MEETING THE BAR: A PROPENSITY SCORE ANALYSIS OF BSF IMPACTS BY COUPLES’ ECONOMIC STATUS

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The study hypothesizes that the Building Strong Families (BSF) program will positively impact marriage for those couples who met the economic bar, but not the couples who did not meet the economic bar and that meeting the economic bar will moderate BSF treatment impacts in other areas, like parenting and child well-being. BSF survey data from the baseline, 15, and 36 month waves will be utilized to address the following goals: (1) Create an "economic bar to marriage" index, based on employment, earnings, job characteristics, material hardship, and asset ownership; (2) Develop propensity scores using baseline characteristics to predict which treatment and control couples were likely to meet the economic bar; and (3) Examine BSF program impacts on those couples predicted to meet the economic bar, compared to those couples predicted not to meet the economic bar, on measures of marital status, relationship quality, parent-child interactions, and child well-being. This study addresses a gap in the research literature by examining who, among low-income parents, meets the economic bar to marriage. It also addresses an unanswered question, namely, how BSF program impacts varied by couples' experiences of meeting the economic bar. The findings will benefit family strengthening policies by suggesting that future programs have both a financial and relationship-skills training component or that relationship-skill training programs be targeted to couples who have met the economic bar. Sample: All the couples who participated in at least one follow-up round (either 15 or 36 months) in the BSF impact evaluation dataset; a large sample of low-income, unmarried parents or couples who are expecting a child and who were interested in a relationship skills program. Measures: The economic bar to marriage index: • Employment • Health insurance • Earnings growth • Home ownership • Bank Account • Material hardship • Public assistance Baseline covariates • Mothers' and fathers' ages • Mothers' and fathers' race and ethnicity • Mothers' and fathers' education • Whether the mother was pregnant • Whether the couple was living together • The number of children the couple has together • Whether the mothers and fathers were currently employed • Mothers' and fathers' earnings • Whether the family received Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and/or Food Stamps (SNAP) in the last month • Mothers' and fathers' depression scores • Mothers' and fathers' perceived relationship quality Primary outcome variables • Marriage • Relationship quality Secondary outcome variables o Parenting outcomes o Parental responsiveness o Hostile parenting o Parental warmth o Parent's engagement in cognitive and social play o Parent's use of harsh discipline o Parenting stress and aggravation o Child outcomes o Behavior problems o Emotional insecurity o Empathy o Receptive language o Sustained attention