Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles.
J Consult Clin Psychol. 2017 Jan;85(1):5-12. doi: 10.1037/ccp0000156. Epub 2016 Oct 24.
Government initiatives undertaken to improve the earning potential of disadvantaged unmarried parents assume that job training and additional schooling will strengthen these families, yet alternative models predict that these same interventions could overwhelm couples' limited resources, undermining family stability.
We use 3 waves of dyadic data and propensity score analysis to test these competing perspectives by examining the effects of job-related and school-related interventions on 3-year marriage rates. The sample consists of unmarried new parents averaging $20,475 in household income, 52% of whom are African American and 20% of whom are Hispanic/Latino.
Marriage rates decreased, from 17% to 10%, for couples in which men participated in school-related interventions. Mediation analyses indicate that school-related interventions reduce the amount of time men spend with their child and the amount of money they contribute to their household, reducing marriage rates in turn. Marriage rates were unaffected by women's participation in school-related interventions, and by men's and women's participation in job-related interventions.
Implementing economic interventions that increase income while minimizing demands on the limited resources of economically distressed couples may prove necessary for strengthening society's most vulnerable families. (PsycINFO Database Record
政府为提高弱势未婚父母的收入潜力而采取的举措假设，职业培训和额外的学业将增强这些家庭的实力，但替代模式预测，这些相同的干预措施可能会耗尽夫妇有限的资源，破坏家庭稳定。
我们使用三波对偶数据和倾向评分分析，通过考察与工作相关和与学校相关的干预措施对 3 年婚姻率的影响，检验这些相互竞争的观点。样本由平均家庭收入为 20475 美元的未婚新父母组成，其中 52%为非裔美国人，20%为西班牙裔/拉丁裔。
对于参加与学校相关干预的男性来说，其婚姻率从 17%下降到 10%。中介分析表明，与学校相关的干预措施减少了男性与子女相处的时间和对家庭的贡献，从而降低了婚姻率。女性参加与学校相关的干预对婚姻率没有影响，而男性和女性参加与工作相关的干预也对婚姻率没有影响。
实施增加收入而又尽量减少对经济困难夫妇有限资源需求的经济干预措施，可能对加强社会上最脆弱的家庭是必要的。
