Marriage Promotion and Low-Income Communities: An Examination of Real Needs and Real Solutions. Briefing Paper (original) (raw)

Marriage Promotion and Low-Income Communities

Washington, DC: Institute for Women's Policy …, 2002

Much of the discussion surrounding marriage promotion policies have little basis in the reality of life in low-income communities. Research suggests that much of the income differential between low-income and middle class women is the result of differences in educational attainment, labor market experience, and access to labor supply rather than to marital status. Many low-income mothers indicate that marriage can actually reduce their well-being if their potential spouse cannot add to the economic viability of the household. The following policies would significantly improve the: economic well-being of single-parent families: (1) eliminate the cap on the number of families that could receive education and training activities counted as work; (2) remove the 12-month time limit on vocational training; (3) give states the flexibility to provide assistance to those participating in education and training programs; (4) increase the earned income tax credit and earned income disregards; and (5) provide full funding for child care subsidies. Several studies have questioned the role of marriage in the different outcomes and life chances of children. The literature emphasizes the importance of providing adequate job opportunities for single mothers so that their economic stability and, ultimately, the well-being of their children can be improved. (Contains 24 references.) (MN)

Marriage Promotion and Low-Income Communities: An Examination of Real Needs and Real Solutions

2002

Marriage, Poverty, and Public Policy. A Discussion Paper from the Council on Contemporary Families

2002

Marriage offers important social and economic benefits. Welldesigned public policies could play a constructive role in helping couples develop the skills needed to develop healthy, sustainable relationships with each other and their children. It does not follow, however, that marriage promotion should be a significant component of anti-poverty policy. The current pro-marriage agenda in anti-poverty policy is misguided for the following reasons: (1) nonmarriage is often a result of poverty and economic insecurity rather than the other way around; (2) the quality and stability of marriages matters; (3) two-parent families are not immune from the economic stresses that put children at risk; and (4) single parenthood does not inevitably lead to poverty. Given the pressing need for improvements in basic social safety net programs and the threat of rising unemployment, it is unconscionable to reallocate already-inadequate Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds to policies designed to promote marriage or provide a "marriage bonus." Well-designed programs to help individuals develop and improve family relationships should not be targeted to the poor. Public policies should not penalize marriage; neither should they provide economic bonuses or financial incentives for individuals to marry, especially at the cost of lowering resources available to children living with single mothers. (Contains 60 endnotes.) (MN) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.

Reducing unwed childbearing: the missing link in efforts to promote marriage

2006

Most social scientists acknowledge that, on balance, single parents, stepparents, or cohabiting couples are no substitute for childrearing by two married parents. Yet, new data from the federal government show that a record number of babies-nearly 1.5 million-were born to unmarried women in the United States in 2004. Empirical evidence of this sort has leveraged political support for the Bush administration's "Healthy Marriage Initiative." Congress recently approved major funding for this initiative as part of welfare reform reauthorization. Approximately 100millionperyearwillbeavailableforresearch,demonstration,andtechnicalassistanceprojectstopromotehealthymarriagethroughsuchactivitiesaspublicadvertisingcampaigns,relationshipandmarriageeducationinhighschools,andrelationshipandmarriageskillsforbothunmarriedandmarriedcouples.Inaddition,about100 million per year will be available for research, demonstration, and technical assistance projects to promote healthy marriage through such activities as public advertising campaigns, relationship and marriage education in high schools, and relationship and marriage skills for both unmarried and married couples. In addition, about 100millionperyearwillbeavailableforresearch,demonstration,andtechnicalassistanceprojectstopromotehealthymarriagethroughsuchactivitiesaspublicadvertisingcampaigns,relationshipandmarriageeducationinhighschools,andrelationshipandmarriageskillsforbothunmarriedandmarriedcouples.Inaddition,about50 million per year will be available to promote responsible fatherhood. Preliminary evaluations of marriage education programs have revealed some positive results for middle-class parents, but there is not yet scientific evidence on how these programs will work for more disadvantaged couples. Indeed, marriage promotion among the poor remains a contentious issue. Not only is the effectiveness of such strategies unproven, but some critics view these strategies as poorly designed for dealing with high rates of incarceration, unemployment, substance abuse, and domestic violence among low-income men and with high rates of early unwed childbearing among low-income women. This brief argues that for marriages to succeed among low-income families, it is also essential to address these underlying problems-most specifically, the problem of unwed childbearing.

