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The African American family structure has been of great debate for many years. The typical African American structure is one that is based on single-parent homes and specifically black matriarchy. The structure of the African American family has historical roots that can be traced back to newly freed sleeves. Additionally, the family structure has demonstrated similar patterns as other groups across the United States including lower rates of marriage and higher rates of divorce. Other contributing factors include socioeconomic causes and institutional barriers that affect both African American males and females. The effects of the common African American family structure for youth can be seen in both social and educational barriers that create a cycle of poverty, educational inequality and teen pregnancy.

History of the African American family structure
The current African American family structure consisting of single parents and children living in homes without either parent can be traced back to the 1850s among newly freed slaves. This pattern of one or no parent homes remained relatively stable between 1880 and 1960, with about 30 percent of black youth living in homes with this family structure. Recent census reports reveal that single-parent and absent-parent homes are rising dramatically for black children. The African American extended family also extends back many years. Consisting of grandparents and other kin living in the home, the extended family structure has continuously proved in recent years to be more prevalent in black than white families. White families before 1940 featured more extended family households than black families. Researchers have explained this recent trend of more black extended family styles however, by acknowledging that it is not the growth of black extended families, but the decline of white extended families in the last few years.

Causes
There are several hypotheses regarding the causes for the persistance of the current African American family structure. Some of the hypotheses include both economic and social causes.

Economic Explanations
Some researchers theorize that the low economic statuses of the newly freed slaves in 1850 lead to the current family structure for African Americans. Some researchers suggest that extreme poverty has increased the destabilization of African American families while others point to high female labor participation, few job opportunities for black males, and small differences between wages for men and women that have decreased marriage stability for black families.

Social Explanations
Other explanations incorporate social mechanism for the specific patterns of the African American family structure. Some researchers point to differences in norms regarding the need to live with a spouse and with children for African Americans. Additionally, in 1880, literate young mothers were less likely to reside in a home with a spouse than illiterate mothers. Additionally, economic status proved to not always negatively affect single-parent homes. Rather, there was a positive relationship between the number of single-parent homes and per-capita county wealth. This suggests that strictly economic factors cannot account for the family styles seen by African Americans.

Decline of Black Marriages
There has been a decline in marriage rates in the United States across all races. This is particularly the case for African Americans who not only consistently have lower marriage rates than White Americans, but are also demonstrating a steady drop in marriage, so much that families who are married, are not considered the typical African American family structure. One reason that research points to low rates of African American marriages is that the age of first marriage for many African Americans is high. For African Americans at both high and low levels of educational attainment, the marriage rate increases with age compared to White Americans who follow the same trends but marry at younger ages than African Americans.

Rise in Divorce rates
Additionally, for African Americans who do marry, the rate of divorce is higher than White Americans. While the trend is the same for both African Americans and White Americans, with at least half of marriages for the two groups ending in divorce, the rate of divorce tends to be consistently higher for African Americans. African Americans also tend to spend less time married than White Americans so that the national trend tends to reveal that African Americans get married at a later age, spend less time married and are more likely to be divorced than White Americans. The decline and low success rate of Black marriages is crucial for study because many African Americans achieve a middle-class status through marriage and the likelihood for children growing up in poverty is tripled for those in single-parent rather than two-parent homes.

Decline in Shot Gun Marriages
One type of marriages that have declined are shotgun marriages. Prior to the 1970s, the norm was such that, should a couple have a pregnancy out of wedlock, marriage in the future was inevitable. Cultural norms have since changed, giving women and men more agency to decide whether or when they should get married.

Black Male Incarceration
Structural barriers are often listed as the reason for the current trends in the African American family structure, specifically the decline in marriage rates. Imbalanced sex ratios have been cited as one of these barriers since the late nineteenth century, where Census data revealed that in 1840, there were 99 black males for every 100 black males. Recent Census data revealed that in 2003, there were only 91 males for every 100 females. Black male incarceration rates are often pointed to for these imbalanced sex ratios. Although black males make up only 6% of the population, they make up 50% of those who are incarcerated. This incarceration rate for black males increased by more than four between the years of 1980 and 2003. Furthermore, the rate for African American males is 3,045 out of 100,000 compared to only 465 per 100,000 White Americans males. The chance of black males to be arrested and jailed at least once in their lifetime in many areas around the country is extremely high. For Washington DC, this probability is between 80 and 90%. This high incarceration rate helps to explain the low marriage rates for many African American males and for African American females who cannot find black mates.

