IMPACTS OF VIOLENT CRIME ON BLACK FAMILY STRUCTURE

Violent crime contributes to depleting the supply of marriageable males in minority communities. Young black males die disproportionately due to homicides. Also, a disproportionate number of young black males are in prisons and jails. Consequently, they are withdrawn from the productive labor force and become less desirable mates and fathers. They become “marginalized.” Black families, in turn, are deprived of productive male heads. This paper, using Current Population Survey data for 1985, demonstrates that a direct effect of reducing the supply of marriageable mates is to increase the proportion of black families headed by females. The impacts of homicide and incarceration far exceed those of public welfare in influencing changing black family structures.