Marriage and Marital Dissolution Among Black Americans

Abstract

Over the past few decades, the place of marriage in American family life has declined, and the decline has been sharper among Blacks than among Whites. This article describes the trends in marriage and marital dissolution among Black Americans, often making comparisons to White Americans. Blacks are less likely to ever marry, more likely to separate, and less likely to remarry. They are also more likely to bear and rear children outside of marriage. In part, these differences are due to the severity with which changes in the American economy have affected Blacks. In part, they are due to longstanding cultural patterns, such as a greater reliance on extended kin, which Blacks have drawn upon to subsist during worsening economic conditions.