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Marriage and Welfare Reform

The following resources explore the goals of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) to encourage marriage and discourage out-of-wedlock births.

• The Healthy Marriage Initiative sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), exists 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. New additions to the initiative available on the Web site include:
• The Marriage Calculator Web site provides a set of tools for assessing the financial consequences of marriage for low-income families. The calculations are able to capture interactions between assistance programs including TANF, WIC, Medicaid, subsidized child care, SCHIP, and food stamps. The Web site also provides a corresponding Database of State Policies Affecting Marriage to explain State variations in the calculations;
• The new ethnicity-based African American, Hispanic, and Native American Healthy Marriage Initiatives;
• The Healthy Marriage Map detailing Healthy Marriage service sites in the United States;
• The Healthy Marriage Initiative Web site (www.healthymarriageinfo.org) created with ACF in partnership with five universities and Child Trends research center of Washington, D.C. The Web site provides States, Indian Tribes, and others with technical assistance and resources for the general public to help build and sustain healthy marriages; and
• "Building Real Solutions for Real People," a document developed by ACF, Office of Family Assistance, and ICF Consulting to detail the Healthy Marriage Initiative.

The Healthy Marriage Initiative Web site also includes a press release of the Reauthorization of the Welfare Reform Act (February 8, 2006). The reauthorization includes $150 million to support programs designed to help couples form and sustain healthy marriages and to encourage responsible fatherhood. The welfare reauthorization provisions also made several improvements to the child support enforcement program, including a change that provides more support directly to families, especially those who have left welfare. Additional Information is available on the Web at http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/healthymarriage/index.html. Information in Spanish about this initiative is available on the Web at http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/healthymarriage/about/spanish_factsheets.html.

• The Building Strong Families Project (BSF) is an initiative conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. under ACF, HHS, to help develop and evaluate programs designed to help unwed parents achieve both a healthy marriage and a stable family life.The BSF Web site is designed to help the evaluating programs and others learn about the progress of the evaluations and the kinds of services being tested. Most materials are available to the public.The following publications are available on the BSF Web site:
• “Healthy Marriage Programs: Learning What Works” (Fall 2005) in Future of Children Vol. 15, No.2, by M. Robin Dion, prepared by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.,discusses growth in public and private interest in programs to strengthen the institution of marriage and reduce the number of children raised without both parents. The article discusses whether effectively implemented programs can increase the number of children who are raised by both parents in healthy and stable marriages, especially within disadvantaged populations who are often at higher risk for family instability. The article also describes marriage programs, implementation challenges, and opportunities for marriage programs in low-income populations. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.futureofchildren.org/usr_doc/08_FOC15-2_fall05_Dion.pdf
• Building Strong Families: Guidelines for Developing BSF Programs (August 2004), by Alan M. Hershey, Barbara Devaney, M. Robin Dion, and Sheena McConnell, prepared by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., provides guidelines to help in the design and delivery of BSF program services and details the three program components that all BSF programs are to include: instruction in skills associated with healthy marriage, family support services, and family coordinators. The publication also describes an optional fourth component to reduce marriage disincentives created by government programs and policies. This resource is available on the Web athttp://www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/PDFs/bsfguidelines.pdf. 
• Implementing Programs to Strengthen Unwed Parents’ Relationships: Lessons from Family Connections in Alabama (May 2004), prepared by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., for the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, ACF, HHS, describes and develops lessons learned from the Family Connections in Alabama (FCA) program that are relevant for designing and implementing Building Strong Families project (BSF) programs funded by ACF. It first describes the overall program design and planning, and then discusses implementation in each of the study sites, focusing on staffing, participant recruitment, curriculum, structure and content of classes, and receptivity of staff and participants to the program. The final chapter discusses implications for developing and operating relationship/marriage interventions with unwed couples—the BSF target population—and discusses how the lessons learned may apply to future BSF program design and content. Links to this resource are available on the Web at http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/PDFs/imppro.pdf.
• Helping Unwed Parents Build Strong and Healthy Marriages: A Conceptual Framework for Interventions: Final Report (January 2003) by M. Robin Dion, Barbara Devaney, Sheena McConnell, Melissa Ford, Heather Hill, and Pamela Winston, prepared by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., presents a conceptual framework for designing, implementing, and testing interventions for low-income unmarried parents interested in strengthening their relationships or forming and sustaining healthy marriages. This report is based on research that finds the time surrounding the birth of a child is an opportune time to strengthen couples’ relationships. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/PDFs/helpingunwed.pdf.

