The Origins of African-American Family Structure
THE ORIGINS OF AFRICAN-AMERICANFAMILYSTRUCTURE*
STEVENRUGGLES Universityof Minnesota
I use a new data source, the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, to trace race differences infamily structure between 1880 and 1980. Analysis confirms recentfindings that the high incidence among African-Americans of single parenthood and children residing without their parents is not a recent phenomenon. From 1880 through 1960, black children were two to three times more likely to reside without one or both parents than were white children. In recent years, however, the race differential in parental absence has grown. Also, blacks have had a consistently higher percentage of extended households than have whites, but until 1940 this was the result of single parenthood and parentlessness among children: Extended households were more common among whites once the effects of absent parents were controlled.
T wo distinctivefeaturesof African-Ameri- egories. Many theorists have argued that
can family structure are well known: Moynihangot it backwards:Thedisadvantaged
Blacks are far more likely than whites to be- position of blacks is not the consequence of
come single parentsand to reside in extended single-parentfamilies, but ratherthe cause of
families. The theoriesofferedto explain these them.This interpretationis frequentlyaccom-
differences are diverse and have generated panied by the thesis that the black extended
heated debates. I attempthere to narrowthe family has been a means of coping with both
field of potentialexplanationsfor race differ- povertyandsingleparenthood(Allen 1979;Bil-
ences in family structureby presentinga con- lingsley 1968; Farley 1971; Fischer,Beasley,
cise and detailed description of changes in andHarber1968;Hofferth1984;Rainwaterand
black family structurefrom 1880 to 1980.
Yancey 1967;Stack 1974). Othertheoristshave
Since the turnof the century,social theorists maintainedthat Moynihan's stress on pathol-
have arguedthatslaveryresultedin disorgani- ogy and disorganizationignores the resilience
zationandinstabilityin blackfamilies(DuBois of the blackfamily,andespecially the strength
1899, 1909; Elkins 1963; Frazier 1932, 1939; of extended kin ties among blacks (Aschen-
Myrdal 1944). This interpretationculminated brenner 1973; Hays and Mindel 1973; Hill
with Moynihan's (1965) report, which con- 1971;MartinandMartin1978;McAdoo 1980;
cluded that the "pathological"natureof black Riessman 1966; Staples 1975). These analysts
communitiescould be tracedto the deteriora- often point to persistent cultural differences
tion of black family life.
betweenwhites andblacks-originating in sla-
The numerousargumentsagainsttheMoyni- very or in African culture-to explain both
han reportcan be divided into two broadcat- single parenthoodand extended family struc-
ture (Nobles 1978; Owens 1976; Scanzoni
*Directcorrespondencteo StevenRuggles,De- 1971; Shimkin,Shimkin,andFrate1978). partmenotf History,267 19thAvenueSouth,Uni- The controversyover the Moynihan report versity of Minnesota,Minneapolis,MN 55455; stimulateda spate of revisionist historicalin-
internet: RUGGLES@ATLAS.SOCSCI.UMN.EDUF. unding vestigations into African-American family
fordatapreparatiownasprovidedby theNational structure. These studies asserted that black
Science Foundation(SES-9118299 and SES- families in the late nineteenth century were
9210903),the NationalInstituteof ChildHealth and HumanDevelopment(HD 25839), and the GraduateSchoolof the Universityof Minnesota. This researchwas carriedout undera BushSab-
overwhelmingly male-headed and nuclear in structure. Although some authors acknowledged minordifferencesin family structurebe-
baticalfellowshipfromthe Universityof Minne- tween blacks and whites, they all maintained
sota.My thanksto RobertMcCaa,StuartTolnay, thatin practicaltermsblack families were es-
andtheanonymouAs SRreviewersfortheirhelpful sentially similar to white families (Agresti
commentsandsuggestions.
