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

这项研究假设，建立强大家庭(BSF)计划将对那些达到经济门槛的夫妇的婚姻产生积极影响，但不会对那些没有达到经济门槛的夫妇产生积极影响，而且达到经济门槛将缓解BSF在其他领域的治疗影响，如育儿和儿童福祉。BSF将利用基线、15个月和36个月的调查数据来解决以下目标：(1)根据就业、收入、工作特征、物质困难和资产拥有情况创建“婚姻经济门槛”指数；(2)使用基线特征制定倾向分数，以预测哪些治疗和控制夫妇可能达到经济门槛；以及(3)检查BSF计划对那些预计达到经济门槛的夫妇(与预测无法达到经济门槛的夫妇相比)在婚姻状况、关系质量、亲子互动和子女幸福方面的影响。这项研究解决了研究文献中的一个空白，调查了低收入父母中，谁符合结婚的经济障碍。它还解决了一个悬而未决的问题，即BSF计划如何随着夫妇达到经济门槛的经历而变化。这些发现将有利于加强家庭的政策，因为它建议未来的项目同时包含财务和关系技能培训部分，或者建议将关系技能培训项目针对达到经济门槛的夫妇。 样本：在BSF影响评估数据集中参与至少一次随访(15个月或36个月)的所有夫妇；低收入、未婚父母或对关系技能项目感兴趣的低收入未婚父母或夫妇的大样本。 措施： 婚姻指数的经济门槛： ·就业 ·医疗保险 ·收益增长 ·自置居所 ·银行账户 ·物质困难 ·公共援助 基线协变量 ·母亲和父亲的年龄 ·母亲和父亲的种族和族裔 ·父母的教育 ·母亲是否怀孕 ·这对夫妇是否住在一起 ·这对夫妇共有多少个孩子 ·父母目前是否有工作 ·母亲和父亲的收入 ·该家庭在上个月是否收到了贫困家庭临时援助(TANF)和/或食品券(SNAP) ·母亲和父亲的抑郁评分 ·父母感觉到的关系质量 主要结果变量 ·婚姻 ·关系质量 次要结果变量 O养育子女的结果 O父母的反应能力 O充满敌意的育儿 哦，父母的温暖 O父母对认知游戏和社交游戏的投入 O父母使用严厉的管教 O养育子女的压力和恶化 O儿童结果 O行为问题 O情绪不安全感 O同理心 O接受性语言 O持续关注

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