Whats good for Children is good for their Parents

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Whats good for Children is good for their Parents

• Mortality rates for married men are 2/3 the rate
  for non-married men
• Mortality rates for married women are 1/3 the
  rate of non-married women
• Married couples are less likely to suffer
  long-term chronic illnesses or disabilities than
  non-married people who have the same age.
• Married women are 30 more likely to rate their
  health excellent than single women who have the
  same age.

2
Married People are Happy People

• Married men and women are less than ½ likely to
  divorce their counterparts.
• U.S Department of Justice statistical analysis
  showed that married women are less likely to be
  victims of domestic abuse than are divorce,
  separated, or never-married women

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• Across these studies controlling for observable
  characteristics, like race, income, and education
  level of the mother, is a striking difference b/w
  a 2-parent household.
• The advantages of growing up in a traditional
  household where both parents are married, remains

4
Healthy Marriages

• Things we know
• Are about hard work skills
• Premarital education programs
• Programs assigned to mentor newlyweds
• Programs designed to helped the most troubled
  marriages

• We need to learn more
• Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev
• If we wait for the moment when everything,
  absolutely everything is ready, we shall never
  begin

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Healthy Marriages cont.

• Rhode Island psychiatrist Scott Haltzman, wrote
  in The Providence Journal stating
• A citizens decision to marry is like the
  decision to put on a seat beltprivate, yes, but
  society has something at stake, so the government
  is justified in exerting some influence. The
  decision not to marry or to a end, especially if
  there are children, is a bit like deciding to
  drink before driving. Again, its a personal
  choice, but society bears its effects.

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Choosing to Marry

• Personal decision
• Govt. has legitimated in helping couples
• Skills
• Knowledge
• All to sustain a healthy marriage.

• Bush Administration is trying to
• Improve the quality of a healthy marriage
• Not increase numbers of marriages.

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Govt. Decision for Marital Unions

• Govt. ought to make clear that it is in the
  business of promoting healthy marriages and not
  just in increasing marriage rates.
• Govt. should not merely strive for neutrality in
  this matter but should positively support healthy
  marriages.
• Govt. ought to be carefully evaluated to
  determine what actually does work and what
  doesnt, and evaluate not only for the intended
  effects but for any unintended consequences as
  well.

8

• With these principles and constraints as guides
  for action, the Bush Administration has put
  forward a proposal w/in the context of TANF
  reauthorization that would provide those
  individuals who freely choose to marry greater
  access to services where they can acquire the
  skills and knowledge necessary to form and
  maintain a happy and healthy marital union.

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The Presidents Proposal

• Six Goals
• To maximize self-sufficiency through work
• To promote healthy marriages
• To encourage abstinence prevent teen pregnancy
• To improve program performance w/ new emphasis on
  information systems accountability
• To enhance child support enforcement
• To facilitate program integration.

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Presidents Proposal cont.

• Since the 1996 legislation reauthorizing TANF,
  the president is proposing to create a 100
  million annual fund for supporting healthy
  marriage demonstration projects
• Prevention Relationship Enhancement Program
  (PREP)
• Relationship Enhancement (RE)

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Critics to the Proposal

• No evidence that the behavior of low-income
  individuals is influenced by welfare policies.
• They claim there is no evidence that Americans
  think it is a good idea for the govt. to get
  involved w/ the marriage issue.
• There is no evidence that we know how to promote
  the formation of healthy marriages.

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Administration for Children Families (ACF)

• ACF is engaged in a number of projects to
  strengthen healthy marriages.
• For Example
• Building Strong Families Demonstration Evaluation
• It is to increase knowledge of programs,
  policies, services, delivery of services that
  offer promise for parent child well-being.

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Other Initiatives

• This promotion is not just limited to promoting
  marriages.
• Steps are being taken to enhance the capabilities
  pre-kindergarten teachers, childcare providers,
  parents in order to for them to help realize the
  Presidents goal.

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In Conclusion

• In order to promote conditions that strengthen
  and support healthy marriages, and better lives
  for parents and their children, govt. must act
  as a stimulant.