WHAT NEXT FOR THE MARRIAGE MOVEMENT?: Press release

The trend of family breakdown in the U.S., which many thought was inevitable, has largely stopped in its tracks, and the work of the grassroots marriage movement over the past decade is responsible for at least part of this good news, according to a report released today by over 140 leaders of the grassroots marriage movement.

While the country's attention has been focused on the debate over same-sex marriage, members of a grassroots marriage movement on both sides of the issue have been working to strengthen marriage, lower the rates of divorce and unwed childbearing, and ensure that as many children as possible have the benefit of growing up with their own married mother and father. Their efforts are having a real impact, the leaders of the marriage movement say in their report, entitled What Next for the Marriage Movement?

"It seems clear that much of the recent good news on marriage stems from the work of the marriage movement," says David Blankenhorn, president of the Institute for American Values and a signatory to the statement. "We've been arguing for the importance of marriage in the public debate for more than a decade, and community marriage education programs have mushroomed in recent years. Research shows some of them are dramatically cutting the rates of divorce and unwed childbearing. On a lot of different levels, there have been increased efforts in lots of communities to strengthen marriage. There are more pastors doing pre-marriage education, more articles in local papers about the importance of marriage, more pro-marriage curricula in the public schools." ...

The goals of the marriage movement include expanding access to marriage education so that more couples have a chance to learn skills to improve their marriage. For instance, the leaders advocate increasing federal funding for marriage education programs in low-income communities, as a part of the reauthorization of the federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program. The statement also calls for new state laws offering reduced marriage license fees, shorter waiting periods for marriage licenses, and tax credits for couples who choose to participate in pre-marriage education. The leaders also want to see high-quality marriage and relationship education added to the public school curriculum.

Also included among their goals is a call to reform divorce laws to reduce unnecessary divorce. Proposals to do so include combining longer waiting periods for divorce, except in cases of abuse, with stronger provisions for courts to refer couples to marriage education.

more; full report is here

posted by Eve at 4:21 PM | link

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