User's Guide

There are three main components to this website: The Marriage Calculator, Prepared Tables, and The Database of State Policies Affecting Marriage. This User's Guide explains how to use each component of the website. Before using any of the components, please review the detailed description of the Methodology and Assumptions underlying the calculations. If you have questions about any of the components, please Contact Us.

Clicking on The Marriage Calculator link sends the user to a page that allows the user to select specific demographic and economic characteristics for input to the Calculator. The Calculator can then determine the total monthly income-including taxes and transfers-for people with those characteristics, by living arrangement.

The user is asked to supply information about both the individual family members and the family as a whole. The user inputs the following for:

• Hours worked per week (up to 60 hours per week)
• Hourly wage (up to $20 per hour)
• Value of financial assets (not including a vehicle)
• Value of a vehicle (assuming she owns no more than one car and owns it in full)

• Hours worked per week (up to 60 hours per week)
• Hourly wage (up to $20 per hour)
• Value of financial assets (not including a vehicle)
• Value of a vehicle (assuming he owns no more than one car and owns it in full)
• Whether the man is the father of all the children or none of the children

• The ages and genders of the woman's children (up to 5 children, with no child older than age 17)
• The child support income paid on behalf of the children
• The total (pre-subsidy) cost of child care used by the family

• Which state or states for which to show information
• For each assistance program, whether the individuals receive benefits from that program when they are eligible
• In some circumstances, the user is also asked to enter additional information to correctly calculate TANF benefits. If TANF is selected and the user indicates that the man or woman has earnings, the Calculator asks the user to give the number of months (up to 23) that the family has combined work and TANF. If TANF is selected and the user indicates that the man is not the father of the children, the Calculator allows the user to decide if the man would choose to be included in the TANF unit in a state that provides such an option to stepparents and/or non-parent cohabiters.

A help button is located next to each of the above variables. Clicking on the 'Help' buttons provides the user with descriptions of the variables, value ranges, and notes of interest. In some cases, pop-up boxes will appear letting the user know that the information that was entered into a particular variable is not permissible. See the help functions for more details about permissible values and potential issues that could arise from particular entries.

After entering the characteristics of the family, if the user decides that he or she would like to start over and change all of the values on the input page, he or she may change each individual entry or may clear all of the variables by clicking the 'Clear Form' button at the bottom of the page and enter values into empty cells.

When the user is satisfied with the information entered, he or she should click the 'Show Results' button to submit the information to the calculator and produce the output.

The interface displays two types of output: (1) net monthly income for the couple in four possible living arrangements for all 50 states plus the District of Columbia and (2) detailed information on the composition of the couple's income in four possible living arrangements for a specific state. The user chooses which table to display first in the input form; however, the user can easily move from one state to the next or from the 50-state display to the state detail within the output pages. If the user is examining a specific state, he/she can use the drop-down box at the top of the page to choose a different state (or the 50-state display) and click the 'Go' button. The data for that state or states will appear. From the 50-state display, the user can click on the name of a state to move to the detailed state-specific display.

The output for the all-states table displays for each state the total monthly income for the woman when she lives apart from the man, the man when he lives apart from the woman, the total live apart income, the woman and man when they cohabit and report the arrangement for all government programs, the woman and man when they cohabit and do not report the arrangement for all government programs, and the woman and man when they marry. The last six columns of the table also display the relative difference in income for the couple when they marry versus live apart, when they marry versus cohabit and report to government programs, marry versus cohabit and do not report to government programs, and when they live apart versus cohabit and report to government programs, when they live apart versus cohabit and do not report to government programs, and when they cohabit and do not report to government versus cohabit and report to government programs.

Like the all-state tables, the output for the state-level detail table displays the monthly income by source for the woman when she lives apart from the man, the man when he lives apart from the woman, the total live apart income, the woman and man when they cohabit and report the arrangement for all government programs, the woman and man when they cohabit and do not report the arrangement for all government programs, and the woman and man when they marry. The last six columns of the table also display the relative difference in income for the couple when they marry versus live apart, when they marry versus cohabit and report to government programs, when they live apart versus cohabit and do not report to government programs, and when they cohabit and do not report to government versus cohabit and report to government programs, and when they live apart versus cohabit. The state-level output also includes bar graphs at the bottom of the table, which provide a picture of the relative difference in income by source when the couple marry versus live apart and when they marry versus cohabit and report to government programs.

