Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-02T22:15:18.734Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

6 - Transformations in Family Structure

from Part II - African American Educational Progress and Transformations in Family Structure, 1965–Present

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2023

Patrick L. Mason
Affiliation:
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Get access

Summary

An important change occurred in African American family structure during the era of racialized managerial capitalism: a major increase in the fraction of men and women in the 20s and 30s who were never-married. A fall in marriage-eligible men is a major factor responsible for this change. As per the Darity-Myers index of African American male marginalization, there will be an increase in the fraction of marriage-eligible men (and, therefore, increased marriage) with an increase in their earnings and employment, reducing premature deaths and disability, increasing college enrollment, reducing contact with the criminal legal system and reducing incentives for criminal behavior, and reducing premarital births and dissolution of unions when children are present. This perspective suggests that it is changes in economic well-being that cause changes in family structure, not the reverse. Family functioning is different from family structure. The empirical data suggests that, on average, African American families have strong family functioning.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Economics of Structural Racism
Stratification Economics and US Labor Markets
, pp. 140 - 166
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×