Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-tj2md Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T12:21:20.569Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

RACIAL DIFFERENCES IN THE EFFECT OF MARRIAGEABLE MALES ON FEMALE FAMILY HEADSHIP

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2018

Terry-Ann Craigie ,
Samuel L. Myers JR.  and
William A. Darity JR.
Terry-Ann Craigie*
Affiliation:
Connecticut College
Samuel L. Myers JR.
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota
William A. Darity JR.
Affiliation:
Duke University
*
Address correspondence to: Terry-Ann Craigie, Department of Economics, Connecticut College, 270 Mohegan Avenue, New London, CT 06320, USA; e-mail: tcraigie@conncoll.edu.
Get access

Abstract:

Female family headship has strong implications for endemic poverty in the United States. Consequently, it is imperative to explore the chief factors that contribute to this problem. Departing from prior literature that places significant weight on welfare-incentive effects, our study highlights the role of male marriageability in explaining the prevalence of never-married female family headship for blacks and whites. Specifically, we examine racial differences in the effect of male marriageability on never-married female headship from 1980 to 2010. By exploiting data from IPUMS-USA (N = 4,958,722) and exogenous variation from state-level sentencing reforms, the study finds that the decline in the relative supply of marriageable males significantly increases the incidence of never-married female family headship for blacks but not for whites.

Keywords

Marriageable MalesFemale Family HeadshipSex RatioRaceInequalityJ11J12J15
Type
Research Papers
Information
Journal of Demographic Economics , Volume 84 , Issue 3 , September 2018 , pp. 231 - 256
Copyright
Copyright © Université catholique de Louvain 2018 

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.)

