AN EVALUATION OF THREE THEORIES REGARDING THE GROWTH OF BLACK FEMALE-HEADED FAMILIES

Abstract

The rapid growth in the number of black female-headed familles during the past two decades has been widely noted in the popular press as well as in the research literature, but there has been no consensus on the cause or causes of this phenomenon. Three prominent hypotheses that attempt to explain the rapid growth and high level of female-headed families among blacks are identified and tested in this study. The first hypothesis suggests that welfare transfer payments available to female-headed families entice women to have children out of wedlock or encourage men to leave their families in order to make the families eligible for welfare thus increasing the number of female-headed families. The second hypothesis holds that the increase in black female-headed households is due to the relative scarcity of Marriageable black males, a fact which encourages black women to have children and maintain a family without the presence of a man The third potential explanation suggests that shifts in values and attitudes about marriage and childbearing in the black community have led to increased acceptance of out-of-wedlock childbearing and growth in black female-headed families. Collectively, these factors explain 41% of the variation in the growth of black female-headed families between 1970 and 1980. The decline in labor force status of black mules is the strongest single predictor, with the 1970 level of black female headship (used here as a measure of the cultural environment) being the second most powerful predictor. However, the 1970 level of black female headed did not operate in the expected manner. The level of public assistance is only marginally significant and the sex ratio of persons age 16 to 39 is statistically insignificant.