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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
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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

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