The number of children born to unmarried parents has been steadily increasing. In 2005, 37 percent of children were born to unmarried parents. Responding to these trends, the Federal government implemented the Healthy Marriage Initiative. This brief, from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, provides information on the relationship dynamics of unmarried couples who recently had a child, which is the target population form many healthy marriage programs.

This research brief from Child Trends offers an overview of a growing body of research on men’s pregnancy intentions. New research suggests that men’s pregnancy intentions and prenatal behaviors may have implications for fathers’ later involvement with their children. Utilizing data from the 9-month Resident Father Survey of the 2001 Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), authors provide information on the effects of prenatal intentions and behaviors.

This report from the Office of Research, Planning, and Evaluation provides a conceptual framework for healthy marriage education intervention with low-income married step-couples based on research and practice lessons. Authors provide background data on divorce and remarriage, information on the characteristics of stepfamilies and trends in stepfamily prevalence, research findings on stepfamily dynamics, the quality of relationships among stepfamily couples and outcomes for children, and information learned from practitioners.

The number of children living in poverty has increased by a half million in one year. With recent work requirements for low-income parents, this study seeks to identify how much time children in low-income families spend with their parents and if the lack of time contributes to behavioral problems for these children.

Authored by Marcia Carlson of Columbia University, Sara McLanahan of Princeton University, Paula England of Stanford University, and Barbara Devaney of Mathematica Policy Research. This brief, the third in a series from the Building Strong Families (BSF) project, draws on Mathematica's survey for the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study on the characteristics and relationship patterns of unwed parents. The findings can help state and local agencies and other groups designing BSF programs gain a better understanding of their target population and develop interventions that respond to their needs and circumstances.

This article describes the HHS ACF effort to focus on programs that strengthen marriages, and ultimately, improve child well-being, and provides information on and links to recent studies that reflect the large-scale research agenda of the ACF.

This report presents the findings of a groundbreaking large-scale national study of mothers' beliefs and concerns. A representative sample of more than 2,000 mothers of children under the age of 18 were asked what they think and feel about mothering, with very interesting results.

To help provide information on states' experiences related to the goal of reducing nonmarital births, and the factors that helped shape state policies, this study examines, in two parts, state perspectives and experiences regarding nonmarital birth policy since the passage of PRWORA.

This brief looks at child welfare agencies' reliance on kin, that is, relatives, to care for children who may otherwise need to be in state custody. In most states, these agencies use voluntary kinship arrangements on a fairly limited basis when caseworkers believe that children face low risk of abuse or neglect. Agencies are confronted by many challenges, including whether to remain involved with a family and how to provide assistance to them.

BSF works with state/local partners to develop or refine interventions to promote healthy marriage among interested unwed parents at or near the birth of their child.