References

REFERENCES

Angrist, Josh (2002) How do sex ratios affect marriage and labor markets? Evidence from America's second generation. The Quarterly Journal of Economics 117 (3), 997–1038.Google Scholar
Becker, Gary S. (1973) A theory of marriage: Part I. Journal of Political Economy 81 (4), 813–846.Google Scholar
Becker, Gary S. (1974) A theory of social interactions. Journal of Political Economy 82 (6), 1063–1093.Google Scholar
Becker, Gary S. (1981) A Treatise on the Family. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Blank, Rebecca (2002) Evaluation welfare reform in the United States. Journal of Economic Literature 40 (4), 1105–1166.Google Scholar
Blau, Francine D., Kahn, Lawrence M. and Waldfogel, Jane (2004) The impact of welfare benefits on single motherhood and headship of young women. Journal of Human Resources 39 (2), 382–404.Google Scholar
Brien, Michael J. (1997) Racial differences in marriage and the role of marriage markets. The Journal of Human Resources 32 (4), 741–778.Google Scholar
Charles, Kerwin Kofi and Luoh, Ming Ching (2010) Male incarceration, the marriage market, and female outcomes. The Review of Economics and Statistics 92 (3), 614–627.Google Scholar
Cox, Oliver C. (1940) Sex ratio and marital status among Negroes. American Sociological Review 5 (6), 937–947.Google Scholar
Cready, Cynthia M., Fossett, Mark A. and Kiecolt, K. Jill (1997) Mate availability and African American family structure in the U.S. nonmetropolitan south, 1960–1990. Journal of Marriage and Family, 59 (1), 192–203.Google Scholar
Darity, William (2011) Revisiting the debate on race and culture: The new (incorrect) Harvard/ Washington consensus on racial inequality. Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race 8 (2), 1–9.Google Scholar
Darity, William A., Myers, Samuel L. and Chung, Chanjin (1998) Racial earnings disparities and family structure. Southern Economic Journal 65 (1), 20–41.Google Scholar
Darity, William and Myers, Samuel L. (1983) Changes in black family structure: Implications for welfare dependency. American Economic Review 73 (2), 59–64.Google Scholar
Darity, William and Myers, Samuel L. (1984) Does welfare dependency cause female headship? The case of the black family. Journal of Marriage and Family 46 (4), 765–779.Google Scholar
Darity, William and Myers, Samuel L. (1995) Family structure and the marginalization of black men: Policy implications. In Tucker, Belinda M. and Mitchell-Kernan, Claudia (eds.), The Decline in Marriage Among African Americans, pp. 263–308. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Fitzgerald, John M. and Ribar, David C. (2004) Welfare reform and female headship. Demography, 41 (2), 189–212.Google Scholar
Fossett, Mark A. and Kiecolt, K. Jill (1991) A methodological review of the sex ratio: Alternatives for comparative research. Journal of Marriage and Family 53 (4), 941–957.Google Scholar
Garfinkel, Irwin, Chien-Chung, Huang, McLanahan, Sara S., and Gaylin, Daniel S. (2003) The roles of child support enforcement and welfare in non-marital childbearing. Journal of Population Economics 16 (1), 55–70.Google Scholar
Gates, Gary J. (2006) Same-sex couples and gay, lesbian, and bisexual population: New estimates from the American Community Survey. The Williams Institute. http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Gates-Same-Sex-Couples-GLB-Pop-ACS-Oct-2006.pdf.Google Scholar
Gould, Elise (2012) Two in five female-headed families with children live in poverty. Economic Policy Institute. http://www.epi.org/publication/female-headed-families-children-poverty/.Google Scholar
Guttentag, Marcia and Secord, Paul F. (1983) Too Many Women? The Sex Ratio Question. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Harknett, Kristen (2008) Male availability and unmarried parent relationships. Demography 45 (3), 555–571.Google Scholar
Harknett, Kristen and McLanahan, Sara S. (2004) Racial and ethnic difference in marriage after the birth of a child. American Sociological Review 69 (6), 790–811.Google Scholar
Harmon, Mark G. (2011) The imprisonment race: Unintended consequence of “fixed” sentencing on people of color over time. Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice 9 (2), 79–109.Google Scholar
Harmon, Mark G. (2015) Opening the door for more: Assessing the impact of sentencing reform on commitments to prison over time. American Journal of Criminal Justice 41 (2), 296–320.Google Scholar
Hoffman, Saul D. and Foster, E. Michael (2000) AFDC benefits and nonmarital births to young women. The Journal of Human Resources, 35 (2), 376–391.Google Scholar
Hoynes, Hilary (1997) Does welfare play any role in female headship decisions? Journal of Public Economics, 65 (2), 89–117.Google Scholar
Jackson, Jacquelyne J. (1972) Where are the black men? Ebony 27 (March), 99–106.Google Scholar
Kiecolt, K. Jill and Fossett, Mark A. (1995) Mate availability and marriage among African Americans: Aggregate and individual-level analyses. In Tucker, Belinda M. and Mitchell-Kernan, Claudia (eds.), The Decline in Marriage Among African Americans, pp. 121–135. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Koball, Heather (1998) Have African American men become less committed to marriage? Explaining the twentieth century racial cross-over in men's marriage timing. Demography 35 (2), 251–258.Google Scholar
Lichter, Daniel T., McLaughlin, Diane K. and Ribar, David C. (1997) Welfare and the rise in female-headed families. American Journal of Sociology 103 (1), 112–143.Google Scholar
Lichter, Daniel T., Mclaughlin, Diane K., Kephart, George, and Landry, David J. (1992) Race and the retreat from marriage: A shortage of marriageable men? American Sociological Review 57 (6), 781–799.Google Scholar
Lichter, Daniel T., LeClere, Felicia B. and McLaughlin, Diane K. (1991) Local marriage markets and the marital behavior of black and white women. American Journal of Sociology 96 (4), 843–867.Google Scholar
Lloyd, Kim M. and South, Scott J. (1996). Contextual influences on young men's transition to first marriage. Social Forces 74 (3), 1097–1119.Google Scholar
Mare, Robert D. and Winship, Christopher (1991) Socio-economic change and the decline in marriage for blacks and whites. In Jencks, Christopher and Peterson, Paul E. (eds.), The Urban Underclass, pp. 175–202. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.Google Scholar
