Be a Mentor Couple...
for couples who want to stay together to raise their baby.

Go to:

• Characteristics of Mentor Couples
• Expectations of Mentor Couples
• Benefits of Being a Mentor Couple
• Some Ground Rules for the Mentor/Mentee Relationship
• Did you know? What Research Shows

Characteristics of Mentor Couples

• A stable, healthy marriage.
• Open, easy to relate to.
• A positive attitude.
• Willing to talk about your own marital journey—being vulnerable and transparent.
• Embedded in larger community of support.
• Want to enrich your own marriage.
• Healthy, energetic and having good balance in life.
• No addictions.
• Want to give back to the community.
• Interested in social change

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Expectations of Mentor Couples:

• Two year commitment to the project
• Get trained to mentor one young couple.
• Meet monthly with your couple.
• Have weekly phone or other contact.
• Participate in occasional group events.
• Work with the Family Formation Project Team.
• Establish healthy boundaries for the mentoring relationship—such as when and where to meet and how available to be.
• Help recruit the next generation of mentor couples.
• Stay flexible as we build this project along the journey!

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Benefits of Being a Mentor Couple:

• Grow your own marriage by helping others grow theirs.
• Join a dynamic community of married couples.
• Feel you are helping to revive marriage in distressed communities.

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Some Ground Rules for the Mentor/Mentee Relationship

• Mentee couples agree to not disclose anything to their mentors that they haven't already told each other. (Dangerous sitations are the exception.)
• Mentor couples agree to tell the Family Formation Coordinator anytime the mentors are aware of serious trouble between the mentee couple partners.
• Mentor couples agree to make confidentiality rules clear by stating "What is said here stays here, what is learned here leaves here."
• Mentor couples agree to walk beside their mentee couple rather than functioning only as advice givers.

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Did you know? What research shows:

• Most unmarried couples having a child together love each other and hope to get married. (1)
• Children in married, two parent families tend to have better academic outcomes than children from other family structures. (2)
• Children living with their married, biological parents are less likely to experience child abuse and poverty. (3,4,5)
• Married partners tend to have better overall health and psychological well-being than those that are single or cohabitate, respectively. (6,7,8)
• Married men report higher wages than single men and have been found to be more productive and more likely to be promoted. (9)
• Married women have substantially more economic resources than single women. This leads to better mental and physical well-being. (10)

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1. McLanahan, S., et al. (2003). The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study: Baseline National Report. (clicking on this link will open a new window)
2. Jeynes, W.H. (2000). The effects of several of the most common family structures on the academic achievement of eight graders. Marriage and Family Review, 30(1/2), 73-97.
3. Daly, M. & Wilson, M. (1985). Child abuse and other risks of not living with both parents. Ethology and Sociobiology, 6, 197-210.
4. Margolin, L. (1992). Child abuse by mothers¿ boyfriends: why the overrepresentation? Child Abuse and Neglect, 16, 541-551.
5. Rank, M.R. & Hirschl, T.A. (1999). The economic risk of childhood in America: estimating the probability of poverty across the formative years. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61(4), 1058.
6. Ross, C.E., Mirowsky, J., & Goldsteen, K. (1990). The impact of the family on health: a decade in review. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52, 1059-1078.
7. Lamb, K.E., Lee, G.R., & DeMaris, A. (2003). Union formation and depression: Selection and relationship effects. Journal of Marriage and Family, 65, 953-962.
8. Kim, H.K. & McKenry, P.C. (2002). The relationship between marriage and psychological well-being: a longitudinal analysis. Journal of Family Issues, 23, 885-911
9. Korenman, S. & Neumark, D. (2001). Does marriage really make men more productive? The Journal of Human Resources, 26, 282-307.
10. Hahn, B.A. (1993). Martial status and women's health: The effect of economic marital acquisitions. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 55, 495-504.

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