BSF has produced the following issue briefs on research findings on characteristics of fragile families and unwed parents to help program interventions understand their target population and to provide a conceptual framework for interventions for unmarried parents.

• What We Know About Unmarried Parents: Implications for Building Strong Families Programs” (January 2005), Building Strong Families Research Brief No. 3, by Marcia Carlson, Sara McLanahan, Paula England, and Barbara Devaney, published by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., summarizes information from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study regarding the characteristics and relationship patterns of unwed parents. While not representative of all unwed parents, the study sample and findings of unwed urban parents can help agencies and groups designing Building Strong Families programs gain a better understanding of their populations of unwed parents. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/PDFs/bsfisbr3.pdf.
• "Supporting Healthy Marriage and Strengthening Relationships of Unwed Parents: Technical Assistance Available" (August 2003), a Building Strong Families Brief No. 2, by Barbara Devaney, Alan Hershey, and Debra Strong, published by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., details the technical assistance services available to State and local organizations interested in developing services for unwed couples who are expecting or have just had a child. The project team can help organizations plan a program, select a curriculum on marriage and relationship skills, add other components of the program model, and provide guidance for implementation and operational issues. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/PDFs/bsfisbr2.pdf.
• "Strengthening Relationships and Supporting Healthy Marriage Among Unwed Parents" (April 2003), Building Strong Families Brief No. 1, by M. Robin Dion and Barbara Devaney, prepared by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., highlights program design within the BSF conceptual framework for interventions to help form, strengthen, and sustain healthy marriages among unmarried parents. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/PDFs/BSFisbr1.pdf.

Additional information about Building Strong Families is available on the Web at http://www.buildingstrongfamilies.info/.