Single-Parent Homes
The majority of African American children are born into single-parent homes, with figures demonstrating that 72% of black children were born to unwed mothers in 2011. This pattern of family styles has been coined as black matriarchy for the observance of largely households headed by women and the absence of fathers in the home.

Implications of the African American family structure
Research regarding the effects of the African American family structure, specifically single-parent homes has mostly been on the side that these family styles tend to produce unfavorable outcomes for the youth. Studies on the topic have indicated that children growing up in single-parent homes faces disturbances in young childhood, adolescence and young adulthood as well. One study on single black mothers found that maternal stress, perceived competency and social support from others helped to determine child behavior problems.

Poverty
Black single-parent homes headed by women still demonstrate how relevant the feminization of poverty is. Black women continue to be relegated into low-paying and female-dominated occupations. Black women also still makeup a large percentage of poverty-afflicted individuals. Additionally, the racialization of poverty in combination with the feminization of poverty creates further hindrances for youth growing up black, in single-parent homes and in poverty.

While majority opinion tends to center on the increase in poverty as a result of single-parent homes, research has shown that this is not always the case. In one study examining the effects of single-parent homes on parental stress and practices, the researchers found that family structure and marital status were not as big of a factor as poverty and the experiences the mothers had while growing up. Furthermore, the authors found little parental dysfunction in parenting styles and efficacy for single-mothers, suggesting that two-parent homes are not always the only type of successful family structures. The authors suggest that focus be placed also on the poverty that African American face as a whole, rather than just those who live in single-parent homes and those that are of the typical African American family structure.

Educational Inequality
There is consensus in the literature about the negative consequences of growing up in single-parent homes on educational attainment and success. Children growing up in single-parent homes are more likely to not finish school and generally obtain less years of schooling than those in two-parent homes. Additionally, boys growing in homes with only their mothers are more likely to receive poorer grades and display behavioral problems. For black high school students, the African American family structure does affect their educational goals and expectations. Although these effects are sometimes minimal and contradictory, it is generally agreed that the family structure a child grows up in is important for their success in the educational sphere. This is particularly important for African American children who have a 50% chance of being born outside of marriages and growing up in a home with a single-parent.

Some of the arguments for the reasoning behind this drop in attainment for single-parent homes point to the socioeconomic problems that arise from mother-headed homes. Particularly relevant for families centered on black matriarchy, one theory posits that the reason children of female-headed households do worse in education is because of the economic insecurity that results because of single motherhood. Single parent mothers often have lower incomes and thus may be removed from the home and forced to work more hours, and are sometimes forced to move into poorer neighborhoods with less educational resources. Other theories point to the importance of male role models and fathers in particular, for the development of children emotionally and cognitively, especially boys. Even for fathers who may not be in the home, studies have shown that time spent with fathers has a positive relationship with psychological well-being including less depression and anxiety. Additionally, emotional support from fathers is related to fewer delinquency problems and drug and marijuana use.

Teen Pregnancy
Although the rate of teen pregnancies in the United States have remained stable, the number of pregnancies is still high. Teenage and unplanned pregnancies pose threats for those who are affected by it with these unplanned pregnancies having relationships with greater divorces rates for young individuals, greater drop out rates for young parents and resulting greater economic burdens and instabilities for teenage parents. One study found that paternal attitudes towards sexuality and sexual expression at a young age was more likely to determine sexual behaviors by teens regardless of maternal opinions on the matter. For these youth, the opinions of the father affected their behaviors in positives ways regardless if the parent lived in or out of the home and the age of the student. For the majority of black youth who live in female-headed households, this finding points to the need for fathers to help curve the teen pregnancy rate and reduce the negative outcomes associated with youth pregnancy and the likelihood of single-parent homes.

Revisions
Single-parent homes and extended-family homes have consistently been higher in African American families than white families.

While research has shown that marriage rates have dropped for African Americans, the rate of birth has not. Thus, the number of single-parent homes has risen dramatically for black women. {{cite book|title=Social

Extended family and kin networks
The African American extended family has also been present for many years. Consisting of grandparents and other kin living in the home, the extended family structure has, in recent years, continuously proved to be more prevalent in black than white families. White families before 1940 featured more extended family households than black families. Researchers have explained this greater prevalence of black extended families by acknowledging that it is not the growth of black extended families, but the decline of white extended families in the past few years.