Other
Marriage has become a major component of the TANF reauthorization debates, as proposals in the Senate, House, and White House have allocated significant resources to marriage promotion activities and related research. Although there is an existing body of research on marriage from fields such as psychology, demography, and child development, research on marriage policy is sparse. In September 2003, the National Poverty Center hosted a conference to synthesize what is known from existing research about marriage policies and family formation issues.This issue of the forum describes two recent…
Other
Jason DeParle, an award-winning New York Times reporter, discusses his book, American Dream: Three Women, Ten Kids, and a Nation's Drive to End Welfare. University of Pennsylvania sociologist Kathy Edin and CLASP Policy Director Mark Greenberg join DeParle to discuss the findings of the book. This audio conference is moderated by Jodie Levin-Epstein. (Author abstract)
In January of 2003, the U.S. Office of Child Support Enforcement, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services funded the "Family Connections in Alabama" (FCA) project as a 12-month "Special Improvement Project" (SIP) to pilot marriage education for low-resource parents and to promote family and relationship strength. The Alabama Children's Trust Fund (CTF), in partnership with Auburn University's Department of Human Development and Family Studies, and with the support of the Alabama Department of Human Resources and the Alabama Office of Child…
Other, Brief
Policymakers and researchers alike are debating whether marriage might be an antipoverty strategy for families with children. Some believe that if more parents married, there would be a substantial decrease in poverty. Others suggest that increasing the marriage rate among poor and near-poor parents, while not dramatically reducing poverty, would make a significant dent in the poverty rate for families with children. Still others are highly skeptical of these claims. This issue brief summarizes recent research bearing on the validity of these viewpoints. In particular, it reviews recent…
This fact sheet explores parental employment in low-income families and policies that can support low-income families. Findings from the research reviewed indicates 55% of all children in low-income families have at least one parent who works full-time and year-round; almost half (44%) of low-income parents with no employment reported they were not working because they were taking care of their families; and low-income parents who work are more likely to be employed in service occupations in which the are not only likely to have lower earnings and fewer opportunities for full-time employment…