• Wedded to Marriage: Invest Now or Pay Later? (August 2005), by Wade F. Horn, Assistant Secretary, ACF, HHS, provides support for the Healthy Marriage Initiative as a way to support healthy, stable families and limit spending on government social programs required to offset the effects of unstable families. The article describes how the Initiative relates to welfare reauthorization by providing healthy marriage resources to low-income families who may not otherwise have access to or funds for such services. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/horn200508090806.asp.
• The State of Our Unions 2005: The Social Health of Marriage in America (July 2005), published by the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University, is an annual report that discusses the social, economic, and cultural conditions affecting marriage in America. This report is intended to provide indices of the health of marriage and marital relationships. The 2005 report provides a comparison between America and Scandinavian countries, particularly Sweden-U.S. trends in the last four decades, and current data on marriage, divorce, unmarried cohabitation, loss of child centeredness, fragile families with children, and teen attitudes about marriage and families. This resource is available on the Web at http://marriage.rutgers.edu/Publications/SOOU/SOOU2005.pdf.
• “Rethinking Welfare Rules From a Marriage-Plus Perspective” (March 2005), Policy Brief: Couples and Marriage Series No. 6, by Paula Roberts and Mark Greenberg, published by the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), describes some of the research addressing the effects of the different welfare policies over the years on family formation decisions. The brief concludes with some suggested policies that would neither discourage marriage nor disadvantage children being raised in single-parent families. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.clasp.org/publications/marriage_brief6.pdf.
• Marriage and the TANF Rules: A Discussion Paper (February 2005), by Paula Roberts and Mark Greenberg, published by CLASP, explores the issues that arise in pursuing the goals related to designing public benefits programs from a family structure perspective. For purposes of analysis, the authors consider only the rules for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.clasp.org/publications/2_parent_tanf_rules.pdf.
• Government Partnerships with Religious Groups to Promote and Support Healthy Marriages: Panel Discussion Transcript (June 2004), prepared by the Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy, an independent research project of the Rockefeller Institute of Government, discusses issues related to recent Federal and State strategies to promote and support healthy marriages. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/events/2004_june_forum/Healthy_Marriage_6-28-04_event_transcripts.pdf.  
• “What Do ‘I Do’s Do? Potential Benefits of Marriage for Cohabiting Couples with Children” (May 2004), Policy Brief: New Federalism: National Survey of America’s Families No. B-59, by Gregory Acs and Sandi Nelson, for the Assessing the New Federalism project, published by Urban Institute, assesses the potential size of the intrinsic benefits that are assumed to accrue to couples that marry. They examine how much of the difference in well-being between children in cohabiting and married couple families can be explained by differences in the characteristics of these families. Any remaining differences may be the result of the intrinsic benefits of marriage. The authors find that differences in characteristics explain 50 to 80 percent of the differences in child well-being between cohabiting and married families. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=311001.
• “Should We Get Married in the Morning? A Profile of Cohabiting Couples with Children” (March 2004), Assessing the New Federalism Discussion Papers No. 04-01, by Gregory Acs and Sandi Nelson, for the Assessing the New Federalism project, published by the Urban Institute, used data from the 2002 round of the National Survey of America’s Families (NSAF) to compare the characteristics of cohabiting families with children to those of married couples with children. It also used regression-based simulations to assess the extent to which the well-being of children in cohabiting families may improve if the cohabiting adults were to marry. They found that about two-thirds of the gap in poverty, low-income status, and food insecurity between cohabiting and married couple families could be accounted for solely by differences in the measured characteristics of these families. They concluded that successful marriage promotion efforts aimed at cohabiting parents could improve the outcomes for their children, but only to a limited extent. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=310962.
• Marriage-Related Provisions in Recent Welfare Reauthorization Proposals: A Summary (March 2004), by Mary Parke, CLASP, offers background on marriage-promotion efforts within the context of welfare reform and describes provisions relating to marriage and family formation in House and Senate TANF reauthorization legislation in 2002 and 2003. It includes lists of allowable marriage-related and fatherhood activities in H.R. 4, the Personal Responsibility, Work, and Family Promotion Act of 2003. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.clasp.org/publications/marr_prov_upd.pdf.
• Beyond Marriage Licenses: Efforts to Strengthen Marriage and Two-Parent Families. A State-by-State Snapshot (2004), by Theodora Ooms, Stacey Bouchet, and Mary Parke, published by CLASP, provides a State-by-State description of government-related activities in couples and marriage policy. It includes profiles of seven “high-activity” States and descriptions of at least $90 million in recent Federal grants for marriage-related demonstration projects, technical assistance, and research and evaluation. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.clasp.org/publications/beyond_marr.pdf.
