The US — Governments Promoting ‘Healthy’ Marriage

Abstract

Of the three countries discussed in this book, the US has been the most active in developing policies that promote stable marriage through various marital education programs and services. This chapter provides a broad overview of the US federal government’s marriage initiatives and investigates the successes and the difficulties. While there is growing support for developing these policies, political involvement in promoting marriage has sparked controversy in some quarters (and probably indifference in others). There is no consensus about what can or should be done to endorse marriage — this contributes to the complexity of this policy area. Although many politicians, policy makers and stakeholders contend that marriage is an important rock of stability in a time of rapid change and argue that it should be protected, others disagree. What is significant here is the tension played out between the perspectives as set out in Chapter 1. Some actors perceive marriage as a social institution in decline which should be revived, while others view marriage as resilient, adaptable and a matter of personal choice. These two perspectives are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but have led to policy challenges for the government.