Christine Arunga2025-12-042025-12-042025-12-04https://repo.pacuniversity.ac.ke/handle/123456789/5522Issues related to finances are among the leading causes of marital instability in newlyweds and middle-aged couples globally. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of financial management on the marital stability of newly-weds and middle-aged Kenyan Christian couples in selected churches in Embakasi East Sub-County, Nairobi City County, Kenya. Specifically, it sought to answer the questions of how spending money, investment, and debt influence marital stability and in what ways Financial literacy moderates that relationship. Bowen Theory and the couple and finance theory anchored the study. A correlational research design was employed. Purposive sampling method was chosen to select a sample size of 384 people comprising of 92 newly-weds and 292 middle-aged married members of four selected churches in Embakasi East Sub-County Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using correlation and regression techniques in SPSS Version 27. Descriptive analysis showed that a small majority a small majority is a number which is statistically significant even though in the normal sense as shown on the paper it could be small) of respondents (54.8%) enjoyed high marital stability, while 45.2% fell into the low marital stability category, implying that nearly one in every two marriages were unstable. Correlation analysis revealed that marital stability was significantly correlated to couple spending behaviors (r = 0.149, p < 0.05) and debt management behaviors (r = 0.175, p < 0.05) but not financial investment (r = -0.050, p >0.05). Further, a positive and statistically significant relationship between financial literacy and marital stability (r = 0.128, p< 0.05) was established. However, there was no significant moderating effect of financial literacy on the relationship between financial management and marital stability, R2=.012, F (3,253) =1.03, p>0.05. The study concluded that improvements in spending discipline contributed positively to the marital stability of couples. Effective debt management practices are positively associated with marital stability. While financial knowledge is important, it does not materially alter the impact of financial management practices on marital stability. The study recommended that marriage and family therapists should incorporate financial counseling into their therapeutic practices, emphasizing the importance of joint financial planning, communication around spending, and effective debt management. The clergy should consider offering financial education as part of marriage enrichment programs. A future study should examine the relative explanatory power of financial management of marital stability in light of the broader gamut of factors underpinning marital stability among newly-weds and middle-aged couples.enThesis