MATE AVAILABILITY AND FAMILY-STRUCTURE AMONG AFRICAN-AMERICANS IN UNITED-STATES METROPOLITAN-AREAS

Census and vital statistics data for U.S. metropolitan areas in 1980 were analyzed to investigate the effects of mate availability, men's and women's levels of socioeconomic status and employment, level of public assistance, population size, and region on several aspects of family formation and family structure among African Americans. As predicted by theory, mate availability as measured by the sex ratio had a positive effect on marriage prevalence for women and a negative effect on marriage prevalence for men, and the effect on women's marriage prevalence was stronger in absolute magnitude. Mate availability also had strong positive effects on the prevalence of husband-wife families and the percentage of marital births. Men's socioeconomic status had positive effects on men's and women's marriage prevalence, the prevalence of husband-wife families, the percentage of children residing in husband-wife families, and the percentage of marital births. Women's socioeconomic status and level of public assistance had negative effects on these variables. We conclude that mate availability, men's socioeconomic status, and women's status and economic independence are important determinants of African American family formation and family structure.