Are the Odds Stacked Against the Single Black Woman?

In recent years the marriage debate centering on African American women has caught the attention of social trend watchers. There is a general notion that it is increasingly becoming difficult for single Black women to find eligible male partners within their race even as analysts come up with rising imbalance between the numbers of single men and women in the African origin population. But how much of this is actually true and how much of this merely a result of media stereotypes. Here are a few thoughts on whether the odds are really stacked against the single black woman.

What numbers say

The modern young black woman has come a long way from the time when little more was expected of her than to be a wife and mother. The opening of the educational and professional opportunities in the wake of Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and ‘70s has impacted the fortunes of young Black women profoundly and they have been quick to make them good. According to the US Census Bureau, More Black women than Black men had earned at least a bachelor’s degree - 18 percent compared with 16 percent¹. Contemporary black women are going to college and getting a degree in greater numbers as compared to their male counterparts. Consequently they expect their partners to be on an equal social and educational footing if not higher. But unfortunately, due their educational and professional levels, the majority of single black men are often unable to match up, thus creating a scarcity of “marriageable” or “suitable” black single men.

Even when a single woman from the Black community is not very particular about the professional and education background of potential partners, she may still find it difficult to land an eligible man. One of the main reasons is the sheer lack of numbers since a lot of black males in the marriageable age are in prison. Although black people account for only 12 percent of the U.S. population, an estimated 44 percent of all prisoners in the United States are black according to data from US 2000 Census. More recent statistics put the number of black men between ages 20 and 34 who were behind bars at one in fifteen, according to a 2008 study² by the Pew Center on the States which compiled and analyzed data from several sources, including the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics and Bureau of Prisons and each state's department of corrections. The huge proportion of young black men in incarceration vastly cuts down the number of single black men who are available for relationships. And even for those who are not in prison, being on parole or probation and the loss in educational and occupational opportunities due to past incarceration again significantly reduces their ability to date and be in long term relationships. Above all, unemployment rates are also relatively higher among black men in the US. The unemployment rate for young African American men is over twice the rate for young white, Hispanic and Asian men, according to figures quoted in a Pew Research Center report³. Over 20% of young African American men live in poverty compared to 18% of Hispanic, 12% of Asian and 10% of white men.

Things seem even bleaker for the single Black woman with reports of Black men opting to marry outside their race. A recent news article in the New York Times⁴ titled, ‘Black Women See Fewer Black Men at the Altar’ traces the limited availability of single and eligible black men to an increasing number of them marrying women of other races. The report mentions the results of a study according to which around 22% of black male singles - that is at least one in five – who married in 2008, chose female partners from among whites, Asians or Hispanics. This represents a significant increase from previous rates like 15.7% in 2000 and 7.9% in 1980. Not only that, the rate of black men marrying outside their race is also higher than the 9% rate of black American women who were marrying non-black men. Sociologists believe that the trend of black men marrying from outside their race further shrinks an already limited pool of potential partner for single black women seeking marriage within their own race. Says Prof. Andrew J. Cherlin, director of the population center at Johns Hopkins University, “The continuing imbalance in the rates for black men and black women could be making it even harder for black women to find a husband,”.

The other side of numbers

All these numbers make it appear that the odds are truly stacked for the single Black woman who wishes to marry within her race. But there are many other sides to the story too. According to 2009 data⁵ from the Census Bureau, 70.5 percent of black women in the United States had never been married — but those were women between the ages of 25 and 29. Black women marry later, but they do marry. By age 55 and above, those numbers showed, only 13 percent of black women had never been married. In fact, people who have never married in their lifetimes are in the clear minority, regardless of race.

It is not so much a scarcity of partners as practical considerations lead black women to marry in their late 30s through their 40s, compared with women of other races who are more likely to marry in their late 20s and early 30s. Significantly more black women than black men are earning college degrees, some may even be the first generation in their families doing so. They are thus busy studying and working at their careers and realize that they cannot take up the added burden of marital and/or parental responsibilities at this time. With age, the numbers of unmarried black women and men become significantly lower, suggesting that both find themselves at places in their lives where they are ready and able to commit.

One of the most common reasons put forward for college educated black women being unable to find eligible partners is that comparatively fewer black men go to college. However the truth is that white women also earn college degrees more than white men do⁶ but this gender imbalance hasn’t appeared to hurt white women’s chances at matrimony. What’s more, black women who finish college actually improve their chances of marrying rather than lower them. Among black women, 70 percent of college graduates are married by 40, whereas only about 60 percent of black high school graduates are married by that age, according to an article⁷ on the New York Times. The same trend is at play for black men. In 2008, 76 percent of black men with a college degree married by age 40. In contrast, only 63 percent of black men with just a high school diploma tied the knot. So education increases the likelihood of marriage for both African-American men and women.

Finally Black women may simply be remaining single as a matter of choice than due to lack of eligible partners. But rarely is this discussed as a real explanation for why some black women are unmarried. When a black woman says she is choosing to be single, most people assume she just can’t get a man. What such assumptions indicate is the long tradition of negative stereotyping that the Black community has still not been able to shed off. Despite the visibility of people like Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Condoleezza Rice, black women as a group are still largely seen as victims of racist and sexist attitudes in movies, television, music and other forms of popular culture. And with black men have borne the brunt of social inequities, black women have been implicitly conditioned not to add to that burden. When single black women express their difficulties in finding an eligible Black man, they are seen as being unnecessarily demanding and unsympathetic of the less than favorable economic and education conditions of black men. Expounding the reasons why they cannot settle for ineligible men from their own race is often viewed as adding to the problems of black men.

Thus whether the notion of single and empowered black women remaining consigned to spinsterhood is a myth or reality, the marriage debate has at least exposed the need for black women to tell their own stories; it calls for an honest and multi-dimensional discussion that includes black men as well as the problems and inequities that plague the community.

References:

1. Census Bureau - The Black Population in the United States: March 2002 [.PDF]
    
2. The Pew Charitable Trusts - One in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008 [.PDF]
    
3. Pew Research Center - Black unemployment rate is consistently twice that of whites
    
4. The New York Times - Black Women See Fewer Black Men at the Altar
    
5. Census Bureau - Number, Timing, and Duration of Marriages and Divorces: 2009 [.PDF]
    
6. The New York Times - Marriage and Women Over 40
    
7. National Center for Education Statistics - Fast Facts