Although disadvantaged women are the targets of marriage programs, little attention has been paid to women's marriage constraints and their views of marriage. Drawing on an exchange framework and using qualitative data collected from single women participating in a marriage initiative, we introduce the concept of marriageable women—the notion that certain limitations may make women poor marriage partners. Like their male counterparts, we find women also possess qualities that are not considered assets in the marriage market, such as economic constraints, mental and physical health issues, substance use, multiple partner fertility, and gender distrust. We also consider how women participating in a marriage program frame their marriage options, whereas a few opt out of the marriage market altogether.

This research identifies patterns related to parents' struggles to meet their children's needs while homeless in a rural area. Using grounded theory and drawing on recordings of semi-structured interviews with 53 homeless parents in Michigan's Upper Peninsula (U.P.) we introduce the concept of survival parenting to describe parents' survival-related efforts, associated stress, and methods of coping with this stress. Survival parenting and the use of coping mechanisms are examined in the broader familial context. Policy and service implications are also presented.

This chapter explores the effects of poverty on education. The chapter is divided into three sections: “Understanding Poverty and Homelessness,” which provides formal definitions and current evidence-based data; “Children's Experience of Poverty”; and “Addressing Poverty-Related Trauma in the Classroom,” an examination of innovative educational programs and resources that seek to mitigate the effects of poverty-related trauma.