Population: Families

Single-Parent Families

Single-parent families are more likely than two-parent families to live in poverty and have fewer opportunities for economic mobility. Many of the participants in MDRC’s evaluations and demonstrations across policy areas are single parents and their families.

The Latest

Report

Coordinating Services to Support Families

How do Head Start programs coordinate family support services and are their practices aligned with each family’s needs and well-being? This report presents case studies of six programs across the country and explores service coordination from multiple perspectives—Head Start staff members, families, and local community service providers.

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Brief

From Grant-Funded Study to Enduring Practice

The Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt project integrated procedural justice (the idea of fairness in processes) into enforcement at six child support agencies. After the study ended, the agencies could determine how they wished to continue to use procedural justice principles. This brief describes how they did so.

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Key Documents

Report

Paths to Advancement for Single Parents

This report from the national Employment Retention and Advancement Project examines the 27,000 single parents who participated in the studied programs to understand the characteristics of those who successfully advanced in the labor market.

The Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) Project

As the first major effort to use a behavioral economics lens to examine human services programs that serve poor and vulnerable families in the United States, the BIAS project demonstrated the value of applying behavioral insights to improve the efficacy of human services programs.

Head Start Connects Focus Area: Preschool Child Care and Early Education Two-Generation Programs Work Support and Asset Building Population: Children and Schools Families Populations with Barriers to Employment Populations with Low Incomes Intervention: Case Management	New York City’s Lab for Equity and Engagement in School Enrollment (the E3 Lab) Focus Area: Elementary and Middle School Population: Children and Schools Intervention: Behavioral Interventions Locations: New York	Guilford Readiness of Children for School (ROCS) Study Focus Area: Child Care and Early Education Two-Generation Programs Population: Families Children and Schools Populations with Low Incomes Intervention: School Readiness, Case Management, Coordinated Care/Care Management, Home Visiting Locations: North Carolina
Child First Focus Area: Health Two-Generation Programs Population: Families Populations with Low Incomes Intervention: Home Visiting Locations: Connecticut, North Carolina	Understanding Poverty: Childhood and Family Experiences Focus Area: Family Relationships Two-Generation Programs Welfare Reform Population: Populations with Low Incomes Families	Family Rewards 2.0 Focus Area: Financial Incentives Two-Generation Programs High School Elementary and Middle School Population: Populations with Low Incomes Children and Schools Families Intervention: Financial Incentives Locations: New York, Tennessee
The Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation, Long-Term Follow-Up Focus Area: Health Two-Generation Programs Population: Families Populations with Low Incomes Intervention: Home Visiting	Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt Focus Area: Family Relationships Child Support Population: Families Populations with Low Incomes Locations: Arizona, California, Michigan, Ohio, Virginia	The Kansas Child Support Savings Initiative Focus Area: Child Support Two-Generation Programs Population: Families Intervention: Asset Building, Behavioral Interventions Locations: Kansas
Behavioral Interventions for Child Support Services (BICS) Project Focus Area: Child Support Two-Generation Programs Family Relationships Population: Families Populations with Low Incomes Intervention: Behavioral Interventions Locations: California, Colorado, Dist. of Columbia, Georgia, Ohio, Texas, Vermont, Washington	The Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation (MIHOPE)-Strong Start Focus Area: Health Family Relationships Population: Families Populations with Low Incomes Intervention: Home Visiting Locations: California, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin	Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation (MIHOPE) Focus Area: Health Two-Generation Programs Population: Families Populations with Low Incomes Intervention: Home Visiting
Opportunity NYC Demonstrations Focus Area: Financial Incentives Two-Generation Programs High School Elementary and Middle School Population: Populations with Low Incomes Children and Schools Families Intervention: Financial Incentives Locations: New York	Design Options for Home Visiting Evaluation Focus Area: Health Two-Generation Programs Population: Families Populations with Low Incomes Intervention: Home Visiting

Nudges to Increase Customer Engagement (NICE) in Child Support Programs Focus Area: Child Support Two-Generation Programs Family Relationships Population: Families Populations with Low Incomes Intervention: Behavioral Interventions Locations: New York	New Chance Focus Area: Two-Generation Programs Population: Young Adults Intervention: Parenting Skills Programs, Case Management, Counseling/Advising, GED Completion, Job Training, Employment Services Locations: California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania	Evaluation of Child Care Subsidy Strategies Focus Area: Child Care and Early Education Population: Populations with Low Incomes Families Locations: Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Washington
The UK Employment Retention and Advancement Project Focus Area: Job Retention and Advancement Financial Incentives Population: Populations with Low Incomes Families Intervention: Employment Services, Financial Incentives, Job Training, Reemployment Programs, Welfare-to-Work Locations: United Kingdom

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Single-Parent Families

Current Projects

Completed Projects