A record 55 percent of Millennial parents (ages 28-34) have put childbearing before marriage, according to a new analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistic’s Panel data by the American Enterprise Institute and the Institute for Family Studies. The rise of nontraditional routes into parenthood among Millennials is one indicator that today’s young adults are taking increasingly divergent paths toward adulthood, including family formation. New research by Dr. Wilcox and others shows that the success sequence works even for young adults today. In fact, 86% of Millennials who follow the sequence have now moved into the middle class and only 3% of Millennials who follow the sequence are poor today. Given the importance of education, work, and marriage—even for a generation that has taken increasingly circuitous routes into adulthood—Dr. Wilcox challenges policymakers, business leaders, and civic leaders to advance public policies and cultural changes to make his sequence both more attainable…
Marriage
The field of couple and relationship education is dominated by a focus on helping committed couples strengthen their relationship. In this webinar we will review several lines of research to argue that the relationship education field should give greater priority to youth relationship education — individually oriented relationship literacy education for adolescents and young adults. Serious problems are common in adolescent and young adult romantic relationships and increasing numbers of youth follow paths from adolescence to marriage that make it harder for them to form and sustain a healthy marriage. Early evidence on the effectiveness of individually oriented youth relationship education provides some reason for optimism. The webinar will conclude by exploring implications of this proposed shift in the field for practice and policy. Participants will learn: How the RE field historically has been dominated by a focus on committed couples. A research-based argument for why it can be problematic…
Many first romantic relationships occur during adolescence. These relationships can help shape a variety of experiences (both positive and negative). Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education (HMRE) programs for youth can shape these experiences by improving youth attitudes and expectations concerning romantic relationships and by helping youth develop key skills to form healthy relationships and avoid unhealthy relationships. This webinar will provide participants with a better understanding of federally funded HMRE programs for youth and will describe best practices for serving youth based on research and evaluation findings. At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to: Describe the organizations implementing HMRE programs and the youth served by these programs Assess the alignment of HMRE programs for youth with best practices in the field Presenter: Mindy E. Scott, Ph.D., Deputy Program Area Director and Senior Research Scientist with Child Trends Resources: Snapshot of HMRE Programs for Youth
To celebrate, we have a FREE gift for you! In-depth movie discussion guides that will help you have rich discussions with your young people about relationships using current and classic movies. Think “Frozen,” “Cheaper by the Dozen,” “Antwone Fisher,” “Hunger Games,” and more. Movies can help students see the complexities and joys of a wide variety of relationships, including friendships and family, infatuations and first romances, enduring commitments and marriage. Discussing movies helps young people connect ideas in film to choices in real life. In this webinar, you will see how the Dibble movie guides can unpack important concepts, how youth learn what “healthy” looks like, and why family formation matters. Presenters: Dixie Zittlow, Director of Outreach, The Dibble Institute and Aaron Larson, Acquisition and Product Coordinator, The Dibble Institute
Over half of all births to young adults in the United States now occur outside of marriage, and many are unplanned. The result is increased poverty and inequality for children. The left argues for more social support for unmarried parents; the right argues for a return to traditional marriage. In Generation Unbound, Isabel V. Sawhill offers a third approach: change “drifters” into “planners.” In a well-written and accessible survey of the impact of family structure on child well-being, Sawhill contrasts “planners,” who are delaying parenthood until after they marry, with “drifters,” who are having unplanned children early and outside of marriage. These two distinct patterns are contributing to an emerging class divide and threatening social mobility in the United States. Sawhill draws on insights from the new field of behavioral economics, showing that it is possible, by changing the default, to move from a culture that accepts a high number of…
The age at which men and women marry is now at historic heights—27 for women, and 29 for men—and is still climbing. The age at which women have children is also increasing, but much more slowly, and often before marriage. While this sequencing has long been true for the economically disadvantaged, it is now true for the middle class as well. What are the benefits and costs of this crossover? Presenter: Kelleen Kaye, Senior Director of Research, The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy Resources: Knot Yet
Did you know that a “dibble” is a garden tool used to plant seeds? No small coincidence that our founder, Charlie Dibble, recognized the need to help youth grow healthy relationship skills. Join the staff of The Dibble Institute as we explore the “inside scoop” on effective tools to help youth develop the skills and knowledge needed for growing satisfying and healthy romantic, family, and work relationships. At the end of this webinar, participants will learn: Who is behind The Dibble name and what is our mission, How The Dibble Institute achieves our mission, and What services The Dibble Institute provides to help you meet your goals for teens and young adults. Presenters: The Staff of The Dibble Institute Resources: Dibble Curricula
In today’s world young fathers must co-parent, complete their education, and navigate romantic relationships while supporting their child emotionally and financially. Relationship skills training helps them make wiser choices that enable their goals for education, employment, parenting, and family. Join LA County Child Support Services Department and The Dibble Institute as we discuss how our collaboration in the successful Building Brighter Futures project accomplishes these goals. At the end of this webinar, participants will learn: How love lives impact family formation and how that matters to children. How non-custodial parents can be better parents when their relationships are healthier. How to help non-custodial parents “Build Brighter Futures” through relationship education. Presenters: Kay Reed, Executive Director, The Dibble Institute and Vera Ashley-Potter, Supervising Child Support Officer, Los Angeles County Child Support Services Department Resources: Child Support Logic Model Executive Summary
Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood grant applications are forecast to be released in January! Learn from three successful current grantees about how they implement Healthy Relationship Education in their programs. Each uses a Dibble curriculum that meets the unique needs of their target audience. They will share models, stories of impact, and outcomes. Presenters: Deborah Gunn, First Things First, Chattanooga, TN John Lewis, FuturoNow, Southern CA Erin Stone, Relationship Skills Center, Sacramento, CA Resources: January 2015 Webinar PPT
Teen parenting, poor refusal skills, early sexual involvement, and family complexity characterize the experiences of many youthful offenders. When teens and young adults are incarcerated, they often return to society still lacking healthy relationship skills necessary for successful family reunification and job retention. Relationship Smarts Plus and Love Notes curricula are about the building of the developmental assets missing in this population. Attendees will hear how a youth detention program is tackling this issue and a re-entry program experienced successful outcomes by addressing relationship skills first and job skills second. Presenters: Marcia White, IMPACT Community Action, Columbus, OH; Re-Entry Program, Relationship Education/Workforce Readiness and Laura Waggle, Perry County Detention Center, OH; Relationship Education in Juvenile Corrections; sponsored thru Forever Dads and the Ohio Office of Jobs and Families Resources: August 2014 Webinar PPT
Social Science research has taught us a great deal about how healthy and stable couple relationships matter to children. High rates of unplanned childbearing among teens and young adults are generating more gender, racial and income inequality plus producing profoundly unequal outcomes for children. Webinar attendees will examine: the impact of the parental relationship on children, the benefits a healthy parental union brings to a child and how educators can guide parents to create and sustain a healthy, parental relationship in today’s culture. Presenter: Dixie Zittlow, Director of Outreach, The Dibble Institute Resources: April 2014 Webinar PPT
Romantic relationships – we often think of them as purely private – yet they also impact our society at large. Join Kay Reed as she covers current trends and resulting outcomes in family formation, child bearing, cohabitation, marriage, and family connections with special attention to how you can make a difference. Guest Presenter: Kay Reed, Executive Director of The Dibble Institute Resources: Click Here