1978; Bigham 1981; Carlson 1988; Fursten-
136
AmericanSociological Review, 1994, Vol. 59 (February:136-151)
THE ORIGINSOF AFRICAN-AMERICANFAMILYSTRUCTURE
137
berg, Hershberg, and Modell 1975; Gutman studies of African-Americanfamily structure
1975, 1976; Harris 1976; Krech 1982; Lam- have used national census data from the turn
mermeir 1973; Pleck 1972; Riley 1975; Shif- of the century,but even they have not yielded
flett 1975). The revisionists thus implied that statistics that are directly comparableto data
the distinctive African-Americanfamily pat- availablefor the recentpast.
ternis of recentorigin, andthis reinforcedthe Now, a new datasource,the IntegratedPub-
now widespreadview thateconomic disadvan- lic Use MicrodataSeries (IPUMS), allows us
tages faced by blacks in the recentpast arere- to generatefor the first time a consistent na-
sponsible (Brewer 1988; Wilson 1987).
tional series of statistics on family structure
A morerecentgroupof historicalstudieshas over the pastcentury(Ruggles et al. forthcom-
revised the revisionists'conclusion. These in- ing). The IPUMS is a nationalhistoricalcen-
vestigationshave stressedthe continuityof Af- sus databasein preparationat the Universityof
rican-Americanfamily structureby showing Minnesota under funding from the National
that the high frequencyof single-parentfami- Science Foundationandthe NationalInstitutes
lies among blacks observed by Moynihan in of Health.The IPUMScombines nationalcen-
1965 already existed around the turn of the sus microdatafrom a varietyof sources. Since
century (Brown and Kallgren 1989; Goeken 1960, the U.S. CensusBureauhas madepublic
1989; GordonandMcLanahan1991; Morgan, use microdatasamplesavailableto researchers
McDaniel, Miller, and Preston 1993; Ruggles within a few years of the decennial enumera-
andGoeken 1992). These studieshave madeit tion (U.S. Bureauof the Census 1972, 1973,
clear,therefore,thatthecurrentAfrican-Ameri- 1982). Since 1979, projectscarriedout at the
can family patternwas not a responseto recent University of Minnesota, the University of
economic changes. To explain the distinctive Washington,the University of Pennsylvania,
features of the African-Americanfamily, we and the University of Wisconsin have con-
need to look back at least as far as the nine- verted large national samples of the 1880,
teenth century.
1900, 1910, 1940, and 1950 population cen-
My investigationbuildson therecenthistori- suses into machine readable form (Graham
cal research. I describe for the first time the 1979; Ruggles et al. 1993; Stronget al. 1989;
long-termtrendsof single parenthoodandex- U.S. Bureau of the Census 1984a, 1984b).
tended family structure among blacks and Similarprojectsare now underwayat Minne-
whites, using a new seriesof census microdata sota for the 1850 and 1920 census years.Alto-
that spans the period from 1880 to 1980. The gether,large samples of census microdataare
recenthistoricalstudieshave shownthatsingle anticipatedfor atleast 11census yearsbetween
parenthoodand extended families were more 1850 and 1990.
common among blacks than among whites at These census files employ a wide varietyof
the turnof the century,but they have not been samplingstrategies,sample units, and coding
able to trace these changes over the course of schemes. The IPUMS imposes a consistent set
the twentiethcentury.
of definitionsandcodes on the data,establish-
ing order and maximizing the potential for
DATA
valid andreliableanalysisof long-termchange (Ruggles 1991, forthcoming b). When com-
Until recently,historianslacked adequatedata plete,the IPUMSwill includenationalsamples
to trace long-term national trends in family of coherentcensus microdatafrom all census
structure. With few exceptions, empirical years for which data are available. I used the
analyses of race differencesin historicalfam- preliminary version of the database in this
ily structurehave focused on a single moment analysis;-it includes census data from 1850,
in time. Moreover,the bulk of historicalstud- 1880, 1910, 1940, 1960, and 1980.1
ies have examinedliving arrangementsin one
or two communities.We have had no way of determiningif the communitiesarerepresentative, and comparisons between studies have
1 The IPUMS is scheduled to be released in the summer of 1995 through both the National Archives andthe Inter-UniversityConsortiumfor Political and Social Research. A preliminaryversion
been complicatedby variationsin datasources, of the data series is available from the author.For
data collection procedures,and classifications descriptons of the source data, see text citations.
