The context of marriage in the United States involves not only whether and when Americans choose to marry, but also how many times they marry. The majority of recent marriages are first marriages for both spouses. However, divorce rates are higher in the United States compared with European nations,1 and remarried adults have a higher […]
The National Research Center on Hispanic Children & Families has released an extensive guide for federally and non-federally funded Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education and Responsible Fatherhood programs serving Hispanic couples and fathers. This guide summarizes the various aspects of these programs and facilitates their comparison. Among other findings, the guide reports that many fatherhood […]
This brief provides a general overview of the two Healthy Marriage (HM) grantees involved in the Parents and Children Together Evaluation (PACT), provides participation rates in services, and documents how the two grantees integrated job and career advancement services for parenting couples into their programs. This brief uses data obtained through staff interviews and program […]
This brief reviews current literature regarding same-sex couples and LGB individuals to better understand their needs, strengths, and challenges; how they differ from and are similar to heterosexual couples; existing efforts to provide same-sex focused relationship education; and suggestions for expanding and providing culturally competent same-sex relationship and marriage education. As such, this brief intends […]
Why Do We Track Divorce Rates? Statistics on marriage and divorce are of great interest to federal, state, and local public officials, researchers, and members of the general public. Stories based on these statistics—for example, reporting on whether divorce rates are rising or falling—often appear in the media and are considered key indicators of family […]
Project Relate Oklahoma (PRO) is a pioneering, 15-year effort designed to create and sustain stable Oklahoma families. The governor of Oklahoma launched the initiative in 1999 to combat the negative consequences for children of Oklahoma’s high divorce and nonmarital birth rates. Since that time, PRO has evolved into the nation’s most robust, longest running statewide […]
In addition to reviewing the extensive research that has been done on families today, this report offers a framework for understanding family indicators that can influence child and adult outcomes and highlights some key economic and social policies that would strengthen family commitments and reduce family disparities. Read more.
This research brief, from the National Research Center on Hispanic Children and Families, provides a national portrait of low-income Hispanic families in the U.S. Having a better understanding of these families will help programs and policymakers in their efforts to assist these families. We use recent nationally-representative data to describe the relationship and childbearing histories […]
Dr. Gordon’s study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology explores the role of gratitude and appreciation in maintaining long and healthy relationships. In the study, 50 committed couples were given a week to fill out appreciation journals. On days when one partner reported feeling more appreciated, he or she tended to appreciate his […]
This paper explores effects of the Supporting Healthy Marriage (SHM) program for six subgroups of couples in the study. SHM’s impacts were generally consistent across these subgroups, though some evidence suggests that couples whose marriages were more distressed at study entry may have benefited more from SHM. Overview on MDRC Website