About the Healthy Marriage Initiative

"To encourage marriage and promote the well-being of children, I have proposed a healthy marriage initiative to help couples develop the skills and knowledge to form and sustain healthy marriages. Research has shown that, on average, children raised in households headed by married parents fare better than children who grow up in other family structures. Through education and counseling programs, faith-based, community, and government organizations promote healthy marriages and a better quality of life for children. By supporting responsible child-rearing and strong families, my Administration is seeking to ensure that every child can grow up in a safe and loving home."

President George W. Bush

The federal healthy marriage initiative started in February 2002. Guided by the President and Congress the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families directed funding to support research and to provide healthy marriage resources in local communities. This mission of the federal healthy marriage initiative is to help couples, who have chosen marriage for themselves, gain greater access to marriage education services, on a voluntary basis, where they can acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to form and sustain a healthy marriage.

To learn more about the Federal Healthy Marriage Initiative, visit: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/healthymarriage/

Additional Resources

Marriage on the public policy agenda: what do policy makers need to know from research? National Poverty Center. 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 marriage promotion efforts.