Healthy Marriage

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Healthy Marriage

Healthy marriages and healthy relationships can serve an important role in promoting responsible fatherhood programs. Marriage education, relationship skills classes, and domestic violence prevention are all activities that promote healthy relationships within the context of a promoting responsible fatherhood program.

A healthy marriage is a mutually satisfying relationship that is beneficial to the husband, wife and children (if present) and is a relationship that is committed to ongoing growth, the use of effective communication skills and the use of successful conflict management skills. There are at least two characteristics that all healthy marriages have in common. First, they are mutually enriching, and second, both spouses have a deep respect for each other.

The important role of single and non-custodial parents in promoting the well-being of their children can not be overstated. And yet, research indicates that, on average, children raised in healthy, married two-parent families fare better on a variety of outcomes than children raised in other families. To support the success of couples who choose marriage for themselves, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) launched the Healthy Marriage Initiative (HMI) in 2002. In 2004, the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) recognized the need for a resource center, information clearinghouse and technical assistance provider for Healthy Marriage grantees and the broader marriage education field and funded the National Healthy Marriage Resource Center (NHMRC).