In light of welfare reform, HHS has devoted funds to the Healthy Marriage Initiative. Because of the debate surrounding marriage education, this article seeks to answer what exactly is marriage education and if it is working. Marriage is seen to strengthen families, reduced poverty, and improve child wellbeing.

This report reviews the importance of local community coalitions for implementing a healthy marriage initiative in Grand Rapids, MI. The "Healthy Marriage, Healthy Relationships" Initiative began in 2003, and researchers provide information on how the pilot began operations and sustained community coalitions.

This pilot Healthy Marriage Initiative, called Healthy Marriage, Responsible Fatherhood, was implemented in Nampa, Idaho as a coalition of faith- and community-based partners. Through OPRE, this resource provides information on the local implementation of a healthy marriage campaign.

Studies have shown that family structure is an indicator for educational outcomes among children. This article proposes that by increasing marriage in the US would greatly improve education achievements among children.

This Brookings Institute Policy brief reviews federal and state initiatives that promote family formation and health marriages. The article tells how to identify effective programs to promote marriage, which benefits the overall wellbeing of families and children.

The proportion of married African-American couples has declined over the past years. This report seeks to identify the potential consequences to African-American families due to these low marriage rates and compare the consequences of marriage to Caucasian families.

This article outlines marriage penalties and the effect these penalties can have on low-income families. Despite recent policy reforms, these penalties still remain for mostly low-to-moderate income families. Authors offer suggestions for reducing these marriage penalties such as setting a maximum marginal tax rate for lower-income individuals and providing wage subsidies to low-income workers.

This report describes a meeting that took place in Charleston, WV, on November 3, 2004, sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). The meeting was a follow-up to a a Healthy Marriage Forum that took place in Charleston, WV, on June 9, 2004.

This resource reviews the Administration for Children and Families' Healthy Marriage Initiative, which was designed to support President Bush's goal of increasing healthy marriages by focusing attention and action on strengthening marriages and preparing interested individuals and couples for healthy marriages. This publication showcases some of the programs that organizations have developed using ACF grants and demonstrates how these programs are helping to create successful marital partnerships. This publication also provides insight into some of the lessons learned along the way that other agencies and organizations can use to promote healthy marriages in their communities.

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.