Other Resources for Policymakers

Reports and Briefs

Below are policy-relevant reports and briefs in the field of healthy marriage. These reports summarize: the range of ideas currently within the public dialogue; information regarding policy, initiatives and marriage data across states; and links between research and public policy.

• Administration for Children and Families Healthy Marriage Initiative, 2002-2009: An Introductory Guide
• Beyond Marriage Licenses: Efforts in States to Strengthen Marriage and Two-Parent Families
• Building Bridges Between Healthy Marriage, Responsible Fatherhood, and Domestic Violence Programs
• Healthy Marriage and Relationship Programs: A Promising Strategy for Strengthening Families
• How Oklahoma Laid the Foundation for Its Marriage Initiative (2008)
• Marriage: America’s Greatest Weapon Against Child Poverty (2010)
• Marriage Measures Guide to State-Level Statistics (2008)
• Marriage Education and Government Policy: Helping Couples Who Choose Marriage to Achieve Success
• Pathways to Adulthood and Marriage: Teenagers’ Attitudes, Expectations, and Relationship Patterns (2008)
• Premarital Preparation Requirements in State Law
• Resources for State Planning Initiatives to Support Healthy Marriages
• Spending Time Together: Time Use Estimates for Economically Disadvantaged and Nondisadvantaged Married Couples in the United States (2009)
• State of Our Unions: Social Health and Marriage in America, 2007
• State Policies to Promote Marriage (2005)
• The Taxpayer Costs of Divorce and Unwed Childbearing: First-Ever Estimates for the Nation and All Fifty States
• What’s Love Got to Do With It? The Role of Healthy Couple Relationships and Marriages in Promoting Child, Family and Community Wellbeing (2007)
• Why Don’t They Just Get Married: Barriers to Marriage Among the Disadvantaged
• Why Marriage Matters: 26 Conclusions from the Social Sciences

Web Sites

The following Web sites offer a variety of materials for those considering investing in public policy efforts to support healthy marriage.

• Building Strong Families, Mathmatica Policy Research
• Center for Law and Social Policy
• Center for Marriage and Family at the Institute for American Values
• National Governor’s Association Center for Best Practices
• Family and Marriage, Heritage Foundation
• Healthy Marriage Initiative, Administration for Children and Families
• Marriage and Family Formation, Brooking Institute
• Marriage and Family Issues, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• National Marriage Project, Rutgers University
• Smart Marriages, Coalition for Marriage, Families and Couples Education
• Supporting Healthy Marriage, MDRC

Books

Many books have been written on healthy marriage—everything from self-help to research related to family structure. The titles listed here represent a solid foundation of work that is generally regarded as informing the field healthy marriage as it relates to the impact that marriage, divorce, and family formation has on couples, children, and society.

• A Generation at Risk: Growing Up in an Era of Family Upheaval. By Paul R. Amato and Alan Booth
• Alone Together: How Marriage in America is Changing. By Paul Amato, Alan Booth, David R. Johnson and Stacy J. Rogers.
• The Case for Marriage: Why Married Couples are Happier, Healthier, and Better Off. By Linda Waite and Maggie Gallagher.
• Fathers, Marriage and Welfare Reform: The New World of Welfare.By Wade Horn and Isabel V. Sawhill.
• Promises I can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood Ahead of Marriage. By Kathy Edin and Maria Kefalas.
• The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce. By Judith S. Wallterstein, Mulia M. Lewis, Sandrea Blankeslee.