Healthy Marriage Initiative
Research confirms that children who are raised by their own parents in a healthy married family enjoy, on average, better physical and mental health and are less likely to be poor than children raised in single parent families. Because marriage is important to child well being, children can benefit from programs that work with couples to develop the skills and knowledge to form and sustain healthy marriages. Families and community marriage programs can work effectively together to help parents develop and maintain stable,
healthy relationships for the benefit of their children.
Marriage promotion and strengthening is about:
Highlighting the benefits of strong and healthy marriages for both adults and children.Benefits to adults include being better providers; earning and saving more money; living longer; and decreasing reliance on government services, such as welfare, healthcare, and mental health.
Benefits to children include being more likely to do well in school; having a healthy self esteem; exhibiting empathy and pro-social behavior; and avoiding high-risk behaviors such as drug use, truancy and criminal activity.
• Helping unmarried parents to overcome the two biggest barriers to marriage: a lack of economic stability, and the challenges of communication, commitment and conflict resolution.
• Providing a roadmap about what to expect in marriage, including such challenges as the birth of a child, different philosophies on parenting, and negotiating work and family responsibilities.
• Helping couples better understand that commitment, acceptance, forgiveness, and sacrifice are the foundation for healthy relationships.
• Teaching individuals about risk factors associated with marriage so they can decide whether marriage is a good choice for them.
The marriage initiative is based on a growing body of research that indicates that the best situation for a child is to be raised in a home with two parents in a healthy marriage. For those parents who are not married, it will mean providing love and support between homes by taking steps to establish paternity and child support, and working together to reduce conflict between the unmarried parents. If parents raise their children in a cooperative manner, children can continue to rely on both parents for financial and emotional support.
The marriage initiative is NOT about:
• Trapping anyone in an abusive or violent relationship.
• Forcing anyone to get or stay married.
• Running a federal dating service.
• Withdrawing support from, or diminishing in any way, the important work of single parents.
The data tell us:
• Over 1.35 million children in America are born to unmarried parents each year, making up more than one-third of all births.
• Every year, approximately 1 million children experience the divorce of their parents.2 Almost 40 percent of children experience the divorce of their parents before they turn eighteen.
• Many children who live in a household separate from their fathers have diminished contact with them over time:
• 40% of the children in fatherless homes have not seen their father at all during the past year.
• 50% of children living apart from their father have never set foot in their father’s home.
• 26% of all children live in a different state than their father (Interstate cases)
• In one study, 57 percent of unmarried fathers with children younger than 2 years old visited their children at least once per week. By the time the children were 7 ½ years old, only 22 percent of these fathers visited their children weekly.
On average, children growing up with only one parent in the household are at greater risk of developing social, emotional or psychological problems than children who grow up in stable two-parent, married homes.
• Financial resources matter in improving marriage stability and child wellbeing.
• Children who grow up with both married parents are less than half as likely as children of divorced or unmarried parents to have serious social, emotional, or psychological problems.
• Children with unmarried parents (whether cohabiting or not) are more than twice as likely to have behavioral problems as children living with married parents.
• High school graduation rates are significantly higher for children growing up with two married parents than for children growing up with single parents – 90 percent compared to 75 percent in divorced parent families and 69 percent in unmarried parent families.
• The family income of children whose parents divorce and do not remarry for the next six years falls by at least 40 percent. For children born to unmarried parents whose parent marries and stays married for six years, family income increases by at least 50 percent.
• Almost 60 percent of children living with a single mother are near or below the poverty line – 45 percent of children living with divorced mothers and 69 percent of children living with never married mothers.
• More than 50 percent of children living with a single mother are below the poverty line, compared to 30 percent of children living with two married parents. Over 60 percent of children living with their mother receive public assistance, compared to less than 25 percent of children living with both married parents.
BENEFITS TO HEALTHY MARRIAGES
FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH
• More likely to attend college
• More likely to succeed academically
• Physically & emotionally healthier
• Less likely to attempt or commit suicide
• Demonstrate fewer behavioral problems in school
• Less likely to be a victim of physical or sexual abuse
• Less likely to abuse drugs or alcohol
• Less likely to commit delinquent behaviors
• Have a better relationship with their mothers and fathers
• Decrease their chances of divorcing when they get married
• Less likely to become pregnant as a teenager or impregnate someone
• Less likely to be sexually active as teenagers
• Less likely to contract STD's
• Less likely to be raised in poverty
FOR WOMEN
• More satisfying relationship
• Physically & emotionally healthier
• Wealthier
• Less likely to be victims of domestic violence, sexual assault or other violent crimes
• Less likely to attempt or commit suicide Decrease risk of drug and alcohol abuse
• Less likely to contract STD's
• Less likely to remain or end up in poverty
• Have better relationships with their children
FOR MEN
• Live longer
• Physically & emotionally healthier
• Wealthier
• Increase in the stability of employment
• Higher wages
• Decrease risk of drug and alcohol abuse
• Have better relationships with their children
• More satisfying sexual relationship
• Less likely to commit violent crimes
• Less likely to contract STD's Less likely to attempt or commit suicide
FOR COMMUNITIES
• Higher rates of physically & emotionally healthy citizens
• Higher rates of educated citizens
• Lower domestic violence rates
• Lower crime statistics & juvenile delinquency
• Lower teenage pregnancy rates
• Higher rates of home ownership
• Lower rates of migration Higher property values
• Decreased need for social services