• “The Effects of Welfare and Child Support Policies on Union Formation” (December 2003), a Fragile Families Research Brief No. 20, by the Bendheim-Thoman Center for Research on Child Wellbeing, Princeton University Social Indicators Survey Center, Columbia University, uses new data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine how welfare and child support policies, as well as labor market conditions, affect family formation among unwed couples in urban areas who gave birth in the late 1990s. They It used baseline data from interviews at the child’s birth and data from one-year follow-up interviews with 3,286 couples. They It explored union formation decisions subsequent to a nonmarital birth: some parents chose to marry, while other parents remained unmarried and lived together, remained romantically involved but lived apart, or ended their relationship. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.fragilefamilies.princeton.edu/briefs/ResearchBrief20.pdf.
• The Long-Term Effects of the Minnesota Family Investment Program on Marriage and Divorce among Two-Parent Families (October 2003), by Lisa A. Gennetian, for the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP), builds on findings from MFIP that showed higher rates of marriage among parents who participated in this initiative, which provided financial incentives to welfare recipients who worked. This report documents MFIP’s long-term effects on marriage, divorce, and cohabitation among participants in the program’s two-parent family sample of nearly 2,500 households. This resource is available on the Web at www.mdrc.org/publications/357/abstract.html.
• “State Policy Options for Supporting Healthy Marriages” (September 2003), Issue Brief, prepared by the National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices, offers policy options for States interested in expanding or initiating efforts to support healthy marriages. It reviews a range of options States have used to strengthen existing marriages, encourage and support new marriages, and educate the public about the benefits of marriage. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.nga.org/cda/files/0401HEALTHYMARRIAGES.pdf.
• “Welfare Reform and Work and Marriage: The Way to End Poverty and Welfare” (September 2003), in Welfare Reform & Beyond Policy Brief No. 28, by Ron Haskins and Isabel Sawhill, published by the Brookings Institution, contrasts making cash and related forms of public assistance more generous with strategies that encourage work and marriage. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.brookings.edu/es/wrb/publications/pb/pb28.pdf.
• “Are Married Parents Really Better for Children? What Research Says About the Effects of Family Structure on Child Well-Being” (May 2003), a Couples and Marriage Series Brief No. 3, by Mary Parke, published by CLASP, summarizes the research on the effects of family structure on child well-being, discusses some of the complexities of the research, and identifies issues that remain to be explored. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.clasp.org/publications/Marriage_Brief3.pdf.
• Increasing Marriage Will Dramatically Reduce Child Poverty (May 2003), by Robert E. Rector, Kirk A. Johnson, Patrick F. Fagan, and Lauren R. Noyes, published by the Heritage Foundation, uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study to calculate how much marriage could reduce poverty among couples who are not married at the time of the child’s birth. Specifically, the effect of marriage on poverty was calculated according to three separate scenarios relating to the mothers’ employment after the child’s birth. In each scenario, marriage reduced the probability that mothers would live in poverty by at least two-thirds. A key target group for this policy would be nonmarried mothers and fathers around the time of the child’s birth. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.heritage.org/Research/Family/cda0306.cfm.
• The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study; Baseline Report (August 2001, revised March 2003), by Sara McLanahan, Irwin Garfinkel, Nancy Reichman, Julien Teitler, Marcia Carlson, and Christina Norland Audigier, for the Center for Research on Child Wellbeing, Princeton University, follows a new birth cohort of approximately 5,000 children and their parents in 20 cities across the United States in an effort to learn more about an important group of families in the United States: unmarried parents and their children. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.fragilefamilies.princeton.edu/documents/nationalreport.pdf.
• Forum Proceedings: Marriage, Poverty and Child Well-Being (December 5, 2002), Human Services Policy Center and the Center for Research on Families at the University of Washington, explores the implications of policies designed to support marriage and strengthen families. The presentations focused on two questions: “In very low-income families, do children benefit if their parents are married?” and “Can policy successfully promote marriage?” It includes the Bush administration’s perspective on providing supports for strengthening families and promoting marriage; information about how individual States have been implementing the Federal marriage-promotion policy; and data-based presentations on the relationships among policy, parental capabilities and relationships, and child well-being. This resource is available on the Web at http://hspc.org/policy_forums/pdf/marriage_forum_wade.pdf. 
• ACF Rapid Response Colorado: Strengthening Families Conference (November 2002), by the Rapid Response Technical Assistance Project, HHS, describes a meeting where policy-makers from different community sectors Statewide came together to examine the socioeconomic factors affecting Colorado families and to identify strategies for addressing these questions. It provides information on research, best practices, and innovative collaboration strategies for supporting healthy families. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.calib.com/peerta/policies/pdf/colorado_strength.pdf.
• Developing a Marriage Initiative for Your State (October 2002), by Nicole Waldman, for the Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network, Office of Family Assistance, HHS, describes the Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network workshop that was held in Oklahoma City on September 17–18, 2002. States that attended included Iowa, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah. The purpose of the two-day workshop was to create an interactive dialogue with State policy-makers/administrators concerning their efforts and effective strategies to develop and implement marriage and healthy families initiatives. Specific topics covered during the workshop included utilizing survey data to develop a Statewide marriage initiative, components of a marriage curriculum, developing interagency partnerships, handling resistance and skepticism to marriage programs, and working with community partners to implement a marriage initiative. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.calib.com/peerta/pdf/long_marriage.pdf.  