of family structure.The most recent historical The sample densities used throughoutthis study
138
AMERICANSOCIOLOGICALREVIEW
Table 1. PercentageDistributionof HouseholdCompositionby Race: United States 1880-1980
FragmentaryHouseholds Primaryindividuals Single parents
Total fragmentary
Black 1880 1910 1940 1960 1980
8.5 10.5 15.4 17.6 26.7 11.7 9.7 8.7 9.9 20.5 20.3 20.2 24.1 27.5 47.2
White 1880 1910 1940 1960 1980
5.0 6.2 9.5 14.6 26.7 8.2 7.4 7.1 5.1 7.1 13.2 13.6 16.6 19.7 33.9
Married Couple Households
Childless couples
11.6 16.9 19.6 16.0 10.6
Couples with children
45.6 38.5 29.8 31.1 25.1
Total marriedcouple
57.3 55.4 49.4 47.1 35.6
11.0 14.5 20.5 23.2 24.7 56.4 51.9 45.6 45.6 34.9 67.3 66.5 66.0 68.8 59.6
Extended Households Vertically extended Other extended
Total extended
13.1 14.1 16.6 14.1 10.1 9.4 10.3 9.9 11.3 7.0 22.5 24.4 26.5 25.4 17.2
10.7 10.9 11.0 8.8 9.0 6.4
6.9 3.9 4.6 2.6
19.5 19.9 17.4 11.5 6.6
Total percent
Numberof households
Index of dissimilarity (Black-white, six categories)
100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 12,449 8,616 6,276 4,789 8,387
10.7 13.4 16.7 21.7 24.0
100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 84,398 70,375 62,678 47,879 69,024
Note: Excludes groupquartersunder 1970 Census definition. Primaryindividualsare persons heading households with no kin present;single parentsare unmarriedheads with childrenand no otherkin; childless couples are married couple households with no kin; couples with children are marriedcouples with children and no other kin; extended households arehouseholds with kin otherthanspouse andchildren;verticallyextendedarehouseholds with ancestors, descendants,or children-in-lawof head.
Despite the problemsof compatibilityintro- holder,maritalstatus,age, and sex-are virtu-
duced by theircompilers,the U.S. Public Use ally identical for all available census years
MicrodataSamples (PUMS) currentlyconsti- since 1880.2
tute the most consistent and comprehensive
source available for the study of long-term change in family and household composition. From 1850 onwards,the census definitionsof
LONG-TERMTRENDSIN HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION
the basic units of enumeration-now called households-have varied only modestly, and the proportionof units affectedby such variations has been insignificant. The concepts of
Table1providesa generaldescriptionof household compositionby race from 1880 to 1980. The classificationscheme is a compromisebe-
quasi-household and group quarters, introducedsince 1940, have no clearanalogsin earlier censuses, but the PUMS files for all years providesufficientinformationto impose a low-
2 For discussions of the temporalcomparability of the census conceptsof family andhousehold,see Ruggles.(1991) and Smith (1992). The definition of groupquartersused here is the one used for the
est common denominatorof the groupquarters 1970 Census;thatdefinitionis the only on thatcan
concept.Moreover,the basicinquiriesrequired be appliedconsistentlyacrossall census yearsfrom
to classify household and family composi- 1880 to 1980. For the sake of consistency, persons tion-relationship to householdheador house- residingin groupquartersunder 1970 Census defi-
nitions were excluded from analysis in this study,
were 1/200 for 1850, 1/100 for 1880, 1/250 for except for Table 3 and for the statistics from the
1910, 1/500 for 1940, and 1/1000 for the remaining 1850 Census.On the potentialeffects of this exclu-
years.
sion, see Ruggles (1988, 1991).
