Practice and Policy Lecture Series

Dr. Edin will share her research and other research on poverty and family relationships. Her research provides new insight on why many poor families have children but choose not to marry. According to Edin, “Everything we used to think about the poor with regards to marriage is probably wrong.” Her presentation will provide a good base for understanding the design of the Family Expectations program, a current program of the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative and the OKDHS.

Kathryn Edin

Unmarried couples with children are a rapidly growing norm. These out of wedlock birth increases are not due primarily to increases in teen pregnancy. While teen pregnancy is a problem, the growth is occurring among older persons, mostly from less educated and lower income young adults. These fragile parental relationships have a high rate of separation. This separation creates many serious risks to children. The increase in the number of fragile families has given us pause to think about what policies and services are needed.