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Federal Policy, Marriage Incentives, and Father Involvement

Federal Policy, Marriage Incentives, and Father Involvement. H. Elizabeth Peters, Urban Institute April 2015. Federal Policies and Marriage. Welfare benefits (TANF) EITC Federal income tax Marriage penalty Marriage bonus Social Security Health insurance and ‘marriage lock’

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Federal Policy, Marriage Incentives, and Father Involvement

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  1. Federal Policy, Marriage Incentives, and Father Involvement H. Elizabeth Peters, Urban Institute April 2015

  2. Federal Policies and Marriage • Welfare benefits (TANF) • EITC • Federal income tax • Marriage penalty • Marriage bonus • Social Security • Health insurance and ‘marriage lock’ • (I’m not yet sure whether I will talk about this) • Conclusions: Small effects, if any

  3. Healthy relationship/marriage education programs • The Administration on Children and Families funds 60 organizations across the country to provide healthy relationship and marriage education services • Evaluations of previous programs have found small and mixed results

  4. Indirect Incentives • Making low-income men more ‘marriageable’ • Improving education • Improving job skills and employment • Reducing involvement with criminal justice system • Increasing employability and family connections after reentry • Conclusions: potentially a more promising approach

  5. Father Involvement • Fathers make important contributions to children’s well-being • Better cognitive outcomes • Higher social competence • Lower levels of externalizing behavior for boys • Higher levels of mental health for girls • Barriers to involvement of non-residential fathers • Poverty • Low education and job skills • Substantial child support arrears • History of incarceration and substance abuse • Multi-partner fertility • Child support policy can make a difference

  6. Two Child Support Examples • Child support and child outcomes • Policies targeted towards increasing child support can positively affect children’s cognitive outcomes • Child support and father involvement • Fathers who paid child support due to stricter child support policies had 27 more days of contact with their children per year.

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