Why Black Marriage Day?

By Julie Baumgardner

March 23, 2008

³Why should there be a day set aside to celebrate Black Marriage?² said the caller.  This is a great question that deserves an answer.  The latest marriage research shows that marriage in the African American Community is on the decline. Today, African Americans have the lowest marriage rate of any racial group in the United States. According to the U.S. Census, 43.3 percent of black men and 41.9 percent of black women in America have never been married compared to 27 percent and 22 percent respectively for whites. In 30 years, the overall marriage rate in the United States declined by 17 percent, but for African Americans, it fell by 34 percent.

³Contrary to popular belief, marriage rates in the Black community have not always been low,² said Dr. Rozario Slack, Director of Fathering, Families and Marriage Initiatives at First Things First. ³Following slavery, marriage was held in high esteem by African Americans.  In fact, research shows that close to 70 percent of Blacks during that time period were married.²

Recent research conducted by University of California, Davis economists Marianne Page and Ann Huff Stevens indicates that divorce and marriage play much bigger economic roles for black children than white children in the United States.  Page and Davis found that in the first two years following a divorce, family income among white children falls about 30 percent, while it falls by 53 percent among black children.  This difference dramatically increases over time.

It is estimated that 80 percent of all African American children will spend their childhood living apart from their fathers. While an estimated seventy percent of African American children are born to unmarried mothers.

³Many African American adults don¹t seem to recognize how badly young black teens still desire marriage,² said Dr. Slack. ³Just the other day I was talking with a young man who is a junior in high school.  He told me he was going to be a daddy.  He said he wants to try this Œfamily thing¹ out because he has never seen it in his lifetime.  He wants to try it for a while to see if it works.² \

Like this young man, there are lots of people out there ³playing² at family says Dr. Slack.  If you play at family you get a play family.

³If people want a real family they will seek to be married,² said Dr. Slack. The young man told me he wanted to be married, but he didn¹t know anybody who was in a happy marriage.  To which I replied, ŒYou didn¹t until you met me.¹  These young people clearly want marriage, but they do not feel it is within their reach because of the lack of modeling.  The African American community needs to develop a culture where these teens see that married people are having as much if not more fun than single people.²

Page and Stevens¹ research estimates that while the family income of white children rises by 45 percent when their single parent marries, the family income of black children rises by 81 percent with marriage. One reason for the difference in improvement is that married black mothers are more likely to work than married white mothers. Marriage appears to have even greater benefits for black children whose single mothers marry than for their white counterparts, according to the study. \

Research shows that Black children with married parents typically receive better parenting, are less delinquent, have fewer behavioral problems, have higher self esteem are more likely to delay sexual activity and have better educational outcomes.  In areas including parental support, delinquency, self esteem and school performance, having a father in the home and particularly a married father as a role model is a crucial determinant of better outcomes for young black males. While it is possible for single parents to provide these benefits for children, research clearly shows that they are far more likely to be present in a two-parent household.  Marriage is clearly the safest environment for children.  Child abuse is 50 times more likely to occur in households with unmarried, cohabitating adults than with a child living with their biological parents.

For couples, even when studies control for a wide range of variables, they consistently find that married Black adults, compared to those who are unmarried, have more income, are less likely to face poverty and are more likely to be happy.  Marriage also appears to promote better family functioning.  Marriage provides companionship and good sex for couples. In communities where marriages flourish, the property value is higher, crime is lower and there are better schools.  In communities where marriages fail, or fail to happen, the opposite exists.

³Black Marriage Day was started by the Wedded Bliss Foundation to create cultural change in the Black community and to rethink how marriage is viewed,² said Dr. Slack.  ³I believe we should celebrate Black Marriage Day to make a difference for the next generation, which includes my children.  A risk to marriage anywhere is a risk to marriage everywhere.  And I need there to be less risky marriages so my kids will not grow up thinking that is the way relationships should be.²

Has this been helpful?  Make a Contribution: Click here.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This e-newsletter/site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of marriage, family, couples, divorce, legislation, family breakdown, etc. We understand this constitutes a 'fair use' of such material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.