Supporting Healthy Marriage Designing a Marriage Education Demonstration and Evaluation for Low-Income Married Couples Working Paper August 2008 Virginia Knox MDRC David Fein Abt Associates An edited version of this paper will be included in the forthcoming book, Marriage and Fam ily: Complexities and Perspectives, edited by H. Elizabeth Peters and Claire M. Kamp Dush, published by Columbia University Press. Correspondence: Virginia Knox, MDRC, 16 E. 34th Street, New York, NY, 10016,
[email protected] We are indebted to Meghan McCormick for her research assistance and to Elizabeth Peters, Claire Kamp Dush, Paul Amato, Carolyn Pape Cowan, Philip Cowan, Alan Hawkins, Benjamin Karney, David Ribar, Matthew Stagner, Scott Stanley, Nancye Campbell, Susan Jekielek, Bar bara Goldman, and Charles Michalopoulos for comments on earlier drafts. By summarizing the design and conceptualization of the SHM demonstration and evaluation, this chapter reflects the contributions of a large team of collaborators at MDRC, Abt Associates, Child Trends, Optimal Solutions group, and a number of universities, as well as by our colleagues at the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation of the Administration of Children and Families, U.S. De partment of Health and Human Services, which conceived and funded the project. The views expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Administration for Children and Families, nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. government. Abstract In recent decades, there has been a widening gap between higher rates of marital insta bility for economically disadvantaged couples and lower rates for nondisadvantaged couples.