Ginger Knox, Director of MDRC’s Family Well-Being and Children’s Development policy area, has coauthored a chapter (with David Fein), “Supporting Healthy Marriage: Designing a Marriage Education Demonstration and Evaluation for Low-Income Married Couples,” in Marriage and Family: Perspectives and Complexities, edited by H. Elizabeth Peters and Claire Kamp Dush and published by Columbia University Press.

The editors of this volume explore the motivation to marry and the role of matrimony in a diverse group of men and women. They compare empirical data from several emerging family types (single, co-parent, gay and lesbian, among others) to studies of traditional nuclear families, and they consider the effects of public policy and recent economic developments on the practice of marriage and the stabilization — or destabilization — of family. Approaching this topic from a variety of perspectives, including historical, cross-cultural, gendered, demographic, socio-biological, and social-psychological viewpoints, the editors highlight the complexity of the modern American family and the growing indeterminacy of its boundaries.

The chapter by Knox and Fein describes the Supporting Healthy Marriage (SHM) evaluation — the first large-scale, multisite experiment that tests voluntary relationship and marriage education programs for low-income married couples with children. MDRC and its partners are conducting the demonstration for the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Eight sites (with some sites spanning multiple organizations) are operating SHM programs around the country. SHM is testing a relatively intensive and comprehensive form of relationship education designed specifically for low-income families. Its year-long program model packages a series of group workshops with additional family support, including individual coaching, supportive services, and referrals to outside services as needed. The evaluation includes two interrelated substudies — one focusing on sites‘ experiences in implementing the SHM model and the other measuring program impacts on marital quality and stability, child well-being, and a range of other outcomes. An earlier version of her chapter is available as a working paper on the MDRC Web site.

For more information or to order the book, visit the Columbia University Press Web site.