Where Is The Love? New Report Suggests Black Marriage Rates Falling Dangerously Low

Although Valentine's Day is over, we still have a few "love and marriage" issues to tackle. A recent study by the U.S. Census Bureau released some pretty depressing statistics about Black marriage rates in America.  Yes, it's what you thought.  Deets inside...

 

The good news: Black LOVE isn't the problem.  Folks are actually falling and basking in love more than ever.

Bad news: Black MARRIAGE now comes few and far between.  While 70 percent of black families were headed by married couples in 1963, by 2002, it was down to 48 percent.  And sadly, the new statistics don't show any signs of improvement. New data released by the U.S. Census Bureau paints a dreary picture about marriage in Black communities. 

The report states:

(1)  Forty-two percent of black adults have never been married, compared with just 26 percent of all American adults.

(2)  By the time most black Americans reach their early 30s, half have never married, compared with 31 percent or less for other racial and ethnic groups. 

(3) Black women ages 35 to 44 are the only group of American women of child-bearing age with lower rates of marriage than men of the same race or ethnicity.  

(4) By their early 40s, 31 percent of black women have never been married, compared to 9 percent of white women, 11 percent of Asian women and 12 percent of Hispanic women.

 

So how does one explain why marriage rates in the Black community fall so much shorter than those of other communities?

Some experts say economic issues, incarceration rates, and the increasing number of black women getting college degrees compared to black men all affect the stability or likelihood of Black marriage.  Sidenote: It boils my blood that women (in any race) are constantly blamed for the break-up of the American family.  Excuse us for educating ourselves for the betterment of the human race.  How selfish of us. </sarcasm> Perhaps that reason should change from "women getting more education" to "men and/or the family unit not learning how to adapt to the fact that women are gaining more education."  Just a thought.

“The obsolescence usually comes from individuals – not the race,” said Julia Hare, Ph.D., and national executive director of The Black Think Tank. 

Julia says people are swayed by a number of things into "thinking their perfect mate will look a certain way, have a certain type of job, make a certain amount of money and anything short of that is not marriageable material."

All of this creates a perfect storm of people going into relationships with conflicting expectations making them "willing pawns in the destruction of their relationships."

To move forward Julia recommends:

(1)  Black couples discuss their expectations and needs with one another.

(2)  Make sure you are on the same page and not afraid to engage the services of a therapist to help move the conversation forward. 

(3)  A national conference “where black men and black women come together and cast off all societal taboos and insidious class divisions,” which produce false images and expectations of what relationships and married life should be.

So what do you think about the future of Black families and Black marriage rates? Is the notion of the overwhelming number of single (unmarried) black females really coming true--or is it a self-fulfilling prophecy?

What are some issues you see as impediments for the growth of Black marriages and families?

Deanna Russo Joanne Montanez Natalie Portman Larissa Meek Shannon Elizabeth