All of the tables are printable and downloadable into excel. The user may simply print the screen to get a printed copy of the table or he or she may download the data into an excel workbook by clicking on the link to the right of the detail level of the simulation.

The inputs the user chose for creating a table are displayed in a box at the bottom of each table. These inputs will print with the table and are also downloaded with each table.

Users who want to return to the input page and change some of the values for the family should click on the 'Back to Calculator' link at the bottom of the display page. This link returns the user to the output page, which still contains the last values entered.

Clicking on the Prepared Tables link sends the user to a table of contents listing the names of 52 prepared tables (13 national level tables and 3 state-level detailed tables for each of the 13 scenarios) created by The Marriage Calculator. The table titles describe the characteristics of each family. The user should choose the table that most closely corresponds to the example they seek. Each table is printable and downloadable into excel. Links appear to the right of the detail level of the simulation. The user may download all of the tables at once by clicking on the 'All Tables as PDF' or 'All Tables into Excel' links.

The Database of State Policies Affecting Marriage link provides information on those policies in the tax and transfer programs that vary by state and that explicitly relate to marriage or cohabitation. The Database supplements the data produced by the Marriage Calculator, allowing users to assess the reasons for the state variation in income due to marriage and cohabitation for a particular family.

State policies are organized by program, then by type of policy or "category", and then by variable. The user may view only one program at a time, but may view all of the variables for each of the programs at once. All of the program, category, and variable names are linked to their descriptions and definitions. A full description of each program, category, and variable included in the database is also available for viewing or printing by clicking on 'click here' on the introduction page.

To use the Database, the user should first decide for which program he or she would like information. The user can obtain a description of each program by clicking on the name of the program. In addition to seeing a short description of the program, the user will also see a list of states, the list of categories included in the Database for this program, and the variables included under each category. Click on the name of the category and/or variable for a definition. A description will appear in a separate window. For the variables, the potential values will also appear. A more detailed description of the program can be obtained by clicking on the program name on the program page.

When the user has determined which variables he or she would like to view, he or she should check the box next to the variables of interest. If the user would like to view all of the variables for a particular program, he or she can check the 'All [Program] Variables' box at the beginning of the 'Choose a Variable(s)' section.

After the user has decided which variables to include, he or she must also choose the states to view. The user may request data for one state, a group of states, or all states. Under the 'Choose a State(s)' section, to select a block of consecutive states, click on the first state, hold down the [Shift] key, and click on the last. Alternatively, click the first state hold down the mouse button and drag the mouse to the last state. To select multiple states that are not in a block, hold down the [Ctrl] key and click on each state. To select all states, click the 'All States' box above the 'States' window. Note that the [Shift] and [Cntrl] keys may be different if you are not using Internet Explorer under windows, if so consult the documentation on your browser.

When the user is satisfied with the selections, he or she should click the 'Show Results' button to submit the information to the database and produce the output. The values for each variable chosen will appear by state. All of the output is printable and downloadable into excel. To print, the user should click on the 'Printer friendly' link and a window will appear containing the output. The user should chose 'File' and 'Print' from his or her toolbar. The user may download the data into an excel workbook by clicking on the 'excel' link at the top of the page. Both the printer friendly version of the table and the downloaded table include the definitions for each of the variables in the table. The definitions appear at the end of the table. Note that the variable names are links, so the user may click on the name of the variable for a definition, while working online.

Users who want to add or delete some of the variables and produce a new table should click the 'Back to program' link at the top of the display page. This link returns the user to the program page. To return to the database to choose a new program, click the 'Back to Database' link at the top of the program page.

Users who have specific questions not addressed in the documentation provided or find potential errors in data and calculations should contact us using the Contact Us link. This link will enable the user to send us an e-mail describing their issue. The user should enter his or her name, e-mail address, subject of the inquiry, and details about the inquiry. Click 'Submit' and the e-mail will be sent to our staff. We will respond as soon as possible.