Title: 
Headings: The origin of black female-headed families
The
 
origin
 
of
 
black
 
female-headed
 
families
 

Introduction
 

Background
 

What
 
the
 
historical
 
data
 
show
 


blacks

Marital
 
Status
 
of
 
the
 
Population
 
Aged
  
15
 
Years
 
and
 
Over,
 
1890-1920
 

Interpreting
 
the
 
data
 

Female-Headed
 
Families.
  
1930-1980
 

Explaining
 
recent
 
family-formation
 
problems
 
among
 
black
 
Americans
 

Conclusion
 

9See
 
Dash,
 
When
 
Children
 
Want
 
Children.
 


Content: Furthermore
 
it
 
is
 
dra-
 
matically
 
clear
  
that
  
black
 
females
 
married
 
at
 
higher
  
rates
 
than
 
white
 
females
 
of
 
native
 
parentage
  
until
  
1950. Moreover,
 
national
 
data
 
covering
 
decennial
 
years
 
from
 
1890
 
to
 
1920
 
show
 
that
 
blacks
 
out-married
 
whites
 
despite
 
a
 
consis-
 
tent
 
shortage
 
of
 
black
  
males
 
due
 
to
  
their
  
higher
 
rates
 
of
 
mortality. And
 
in
 
three
 
of
 
the
 
four
 
decennial
 
years
 
there
 
was
 
a
  
higher
  
proportion
 
of
 
currently
  
married
  
black
 
men
 
than
 
white
 
men
 
(Table
 
I). Even
 
in
 
those
 
years,
 
the
 
rate
 
of
 
female-
 
headed
  
families
 
was
 
higher
  
among
  
blacks
  
than
  
among
 
whites,
 
but
 
the
  
cause
 
was
 
high
  
rates
 
of
 
widowhood,
 
not
 
lower
 
rates
 
of
 
marriage. Figure
 
1. Comparison
 
of
 
Marriage
 
Patterns
 
of
 
Blacks
 
and
 
Whites,
 
1890-1980. Source: Data
 
from
 
decennial
 
censuses. Table
 
1
 

blacks
I
I
 
whites
Marital
 
Status
 
of
 
the
 
Population
 
Aged
  
15
 
Years
 
and
 
Over,
 
1890-1920
 
Blacks
 
1890
 
 
1900
  
Single
 
Male
 
Female
 
Married
 
Male
 
Female
 
Widowed
 
Male
 
Female
 
Sex
 
ratio
 
99.5
 
 
98.6
 
%
 
urban
 
          
-
 
1910
 
 
1920
 
98.9
  
 
99.2
  
Whites-Native
  
1890
  
 
1900
 
105.4
 
104.9
 
Parentage
 
1910
  
          
1920
 
106.6
 
104.4
 
23
 
.O
 
          
27.0
  
          
34.0
 
          
-
 
          
42.0
  
          
48.0
 
          
53.0
 
Source: Data
 
from
 
the
 
decennial
 
censuses.