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African American Marriage Trends Jasma Mendez

The overall marriage rate of all ethnicities in the United States has declined since the 1950s. As a society we occasionally address this aspect of life by pointing out the consequences and advantages of marriage, and also the problems of marriage. Yet, we rarely address why the marriage rate is declining and family life is deteriorating day by day. Marriage is a very important aspect of life for all people, and can be the solution to many problems in society. Especially, when we relate to the African American community, where the marriage rate is the lowest of all ethnicities in the United States.

In the 1950s, the percentages of White and African American women (age fifteen and over) who were currently married were roughly the same 67 percent and 64 percent. By 1998, the percentage decreased, currently married White women had dropped by 13 percent to 58 percent. But the drop among African American women was 44 percent to 36 percent.¹ Later in 2004 the marriage rate for African American women dropped even more to 30.1 percent and White women have a decline also to 44.9 percent.² These statistics clearly show that the marriage rate is declining significantly in the African American community. Through out history, the concept of marriage has changed in general, yet the status of African Americans in society has had a great influence on this change in relation to their community. Not only did they change in concept, but many other factors stimulated the decline in marriage rate for African Americans.

When we look back on events throughout history, one that’s always reoccurring is the thought of slavery, in relation to African Americans. Slavery had a big effect on the African American community in general. But, the aspect of slavery it did not have as

¹ http://media.hoover.org/documents/0817998721_95.pdf ² http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/marr-div/2004detailed_tables.html

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huge of an impact as some would assume. James Q. Wilson the author of “The Marriage Problem,” basically says that slavery may have been unpleasant, but it did not destroy the African American family structure.³ On plantations, slave owners wanted their slaves to have a family so that they could produce children. The children of slaves were normally raised in a two-parent home. The mother and father would live together and raise the children whether they were formally married or not. The family structure of slaves was very tight, due to the ongoing turmoil they faced in daily life. Therefore, if slavery did have an impact on the family structure of African Americans, it should have been positive and not negative.

On the other hand, there are many factors that have greatly influenced the marriage rate in the African American community. The desire for marriage has a different route for women and men. Black women in their early twenties and thirties come to the time in their life when they are ready to marry and commit. However, at this time in a black man’s life they enjoy playing the field. Black women realize that a good marriage may not be as possible or maintainable as she would like. Her focus then turns to having a child, or improving her job status or possibly returning to school and investing in her career. When it comes to mate selection many African American men are in jail; therefore it is very limited. The black man that are available finally realize that it is time to settle down and is feeling the consequences of bachelor behavior, their female peers have moved on with their lives. The women have realized that “they can do bad all by themselves” and they don’t need a man’s income to survive. More than likely, a black women would have to settle for someone that can bring a greater amount of income into the household, or they are bring to much into the house hold (children from previous ³ James Q. Wilson, The Marriage Problem (New York: HarperCollinsPublishers,2002)112 Mendez

relationships, limited earning power, fallout from using drugs, or poor health care). Many African American women feel that providing is not enough, they need a partnership.⁴

In conclusion, the African American community is the most uncoupled society. This is not a good aspect of the community because it leads to many other issues especially single parenting, and a low status in the social hierarchy. Marriage is a really big aspect in an individual’s life also when it comes to success in a lifetime. But, the community’s actions, mentalities, lifestyles of the genders; results in this decline of their marriage rate. African American women want marriage, yet by the time the man decides he wants to get married the women already has a sense of being independent. If being independent is causing so many issues in society especially when it comes to raising a child we need to rethink what being independent really is because marriage is the better option in life, not only for an individual, but for the African community as a whole.

⁴ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/25/AR2006032500029_2.html