McLanahan and Casper - "Growing Diversity and Inequality in the American Family"

These authors argue that the family is not disappearing, but it is taking on new forms (dual career, single-parent, cohabitation, etc.). This greater diversity also means greater inequality across households and the feminization of poverty as well as greater racial differences in economic well-being. Previously suggested theories for the decline in marriage: welfare; decline in marriageable men (ones with good jobs); economic independence of women; and cultural changes. M & C examine the changing family by first focusing on 4 demographic trends: decline in marriage, rise in marital disruption, changes in marital and non-marital childbearing (reduction in overall fertility but an increase in children born outside of marriage), and an increase in mothers' labor force participation. They compare the U.S. to other Western industrialized countries for context; examine the implications of family diversity for American women's economic well-being; and finally address the question of why marriage has declined in the last 20 or so years.

Race Differences (women)

Most likely In Between Least likely

Marriage Whites Hispanics Blacks All 3 experienced decline in 1980s

Single Parent Blacks Hispanics Whites

Employment Whites Hispanics All 3 experienced increase in 1980s

Cross-National Comparisons

Declines in marriage, increased divorce, growth in births outside marriage and increased labor force participation of women and delayed marriage has occurred in most European countries as well as the U.S. and Canada. The U.S. is not unique.

Diversity and Inequality

The authors argue that the above demographic trends have significantly altered American families and households (fewer traditional and more dual career and single parent homes). To illustrate, they look at women's changing family statuses between 1980 and 1990. They create three groups: traditional (married and not employed); nontraditional (employed married and nonmarried women raising children); and nonfamily (neither married nor raising children). They show a decline in traditional statuses along with an increase in nontraditional. For whites, the increase in non-traditional was due to employment, there was no increase in single parenthood during the 1980s(this uses women rather than mothers as the population therefore showing that parenthood in generally has declined, using mothers as the population shows a greater growth). There has also been an increase in nonfamily statuses. Black/White differences: whites much more likely to marry than black women (parents or not). The finding that all black women are less likely to marry, not just mothers contradicts the argument that welfare is a main cause of this race difference. Hispanic women were the most traditional of all women and were less traditional than white women only when it came to single motherhood.

These family statuses are also strongly associated with great economic disparity. Working wives had relatively high household incomes and low poverty rates in 1990. Single mothers, especially those without jobs, were the worst off. Single women with no children and traditional wives fared about the same. "Regardless of race or ethnicity, marriage and employment were clearly associated with a higher standard of living for women in 1990, whereas motherhood was associated with a lower standard of living" (pg. 20). Race differences: Black and Hispanic women have much less to gain economically from marriage than white women. "The most important family status difference between white and black women is single motherhood, whereas the most important difference between white and Hispanic women is women's employment" (pg. 23). The authors associate the above changes in women's family statuses with the growing economic polarization of women and children.

A Closer Look at Three Nontraditional Families

Single mothers - The typical white single mother: early 30s, some college and employed. Typical black single mother: early 30s, high school education, and working. Typical Hispanic single mother: about the same age, but much less educated and less likely to be employed. The high level of never married black mothers accounts for most of the education and employment differences for black and white single mothers. An increase in single mothers living with other relatives during the 1980s is also noted probably due to economic conditions. However, single mothers had relatively low cohabitation rates in 1990 compared to single mothers in other countries.

Single fathers - much less common. The typical single father was older and less educated than the typical single mother and much more likely to be cohabitating or living with relatives (thereby allowing them to share their childrearing responsibilities with another adult).

Cohabitating couples - these couples tend to have less traditional relationships than married couples and the woman is more likely to be the primary breadwinner and have more education than her partner. These women seem to have more human capital and have a greater degree of economic independence. This holds for black and Hispanic couples as well as whites. But minority couples were more likely to have children suggesting that cohabitation may be more of a substitute for marriage in minority communities.

Cross-National Comparisons

"The cross-national contrast is instructive for several reasons. Not only does it show that most other countries (except Canada) do a better job than the United States in lowering poverty rates among single-mother families, it also shows that other countries reduce poverty without creating a high prevalence of single mothers and, in some instances, without creating a class of welfare-dependent mothers" (pg. 32). Sweden and the Netherlands provide good examples of social welfare systems that reduce poverty for single-mother families without increasing their numbers or (in Sweden's case) making them dependent on the government. The level of single-parent families in these countries is half what it is in the U.S.

Why Has Marriage Declined?

The authors discuss previous explanations: women's growing economic independence (Becker); lack of potential marriage partners for women (Wilson and Neckerman), which they argue is really an extension of the first explanation; and changes in culture, norms, and attitudes, which they suggest are more likely to have important feedback effects. They then go through their own analysis of data comparing marriage rates in 100 metropolitan areas and looking at men's and women's characteristics in each area. "We find that marriage is more common in areas where women's employment opportunities and earnings are low, where welfare benefits are low, and where men's employment opportunities and earnings are high. We also find that increases in women's employment opportunities can account for a good deal of the decline in marriage between 1970 and 1990 among white women but not among blacks. Our results do not support the argument that increases in welfare benefits or declines in men's employment opportunities have led to large declines in marriage." (pp.5-6). They also tell us that the effect of changes in attitudes and values can not be measured from the census data, but they are more likely to be important influences on blacks than on whites.