Institute for Family Studies: mission, leadership and finances

What it does

The Institute for Family Studies, or IFS, is a research organization that produces studies and commentary on marriage, parenting, fertility and the effects of family structure on children. It publishes the IFS blog and surveys.

Institute for Family Studies is listed here in the category "Faith and family". A listing on 4conservative.com describes an organization; it is not an endorsement of it or of its positions.

History

It was started in 2009 by W. Bradford Wilcox, a University of Virginia sociologist who has long been a leader of IFS. It has grown into a widely cited source on family trends.

Institute for Family Studies is a faith and family organization. It is headquartered in Charlottesville, VA. Its IRS tax status is 501(c)(3). Like other organizations in this collection, it is described here from its own published material and from public records, and the facts on this page are limited to what those sources state.

Leadership and funding

IFS is funded by donors and files a Form 990, shown here. Its website lists its fellows.

The IRS figures on this page come from the latest Form 990 filing that ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer lists for the organization, for tax year 2023: total revenue of $1.4 million, total expenses of $1.1 million and total assets of $1.4 million at year end. ProPublica lists the filer as The Institute For Family Studies. The figures describe a single tax year and can differ sharply from year to year; check the filing itself and the organization's own site for the current picture.

Where it stands

IFS argues that stable marriage benefits children and communities and favors family-supportive policy.

These summaries reflect the organization's own stated mission and publicly known activities as of the date below; they are neutral descriptions, not evaluations. Related organizations on this site include Ethics and Public Policy Center, The Heritage Foundation, American Compass.