Page:1965 Moynihan Report.pdf/31

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 * + Ratio of Nonwhite to White Family Median Income, United States and Regions, 1960–63
 * | Region
 * | 1960
 * | 1961
 * | 1962
 * | 1963
 * | 55
 * | 53
 * | 53
 * | 53
 * | 68
 * | 67
 * | 66
 * | 65
 * | 74
 * | 72
 * | 68
 * | 73
 * | 43
 * | 43
 * | 47
 * | 45
 * | 81
 * | 87
 * | 73
 * | 76
 * colspan=5 |
 * }
 * | 43
 * | 47
 * | 45
 * | 81
 * | 87
 * | 73
 * | 76
 * colspan=5 |
 * }
 * colspan=5 |
 * }
 * }

Because in general terms Negro families have the largest number of children and the lowest incomes, many Negro fathers literally cannot support their families. Because the father is either not present, is unemployed, or makes such a low wage, the Negro woman goes to work. Fifty-six percent of Negro women, age 25 to 64, are in the work force, against 42 percent of white women. This dependence on the mother’s income undermines the position of the father and deprives the children of the kind of attention, particularly in school matters, which is now a standard feature of middle-class upbringing.

The Dimensions Grow

The dimensions of the problems of Negro Americans are compounded by the present extraordinary growth in Negro population. At the founding of the nation, and into the first decade of the 19th century, 1 American in 5 was a Negro. The proportion declined steadily until it was only 1 in 10 by 1920, where it held until the 1950's, when it began to rise. Since 1950, the Negro population has grown at a rate of 2.4 percent per year compared with 1.7 percent for the total population. If this rate continues, in seven years l American in 8 will be nonwhite.

These changes are the result of a declining Negro death rate, now approaching that of the nation generally, and a fertility rate that grew steadily during the postwar period. By 1959, the ratio of white to nonwhite fertility rates reached 1:1.42. Both the white and nonwhite fertility rates have declined since 1959, but the differential has not narrowed.

Family size increased among nonwhite families between 1950 and 1960as much for those without fathers as for those with fathers. Average family size changed little among white families, with a slight increase in the size of husband-wife families balanced by a decline in the size of families without fathers.

Negro women not only have more children, but have them earlier. Thus in 1960, there were 1,247 children ever born per thousand ever-married nonwhite women 15 to 19 years of age, as against only 725 among white women, a ratio of 1.7:1. The Negro fertility rate overall is now 1.4 times the white, but what might be called the generation rate is 1.7 times the white.