Marvell, Thomas B. (1995) Sentencing guidelines and prison population-growth. Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology 85 (3), 696–709.Google Scholar
McLanahan, Sara S. and Booth, Karen (1989) Mother-only families: Problems, prospects, and politics. Journal of Marriage and the Family 51 (3), 557–580.Google Scholar
Mechoulan, Stéphane (2011) The external effects of black male incarceration on black females. Journal of Labor Economics 29 (1), 1–35.Google Scholar
Moffitt, Robert (1992) Incentive effects of the US welfare system: A review. Journal of Economic Literature 30 (1), 1–61.Google Scholar
Moffitt, Robert (1994) Welfare effects on female headship with area effects. Journal of Human Resources 29 (2), 621–636.Google Scholar
Moynihan, Daniel P. (1967) The Moynihan report-the Negro family: The case for national action. In Rainwater, Lee and Yancey, William L. (eds.), The Moynihan Report and the Politics of Controversy, pp. 39–124. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Murray, Charles (1984) Losing Ground: American Social Policy, 1950–1980. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
National Prisoner Statistics, 1978–2013 (ICPSR 35608). United States Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. Bureau of Justice Statistics. National Prisoner Statistics, 1978--2013. ICPSR35608-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2015-01-09. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR35608.v1Google Scholar
Neal, Derek (2004) The relationship between marriage market prospects and never-married motherhood. The Journal of Human Resources 39 (4), 938–957.Google Scholar
Pettit, Becky and Western, Bruce (2004) Mass imprisonment and the life course: Race and class inequality in US incarceration. American Sociological Review 69 (2), 151–169.Google Scholar
Raley, R. Kelly (1996) A shortage of marriageable men? A note on the role of cohabitation in black-white differences in marriage rate. American Sociological Review, 61 (6), 973–983.Google Scholar
Raphael, Steven and Stoll, Michael (2013) Why are So Many Americans in Prison? New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Rosenzweig, Mark R. (1999) Welfare, marital prospects, and nonmarital childbearing. Journal of Political Economy 107 (S6), S3–S32.Google Scholar
RugglesSteven, J. Steven, J., Alexander, Trent, Genadek, Katie, Goeken, Ronald, Schroeder, Matthew B., and Sobek, Matthew (2010) Integrated Public Use Microdata Series: Version 5.0 [Machine-Readable Database]. Minneapolis, MN: Minnesota Population Center [ producer and distributor].Google Scholar
Schneider, Daniel (2011) Wealth and marital divide. American Journal of Sociology 117 (2), 627–667.Google Scholar
South, Scott J. (1996) Mate availability and the transition to unwed motherhood: A paradox of population structure. Journal of Marriage and Family 29 (2), 265–279.Google Scholar
South, Scott J. and Lloyd, Kim M. (1992) Marriage opportunities and family formation: Further implications of imbalanced sex ratios. Journal of Marriage and the Family 54 (2), 440–451.Google Scholar
Steffensmeier, Darrell and Demuth, Stephen (2006) Does gender modify the effect of race-ethnicity on crime sanctioning? Sentencing for male and female white, black, and Hispanic defendants. Journal of Quantitative Criminology 22 (3), 241–261.Google Scholar
Stemen, Don, Rengifo, Andes and Wilson, James (2006) Of Fragmentation and Ferment: The Impact of State Sentencing Policies on Incarceration Rates, 1975–2002. Washington DC: National Institute of Justice.Google Scholar
Sweeney, Megan M. and Cancian, Maria (2004) The changing importance of white women's economic prospects for assortative mating. Journal of Marriage and Family 66 (4), 1015–1028.Google Scholar
Taylor, Paul, Passel, Jeffrey S., Wang, Wendy, Kiley, Jocelyn, Velasco, Gabriel, and Dockterman, Daniel (2010) Marrying out. Pew Social Trends. http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/files/2010/10/755-marrying-out.pdf.Google Scholar
Teitler, Julien O., Reichman, Nancy E., Nepomnyaschy, Lenna, and Garfinkel, Irwin (2009) Effects of welfare participation on marriage. Journal of Marriage and Family 71 (4), 878–891.Google Scholar
Testa, Mark and Krogh, Marilyn (1995) The effect of employment on marriage among black males in inner-city Chicago. In Tucker, M. Belinda & Mitchell-Kernan, Claudia (eds.), The Decline in Marriage Among African Americans: Causes, Consequences, and Policy Implications, pp. 121–135. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Tonry, Michael (1995) Malign Neglect: Race, Crime and Punishment in America. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Current Population Survey (2015). Annual Social and Economic Supplements. https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2015/demo/p60-252.pdfGoogle Scholar
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Current Population Survey (2015). Annual Social and Economic Supplements, Historical Poverty Tables. https://census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/historical-poverty-people.htmlGoogle Scholar
U.S. Census Bureau (2000) America's Families and Living Arrangements. https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/families/children.htmlGoogle Scholar
Watson, Tara and McLanahan, Sara S. (2010) Marriage meets the Joneses: Relative income, identity, and marital status. The Journal of Human Resources 46 (3), 462–517.Google Scholar
Western, Bruce (2006) Punishment and Inequality in America. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Western, Bruce and Wildeman, Christopher (2009) The black family and mass incarceration. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 621 (1), 221–242.Google Scholar
Willis, Robert J. (1999) A theory of out-of-wedlock childbearing. Journal of Political Economy 107 (6), S33–S64.Google Scholar
Wilson, William J. (1987) The Truly Disadvantaged. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Wilson, William J. and Neckerman, Kathryn (1986) Poverty and family structure: The widening gap between evidence and public policy issues. In Danziger, Sheldon & Wienberg, Daniel (eds.), Fighting Poverty: What Works and What Doesn't, pp. 232–259. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Wood, Robert G. (1995) Marriage rates and marriageable men: A test of the Wilson hypothesis. The Journal of Human Resources 30 (1), 163–193.Google Scholar