Dramatic growth of black
female-headed families seen over last decade
WASHINGTON During the last decade, the growth of
female headed families has been especially dramatic among
blacks In 1975, there were 2 million black families
supported by women without a spouse and 3 million in
1984, an increase of over 50 percent. In 1984, 44 iiercent of
all black families won; hearted by women, compared with
23.2 percent of Hispanic families and 13 percent of white
families, according to a U S. Labor Department report
The report, "The United Nations Decade for Women,
1976-1986 Employment in the United States," also notes
that as i f 1984. about 29 percent of the women maintaining
families were black, 69 percent were white, and fewer than
10 percent were of Hispanic origin.
On average, black women had more children under age
18 and less education than the white women Black and
Hispanic women maintaining families had lower median
earnings, lower median ages, lower labor force participation
rates and higher unemployment rates than the white
women Also, their families were less likely than similar
white families to have more than one earner
The report notes that w om en w ho m aintain their ow n
families are considerably more likely to w ork or look for
work today than in the past But their historical pattern of
marginal earnings and high unemployment persists, keeping
the 0coi.uinic status of their families well below that of the
majority of American families A continuation of multiple
problems hinder many women who support families from
being more competitive in the market place Prominent
among these problems are lower average educational
attainment and relatively higher proportions with Children to
raise
In March 1984, 10 3 million families had as their principal
support women w fio were divorced, separated, widowed,
or never married These families accounted for over 16
percent of all families in the United States, up 3 percentage
points from 1975 Sixty one percent of women maintaining
families were labor force participants, compared with 54
percent in 1975
Most employed women maintaining families worked at
full time fobs in 1984 82 percent. Those ages 25 to 54 were
more likely to be working full time (86 percent) than either
younger (72 percent) or older women (75 percent) Despite
some movement into professional and managerial jobs,
particularly by divorcees who are generally younger and
have more education, most employed women maintaining
families have tended to remain in the generally low paying
or less skilled |obs Like most employed women, the largest
proportion of those maintaining families were in
admimstiative support jobs, including clerical work.
■
Paoe 8, JOBS, September 11, 1906