THE ORIGINSOF AFRICAN-AMERICANFAMILYSTRUCTURE
139
tween the U.S. Census Bureau approach to markablystable, at least through 1960. This
household structureand the system developed findingsupportsthe recentstudiesarguingthat
by Laslett (1972) that is widely used by histo- the distinctive features of the African-Ameri-
rians.Householdsaredivided into threebroad can family have deep historicalroots.
categories on the basis of the composition of Despite this long-standing continuity, the
the primary family, which is defined as the race differentialin householdcompositionhas
group of kin related to the household head.3 notbeen static.InTable 1 the index of dissimi-
Fragmentaryhouseholdsconsist of primaryin- larity compares the distributions of black
dividualsandsingle parentsresidingwith their households and white households across the
children only. Marriedcouple households in- six detailed categories. From 1880 through
clude marriedcouples residing with no other 1980, divergence between black and white
kin and married couples residing with their household composition increased-the index
children and no other kin. Extended house- of dissimilarity rose gradually from 10.7 to
holds include additionalkin, such as parents, 24.0. Thus, althoughthe origins of the charac-
siblings, or grandchildrenof the household teristic patternsof black household composi-
head.Verticallyextendedhouseholdsarethose tion can be traced to the nineteenth century,
that include ancestors, descendants, or chil- race differences have become far more pro-
dren-in-lawof the householdhead.
nouncedover the course of the twentiethcen-
Among both blacks and whites, the most tury.
strikingchange in household structureshown
in Table 1 is the increasein the percentageof primaryindividualhouseholds-persons who reside alone or with nonrelativesonly. In the
THE LIVINGARRANGEMENTSOF CHILDREN
nineteenthcentury,blacks resided as primary Measurementby households minimizes race
individuals significantly more often than differencesin family structure.We can obtain
whites, but by 1980 this race difference had a clearer view by focusing on the living ar-
disappeared.The dramaticrise of the primary rangementsof children.There are several ad-
individualover the past centuryhas generated vantages to analyzing children living with
a largeliterature(see forexampleKobrin1976; single parentsinstead of single-parenthouse-
Ruggles 1988).
holds. To begin with, we can broaden the
Forthis analysis,the most importantcatego- analysis by looking at children who resided
ries in Table1 aresingle-parenthouseholdsand with no parentsas well as childrenwho resided
extended households.Among blacks, the per- with a single parent.Moreover,by measuring
centage of single-parenthouseholds was rela- the living arrangementsof children, we can
tively stablefrom 1880 through1960, andthen easily capture single parents who were not
it increased sharply. The percentage of ex- householdheads and who resided in subfami-
tended households among blacks was also lies and secondaryfamilies. Furthermorethis
fairly stable between 1880 and 1960, but has measurementstrategygreatlysimplifies analy-
droppedsignificantlysince then.
sis of measurementerrorresultingfromdemo-
In all census years, a smallerpercentageof graphicchange.4Finally, children are an im-
white households were fragmentary or ex- portantobject of study in theirown right, and
tended than were black households, and they arekey to understandingthe family as an agent
more often consistedof marriedcouples resid- of socialization.
ing with children. These race differences in- Table2 shows the percentageof childrenre-
creased between 1880 and 1980. The key cat- siding with both parents, with mothers only,
egories of black household structure, how- with fathers only, and without either parent.
ever,-single-parent and extended-were re- The overallpercentageof childrenwith one or
bothparentsabsentis summarizedin Figure 1. 3 These systems aredescribedin U.S. Bureau of
the Census (1983) andin Laslett (1972). Following
U.S. CensusBureaupractice,the termfamily refers 4For technical reasons, it is extremely difficult
here to any group of relatedpeople who reside to- to account for the effects of demographic factors
gether, whereas the term household refers to a on living arrangements when measurements are
group of people who shareliving quarters,regard- takenat the level of households (see Ruggles 1986,
less of their relationships.
1987).
140
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