• More Than a Dating Service? State Activities Designed to Strengthen and Promote Marriage (October 2002), by Mary Parke and Theodora Ooms, for CLASP, describes the wide range of activities underway in States to promote marriage and two-parent families. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.clasp.org/publications/Marriage_Brief2.pdf.
• State Policies to Promote Marriage: Final Report (September 2002), by Karen N. Gardiner, Michael E. Fishman, Plamen Nikolov, Asaph Glosser, and Stephanie Laud of the Lewin Group, with the assistance of Theodora Ooms, submitted by the Lewin Group to the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, HHS, studied the status of policies to support and promote marriage at the State level. It inventories marriage policies in 10 broad areas that were enacted and proposed in the 50 States and District of Columbia both prior to the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) and after the law’s passage. This resource is available on the Web at http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/marriage02f/.
• “Marriage from a Child’s Perspective: How Does Family Structure Affect Children, and What Can We Do about It?” (June 2002), a Child Trends Research Brief, produced by Child Trends Inc., reviews the research evidence on the effects of family structure on children, as well as key trends in family structure over the last few decades. This brief also discusses promising strategies for reducing births outside of marriage and promoting strong, stable marriages. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.childtrends.org/Files/MarriageRB602.pdf.
• “Should Government Promote Healthy Marriages?” (May 2002) Short Takes on Welfare Policy No. 5, from Assessing the New Federalism, a project of the Urban Institute, looks at the issues around government programs that promote healthy marriages for families in poverty. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/ShortTakes_5.pdf.
• “Assessing the Relationship between Welfare Policies and Changes in Living Arrangements of Low-Income Families and Children in the Late 1990s” (March 2002), a Discussion Paper, by Gregory Acs and Sandi Nelson, prepared for the Urban Institute, uses data from the 1997 and 1999 National Surveys of America’s Families to examine the impact of State welfare policies and practices on the living arrangements of low-income families with children. Results from a multivariate “difference-in-difference-in-differences” model suggest that more effective collection of child support and family cap policies are correlated with declines in single parenting and increases in dual parenting. Other policies such as earned income tax credits and welfare policies such as sanctions, two-parent welfare eligibility rules, and stepparent income deeming rules have no clear consistent association with living arrangements. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/310444.pdf.
• “Fragile Families, Welfare Reform, and Marriage” (November 2001), Welfare Reform & Beyond Policy Brief No. 10, by Sara McLanahan, Irwin Garfinkel, and Ronald B. Mincy, published by the Brookings Institution, assesses “marriage” and “marriageability” strategies and discusses policies to promote both. Strategies for increasing father involvement and improving communication among parents who live apart are also considered. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.brook.edu/es/research/projects/wrb/publications/pb/pb10.htm.  
• Welfare Reform: More Research Needed on TANF Family Caps and Other Policies for Reducing Out-Of-Wedlock Births (September 11, 2001) (GAO-01-924), published by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), examines existing research on efforts by States to reduce out-of-wedlock pregnancies among welfare recipients by imposing family caps on welfare benefits. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d01924.pdf.
• “Welfare Recipients’ Attitudes toward Welfare, Nonmarital Childbearing, and Work: Implications for Reform?” (June 2001), a New Federalism: National Survey of America’s Families Child Trends Brief Series B, No. B-37,by Richard Wertheimer, Melissa Long, and Sharon Vandivere, by the Urban Institute, explores how attitudes toward welfare, nonmarital childbearing, and work differ between mothers who have recently received welfare payments and mothers who have not recently received welfare. This resource is available on the Web at http://newfederalism.urban.org/html/series_b/b37/b37.html.
• “Wedding Bell Blues: Marriage and Welfare Reform” (Summer 2001), in Brookings Review Vol. 9, No. 3, by Wade Horn, published by the Brookings Institution, explores the lack of progress in reducing out-of-wedlock childbearing and promoting stable two-parent, married households since the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) was introduced in 1996. It also discusses States’ efforts to encourage marriage as one way to reduce welfare dependency. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.brookings.edu/press/REVIEW/summer2001/horn.htm.
• “Births Outside of Marriage: Perceptions vs. Reality” (April 2001), a Child Trends Research Brief, by Elizabeth Terry-Humen, Jennifer Manlove, and Kristin A. Moore, produced by Child Trends Inc., describes specific characteristics of the women who have births outside of marriage. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.childtrends.org/files/rb_032601.pdf.
• Encouraging Marriage and Discouraging Divorce (March 21, 2001), by the Heritage Foundation, notes that States are able to use a portion of their TANF surplus funds—which accumulate under the formula grant as they reduce their welfare rolls—on programs that strengthen marriage and reduce divorce among the poor. It explores how States have begun to find ways to implement this mandate or to take steps of their own to strengthen marriage, and gives public policy implications. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.heritage.org/Research/Family/BG1421.cfm.  

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Updated May 2005