Is Marriage a Panacea? Union Formation Among Economically Disadvantaged Unwed Mothers

Social Problems, 2003

The current policy view is that marriage can be an economic panacea, especially for women at greatest economic risk, including unwed mothers. In this paper, we use retrospective family life history data from the 1995 file of the National Survey of Family Growth to examine transitions into marriage among economically disadvantaged and racial minority women aged 15-44. First, we examine current marital behavior and poverty of women from economically disadvantaged or "at risk" family backgrounds. Second, we evaluate the role of unwed childbearing in linking poverty and welfare dependence between childhood and adulthood. Third, we document the extent to which marriage is associated with economic well-being among socially and economically disadvantaged women, and the extent to which unwed mothers ultimately benefit from marriage. In other words, is marriage an economic panacea-if measured in reduced rates of poverty and welfare receipt-for unwed mothers with disadvantaged family backgrounds? The results indicate that women "at risk" for poverty and unwed motherhood have substantially lower rates of marriage than other women. Women who married and stay married have substantially lower rates of poverty and welfare receipt, regardless of family background and nonmarital birth history. The benefits of marriage are also especially strong among women from disadvantaged families, while the effects of unwed childbearing on food stamp receipt are diminished but not completely offset by marriage. Marriage alone, however, will not offset the long-term deleterious effects associated with unwed childbearing, nor will it eliminate the existing racial and ethnic group differences in poverty and welfare receipt.

Marriage Promotion Policy and Family Inequality

Sociology Compass, 2012

In 1996, Congress overhauled welfare policy to promote marriage and work as ways to lift American families out of poverty. Almost all of the funding for governmental marriage promotion has been devoted to relationship skills programs intended to help couples strengthen their relationships, encourage them to marry, and thereby prevent poverty. Marriage promotion policy has sparked intense debate, especially over the connection between marriage and family inequality. While advocates of the policy argue the government should promote marriage because it fosters social and economic well-being, critics challenge the assumption that marriage itself causes these benefits or will help lift poor families out of poverty. Recent sociological research on why poor and low-income couples marry less finds that they tend not to marry if they cannot meet a specific economic threshold. This suggests that rather than promoting the view that relationship skills en route to marriage can help prevent poverty, marriage promotion policy could likely better serve disadvantaged families by acknowledging and addressing the socioeconomic roots of family inequality.

The Effect of Marriage on Child Poverty

2002

This report examines what share of the current level of child poverty in the United States can be attributed to the growth of single parenthood since the 1960s, focusing on what the child poverty rate would be today if single parent families had remained at the levels that existed before the beginning of the war on poverty. Researchers simulated the effects of higher marriage rates using data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census for the year 2000. They matched a portion of single parents with potential spouses who were identical in age, race, and educational level, then hypothetically joined these couples into one household and determined whether they would be poor based on the couple's combined income. Results found that the decline of marriage since the 1960s has been a substantial factor behind the current high levels of child poverty. Child poverty would be nearly a third lower today if the traditional two-parent family had not deteriorated over the past 3 decades. The results show that when poor single mothers are married to single men of similar age, race, and education, their marriage lifts the family out of poverty in about 80 percent of the cases. (Contains eight tables and two charts.) (SM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.

Five-year effects of an anti-poverty program on marriage among never-married mothers

Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 2006

Using data from an experimental evaluation of the New Hope project, an antipoverty program that increased employment and income, this study examined the effects of New Hope on entry into marriage among never-married mothers. Among never-married mothers, New Hope significantly increased rates of marriage. Five years after random assignment, 21 percent of women assigned to the New Hope condition were married, compared to 12 percent of those assigned to the control group. The New Hope impact on marriage was robust to variations in model specification. The program also increased income, wage growth, and goal efficacy among never-married mothers, and decreased depression. In non-experimental analyses, income and earnings were associated with higher probability of marriage and material hardship was associated with lower probability of marriage.

Increasing marriage would dramatically reduce child poverty

Handbook of families and poverty, 2008

This report uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study (a nationwide survey that collects data on married and nonmarried parents at the time of the child's birth) to determine how much marriage could reduce poverty among couples who are not married at the time of birth. To determine the impact of marriage on children's and mothers' poverty, the study estimated what the mothers' poverty rate would be if they remained single, calculated what the poverty rate would be if the mothers and fathers married, then noted differences between poverty rates. The effect of marriage on poverty was calculated according to three scenarios regarding the mother's employment after childbirth (zero annual employment, part-time employment, and full-time employment). Data analysis indicates that marriage would dramatically reduce poverty among non-married mothers who are romantically involved with the fathers at the time of the child's birth. Specifically, if these mothers do not marry but remain single, about 55 percent will be poor. By contrast, if all mothers married their child's father, the poverty rate would fall to less than 17 percent. Thus, on average, marriage would reduce the odds that a mother and a child will live in poverty by more than 70 percent. A technical appendix describes how researchers used the Fragile Families survey and database to simulate the effects of marriage on child poverty. (Contains 15 footnotes.) (SM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.

Marriage Promotion and Low-Income Communities: An Examination of Real Needs and Real Solutions. Briefing Paper (original) (raw)

Related papers