For the last 30 years, encouraging employment has been the primary focus of U.S. anti-poverty policies. More recently, however, promoting the formation and maintenance of “”healthy marriages”” has emerged as a central feature of domestic social policy in the United States, with proposals pending that would allocate up to $1.5 billion to undertake and evaluate […]
The Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) funded this project to learn about the status of policies to support and promote marriage at the state level. We inventoried policies that were enacted and proposed both prior to PRWORA and after the law’s passage. The project did not examine specific programs operating in localities. Nor […]
The Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) originated, in 1994, as a new vision of a welfare system that would encourage work, reduce reliance on public assistance, and reduce poverty. The program differed from the existing Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) system in two key ways: It included financial incentives to “”make work pay”” […]
More than one in four children with married parents is low income. The majority of low-income children in rural and suburban areas live with parents who are married, and most single parents were formerly married as well. The majority of married low-income parents are employed, and 41 percent of their children have two employed parents. […]
Preliminary evaluations of marriage education programs have revealed some positive results for middle-class parents, but there is not yet scientific evidence on how these programs will work for more disadvantaged couples. Indeed, marriage promotion among the poor remains a contentious issue. Not only is the effectiveness of such strategies unproven, but some critics view these […]
This report discusses the findings of a national telephone survey of 1,503 Americans age 18 and older conducted late in 2003 and early in 2004 that asked questions about attitudes toward marriage, aspirations for marriage, and past experiences with marriage. Results from the survey indicate that although only 60% of the respondents were married at […]
The Community Healthy Marriage Initiative (CHMI) is a key component of the demonstration strategy of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to determine how public policies can best support healthy marriages. Two concepts underlie the CHMI strategy. One is that community coalitions can be an effective vehicle for developing a range of healthy marriage […]
This brief reviews the emerging practice known as marriage and relationship education (MRE) that is designed to promote healthy marriages and relationships between parents. It begins by explaining the goals of the Marriage-Plus approach to help more children grow up with their two biological, married parents in a healthy, stable relationship, and to help parents–whether […]
This information packet on national and State marriage initiatives begins by discussing the growing trend towards marriage promotion in light of substantial research that has emerged supporting the link between marriage and poverty reduction, as well as other measures of child well being. A literature review highlights findings on the benefits of marriage and the […]
This report explores the effectiveness of initiatives to promote marriage in the United States. It begins by discussing President Bush’s Health Marriage Initiative, the support of proponents, and the criticisms of opponents. Research findings on the benefits of marriage are shared, including benefits for children and for adults. The report then explores how marriage promotion […]