Marriage Promotion Act

The Marriage Promotion Act was implemented as part of the overall changes in welfare. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) was signed into law on August 22, 1996. The PRWORA radically changed the requirements and stipulations for receiving income assistance. Formerly conceived as a federal income assistance program called Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), the PRWORA created a block grant called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), which transferred the allocation of funds to low-income families to the individual states.

As the name TANF implies, the assistance low-income families receive is temporary. Thus, one of the provisions of TANF is to limit the receipt of assistance for 5 years in a recipient's lifetime. Other changes that occurred with the implementation of TANF were the ending of entitlements to federal cash assistance, requiring any type of paid labor as a condition for receiving assistance, and cutting benefits to anyone who failed to comply with the program requirements. These changes made it much more difficult for low-income families to receive assistance in the first place but also kept them from applying for assistance again. The work requirement has been criticized for not moving people out of poverty, because recipients often find low-wage jobs without benefits, limited opportunities for advancement, and low job security. This causes low-income families to stay poor even while working, which prompts families to reapply for assistance.

Four main goals set forth by TANF allowed the states to use funds toward: (1) providing assistance to needy families so children may be cared for in their own homes or the homes of relatives; (2) ending the dependency of needy parents on government benefits by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage; (3) preventing and reducing out-of-wedlock pregnancies and establishing numerical goals for preventing and reducing the incidence of these pregnancies; and (4) encouraging the formation and maintenance of two-parent families. Both the House Bill H.R. 240 and the Senate Bills S.105 and S.6 allocate funding for states for marriage promotion programs.

The PRWORA was reauthorized in 2003, with the passage by the House of Representatives of Bill H.R. 4, as the Personal Responsibility, Work, and Family Promotion Act of 2003, which further promoted the states to spend funds on encouraging the formation and maintenance of two-parent families. Some subtle wording was changed in regard to the goals of TANF. The Senate Finance Committee changed the fourth TANF goal to read, “encourage the formation and maintenance of healthy 2-parent married families, and encourage responsible fatherhood.” The House recommended that an additional goal, to “improve child well-being” be added to the original goals of TANF and amended the second TANF goal to read, “end the dependency of needy families on government benefits and reduce poverty by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage.” The changes in the wording of the TANF goals lean more heavily toward emphasizing marriage and maintenance of two-parent families.

Marriage promotion was also emphasized as part of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA). In this 2006 federal budget bill, $100 million per year for 5 years will go to fund healthy marriage promotion efforts, and $50 million per year over 5 years will go toward responsible fatherhood programs. Healthy Marriage Demonstration Grants are provided to state and local governments, nonprofit and for-profit organizations, and faith-based organizations on a competitive basis. These grants may be used to promote healthy marriages through advertising public campaigns that emphasize the value of marriage and skills needed for healthy marriages, educating high school students on marriage and relationship skills, encouraging couples to enroll in premarital classes and counseling, and encouraging married couples to attend classes and counseling on staying married. Responsible Fatherhood Grants can be applied for by states, territories, counties, cities, independent school districts, publicly funded higher education, Native American tribes, and faith-based organizations. These grants may be used to promote and sustain healthy marriages, foster responsible parenting, and provide economic stability. Promoting responsible fatherhood may include activities such as premarital counseling, marriage education, counseling, mentoring, and an emphasis on two-parent involvement for children.

...