BLACK HUSBANDS ECONOMIC-PROBLEMS AND RESILIENCY DURING THE TRANSITION TO MARRIAGE

The author describes the results of a qualitative analysis of the premarital economic problems of black husbands as reported retrospectively by 64 newlywed urban black couples. After the husbands' job and financial problems were examined, couple resiliency, or the ways in which couples were able to resist and adapt to husbands' economic problems during the premarriage phase, was investigated. Couples demonstrate resiliency by delaying marriage, saving money to meet their marriage goals, growing closer and developing a sense of their interdependence, and seeking as well as receiving familial assistance. An ecological perspective is used to consider practice and policy implications.