Work

Racial Differences in the Effect of Marriageable Males on Female Family Headship

Year: 2018

Type: article

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.

Source: Journal of Demographic Economics

DOI: 10.1017/dem.2018.3

Authors: Terry-Ann Craigie, Samuel L. Myers, William A. Darity

Institutions: Connecticut College, University of Minnesota, Duke University

Language: English

Topic: Family Dynamics and Relationships

Subfield: Demography

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, Gender equality, No poverty

Open Access status: green

Funder: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development