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

该研究假设，建立牢固家庭（BSF）计划将对那些达到经济标准的夫妇的婚姻产生积极影响，但对那些没有达到经济标准的夫妇没有积极影响，而达到经济标准将缓和BSF治疗在其他领域的影响，如养育子女和儿童福祉。基线、15个月和36个月的BSF调查数据将用于实现以下目标：(1)基于就业、收入、工作特征、物质困难和资产所有权，创建一个“婚姻的经济障碍”指数；(2)利用基线特征建立倾向评分，预测哪些治疗组和对照组可能达到经济标准；(3)比较BSF计划在婚姻状况、关系质量、亲子互动和儿童幸福感方面对预期达到经济标准的夫妇和未达到经济标准的夫妇的影响。这项研究通过调查低收入父母中谁符合结婚的经济标准，解决了研究文献中的一个空白。它还解决了一个悬而未决的问题，即BSF计划的影响如何随着夫妇达到经济标准的经历而变化。这些研究结果将有利于加强家庭关系的政策，因为它建议未来的项目包括财务和关系技能培训两个部分，或者关系技能培训项目针对那些达到经济标准的夫妇。

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