Title: Why Has Marriage Declined among Black Americans? | Scholars Strategy Network
Headings: Why Has Marriage Declined among Black Americans?
Why Has Marriage Declined among Black Americans?
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Dawne Mouzon

Content: And where there were significant differences, blacks actually valued marriage more than whites. Social and Economic Barriers to Marriage
Ever since Moynihan presented his argument, other scholars have accumulated considerable evidence that social and economic impediments to marriage matter more than value orientations. Aspirations are not the issue, in this view, so much as a dearth of what William Julius Wilson calls “marriageable” black men. In part, the men are just not there in many black communities. Mortality rates are high for black men, and black men are also very often imprisoned. In 2010, 4,347 out of every 100,000 black men were in prison, a rate that was six times higher than the imprisonment rate for white men. Even more important, the characteristics and life situations of many black men fall well short of women’s preferences. In 2010, the Pew Research Center asked respondents to rate the importance of various factors when choosing a mate, and found that black women have high aspirations. Asked how important it is that a “good husband or partner provide a good income,” two thirds of black women said it is very important, compared to 32% of white women. Roughly 55% of black women said it was very important for a husband or partner to be well-educated, compared to only 28% of white women.