State Healthy Marriage Activities

States have a vital interest in promoting healthy marriage as a way to increase or maintain economic self-sufficiency, improve child well-being, decrease nonmarital child bearing, and increase community stability. States also have a vital role to play in the efforts to encourage healthy marriages. Examples of how states can support healthy marriage include but are not limited to:

Designing marriage education programs using TANF or other government dollars;
Reducing the marriage license fee for couples who complete a pre-marital preparation course;
Teaching youth in schools about healthy relationships;
Working with community leaders to develop community marriage policies;
Designing incentives for employers or Employee Assistance Plans to offer marriage education workshops;
Encouraging community and social service organizations to add marriage education to their menu of services;
Partnering with the faith community to increase the offering of marriage and pre-marital education services; and
Implementing covenant marriage laws or other policies.

Some states have taken steps to accomplish these goals in their legislature, through the governor's office, through the attorney general's office or through administrative law that guides social service delivery systems.