The implications of family structure for children have been a central focus of public policy and research for decades. This brief highlights trends in family structure for children in the United States over the last few decades and reviews the research evidence on the effects of family structure on children. Research tells us that children […]
In recent years, strengthening marriages and relationships in low-income families has emerged as a national policy strategy to enhance child well-being. Mathematica recently conducted a study of how programs and services to strengthen relationships in unmarried parent families can be developed, implemented, and evaluated. The study culminated in a conceptual framework that identifies factors to […]
Authors Barbara Dafoe Whitehead and Marline Pearson argue that we need to teach young people about healthy relationships at the same time we teach them about avoiding risky sexual behavior and the value of waiting. They make clear that the order of some of life’s major events is critically important. Get an education, get married, […]
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 […]
This report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) summarizes 2005 preliminary births and birth rates and selected 2005 preliminary maternal and infant health birth data for the United States. The findings come from a substantial portion of the records of births (99.2 percent) that occurred in calendar […]
Interventions to promote healthy marriages and strengthen families with unmarried parents are most likely to succeed if they are based on a sound understanding of the determinants of union formation, stability, and quality. With this in mind, the Administration for Children and Families contracted with Abt Associates for a review of the quantitative research on […]
The purpose of this issue brief is to provide information that can be used by F2F grantees to expand, improve and complement their current practices to respond to the needs of families experiencing domestic violence that are in the child welfare system. The information and recommendations in this issue brief are based on five focus […]
Challenging the popular stereotype of the marriagephobic male, findings from a new national survey of young heterosexual men, ages 25-34, indicate that while men are delaying marriage until older ages, most men are “”the marrying kind.”” Among all men surveyed, those from traditional, religiously observant family backgrounds are more likely to be married, to seek […]
This fact sheet from the National Healthy Marriage Resource Center outlines the trends in children’s living arrangements from 1970-2004.