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- The National Marriage Project (NMP) is a nonpartisan, nonsectarian, and interdisciplinary initiative located at the University of Virginia. The Project's mission is to provide research and analysis on the health of marriage in America, to analyze the social and cultural forces shaping contemporary marriage, and to identify strategies to increase marital quality and stability.
Special Reports
Bank on It: Thrifty Couples are the Happiest (2009) (PDF)
The Great Recession's Silver Lining? (2009) (PDF)
"The Evolution of Divorce" (2009) (PDF)
Life Without Children (PDF)
Cohabitation, Marriage and Child Wellbeing (PDF)
Across Races, Couples that Pray Together Are Happier, NMP Study Finds
For more, go to press release: www.virginia.edu/uvatoday/newsRelease.php?id=12551
Life Without Children (PDF)
The Social Retreat from Children and How It Is Changing America
By Barbara Dafoe Whitehead and David Popenoe
Cohabitation, Marriage and Child Wellbeing (PDF)
A Cross-National Perspective By David Popenoe
Making a Love Connection: Teen Relationships, Pregnancy, and Marriage (PDF)
Visit the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy to download a copy of this new report coauthored by Barbara Dafoe Whitehead
Barbara Dafoe Whitehead's testimony before the U.S. Senate (PDF)
- What is marriage for?
- What do we know about the benefits of marriage for children and adults?
- How does marriage benefit society?
Ignoring Teens' Romantic Lives by Marline Pearson (PDF)
The complete text of the speech presented at the June 2003 Smart Marriages Conference
As featured in State of Our Unions Reports:
Did A "Family Turnaround" Begin in the Late 1990's? (PDF)
What Are Your Chances of Divorce? (PDF)
What's Happening to Child-Rearing Families? (PDF)
Divorce in America: 1960-2008 (PDF)
The Great Recession's Silver Lining? (2009) (PDF)
Bank on It: Thrifty Couples are the Happiest (2009) (PDF)
"The Evolution of Divorce" (2009) (PDF)
Life Without Children (PDF)
Cohabitation, Marriage and Child Wellbeing (PDF)
Why Men Won't Commit: Exploring Young Men's Attitudes About Sex, Dating and Marriage. (PDF)
Essay from The State of Our Unions, 2002.
Who Wants to Marry A Soul Mate? (PDF)
Essay from The State of Our Unions, 2001
Sex Without Strings, Relationships Without Rings (PDF)
Essay from The State of Our Unions, 2000
What's Happening to Marriage? (PDF)
Essay from The State of Our Unions, 1999.
On the Future of Marriage (PDF)
David Popenoe. An essay prepared for Threshold;s marriage, family & society online. Summer 2001.
Marriage Decline in America (PDF)
Testimony by David Popenoe before the House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Human Resources, Washington, D.C. May 22, 2001.
Teen Pregnancy: An American Dilemma (PDF)
Testimony by David Popenoe before the House of Representatives, Committee on Small Business, Subcommittee on Empowerment, Washington, D.C. July 16, 1998.