlis Williams, Regional Administrator, Administration for Children and Families, […]

This fact sheet lists the guiding principles of Fathering After Violence (FAV), a national initiative developed by the Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF) and its partners to enhance the safety and well-being of women and children by motivating men to renounce their violence and become better fathers (or father figures) and more supportive parenting partners. […]

Developed in part from a consultation of marriage leaders held in New York City on January 24-25, 2000, this statement discusses the importance of marriage in society and strategies for marriage promotion. The paper begins by addressing the goals of the marriage movement, the contemporary marriage crisis, and arguments against the promotion of marriage. The […]