Essay on sociology
Part A. Family types in the U.S.: univariate analysis
This research is devoted to studying race and ethnic differences in family types and the role played by race-ethnic group poverty status in relation to these differences. One of important family characteristics is family type. In this research, three family types are considered: married couple family household, female headed family household with no husband/father present and male headed family household with no wife/mother present.
The total number of families in the census are 72,229,668. Table 1 contains the descriptive univariate statistics for family type variable. 76.8% of families belong to the type “married couple family household” and the remaining 23.2% of families are either male-headed or female-headed household. In general, it can be concluded that a predominant number of families (more than 3/4) are married couples.
Part B. Race-ethnic differences in family type in the U.S.: bivariate analysis
Another important variable in this study is race-ethnic group, which is determined according to the self-identification of an individual, and can have the following values: Non-Latino White, Black, Latino, Asian and American Indian. Table 2 contains bivariate analysis of family type distribution by race-ethnic groups. The statistics for race-ethnic group is the following: there are 71,178,610 families total, 74.10% of them are identified as non-Latino Whites, 11.54% of them are Black, 3.41% are Asian, 10.17% are Latino and 0.79% are American Indian.
Family type distribution notably varies across race-ethnic groups. The largest rates of married couples (as opposed to families headed by single parents) are among non-Latino Whites – 82.6% and Asian – 81.5%. The rate of married couples for Latino and American Indian families is significantly lower and constitutes 68.4% and 63.1% accordingly. The lowest percentage of married couples is among Black families – only 47.1%.
The statistics for race-ethnic groups pertaining to the rate of families headed by a single parent is inverse to that describing married couples: the rate of single-parent families is the highest for Black families – 52.9%, is moderate for American Indian and Latino – 36.9% and 31.5% accordingly, and is the lowest for Asian – 18.5% and non-Latino Whites – 17.4%.
Part C. Family type and poverty status: bivariate analyses
Third variable in this research is poverty status, which is identified by the family income and is classified into four categories: poor – income below poverty threshold, near-poor – family income within the boundaries of poverty threshold and 1.5*poverty threshold, middle – family income between 1.5*poverty threshold and 5*poverty threshold, and comfortable – family income above 5*poverty threshold.
Table 3 illustrates bivariate analyses of the relationship between family type and poverty status. This table bases on the analysis of 72,229,689 households; 9.11% of them are classified as poor according to income level, 7.05% have near poor income, 51.78% have middle income and 32.06% have comfortable level of income.
The percent of married couples notably increases along with family income category: the highest rate of married couples is among families with comfortable income level – 90.7% and the lowest is among poor families – 41.0%. The rate of families headed by single parents has a strictly inverse relationship: the largest proportion of such families is among poor families – 59% and the smallest rate of single parent families is among families with comfortable level of income – only 9.3%.
The pattern observed in table 3 is absolutely consistent with Zinn’s claim that proportion of married couple families increases among high socioeconomic status groups. There are significant differences in the rate of married couples among different socioeconomic status groups, and the highest the status of the group is, the higher the rate of married couples in this group is. The rates of married couples for socioeconomic groups aligned by the increase of income level (poor, near poor, middle and comfortable) are 41.0%, 57.2%, 77.1% and 90.7% consequently; this sequence illustrates a distinct upward trend.
One way in which socioeconomic status of a family can affect its likelihood of having a married couple is the lower probability of divorce among higher socioeconomic groups: financial stress and pressure belongs to one of the most significant stressors, and couples unaffected by this stress are likely to stay together for longer.
Part D. Race-ethnicity and poverty status: bivariate analyses
Besides considering the relation between socioeconomic status of families and the rate of married couples, it is important to analyze the distribution of poverty status for different race-ethnic groups. Table 4 contains bivariate analysis showing the distribution of poverty status across different race-ethnicity groups.
The number of poor families is the smallest among non-Latino Whites (5.4%). One more race-ethnic group which has low number of poor families are Asian families (9.7% of poor families). The highest number of poor families is among American Indian families (21.8%) and Black families (21.5%). The rate of poor families among Latino families is also high – 19.9%. Non-Latino Whites and Asian families also have the lowest rates of near poor families – 5.2% and 7.2% accordingly, while the highest rate of near poor families is among Latino families – 14.9%.
The number of middle income families is comparable in all race-ethnic groups; it is slightly higher for non-Latino Whites and Latino families (52.1% and 52.8% accordingly) and is the lowest for Asian families – 47.5%. As for families with comfortable income level, their rate is notably higher for non-Latino Whites (37.4%) and Asians (35.7%), and is the lowest among Latino families – 12.5%.
In general, it is possible to distinguish between non-Latino White and Asian race-ethnic groups which tend to have higher incomes and higher rates of married couples, and Black/Latino/American Indian race-ethnic groups which tend to have lower incomes and lower proportions of married couples (as it was shown in Table 3). Latino families are slightly better off, while Black and Indian American families are more vulnerable to poverty more than other race-ethnic groups. The patterns in Table 4 are similar to the relationship between the rate of married couples and race-ethnic group. Hence, hhe results shown in Table 4 support the claim that race-ethnic differences in socio-economic status might account for race-ethnic diversity in the proportion of married couples families.
Part E. Married couple families in each race-ethnic group at different levels of poverty status: multivariate analysis
In order to assess whether the impact of poverty status is the only factor shaping race-ethnic differences in the proportion of married couples families, it is necessary to perform multivariate analysis of married couples rate and race-ethnic group controlling for family status. Table 5 shows the results of this analysis.
The data indicate that race-ethnic socioeconomic status is not the only factor affecting race-ethnic differences in family types. Indeed, if socioeconomic status was the sole factor determining race-ethnic differences in family types, there would be no significant differences among married couples rates for different race-ethnic groups with the same poverty level. However, there are very notable differences among the rates of married couples in different race-ethnic groups controlled by poverty. Among poor families, the highest percent of married couples is among Asian families (66.8%) and the lowest is among Black families (17.8%). A similar trend can be witnessed for other socioeconomic groups: among families with near poor income level, the highest rate of married couples is among Asian (75.3%) and the lowest is among Black families (36.9%). Among middle-income families, the highest rate of married couples belongs to non-Latino Whites (81.3%), closely followed by Asian (80.0%). The lowest rate of middle-income married couples is among Black families (53.9%). Among families with comfortable level of income, the rates are high for all race-ethnic groups, with the highest rate being among non-Latino Whites (92.1%), followed by Asians (88.7%), while the Black families still have the lowest rate of married couples (76.4%).
The data clearly indicate that family income does influence the number of married couples, as the rate of married couples notably increases with the increase of socioeconomic status for all race-ethnic groups. At the same time, there are other social factors influencing the rate of married couples since there are significant differences between race-ethnic groups for the same family income level. In particular, it is possible to state that Asians are likely to have one of the highest rates of married couples regardless of their income level, while non-Latino White families are highly likely to live as married couples only for middle and comfortable income levels.
Black families have considerably lower rates of married couples compared to other race-ethnic groups at all levels of family income. There might be multiple social causes of this alarming phenomenon. One of such causes might be the level of education among the members of Black families which might be lower compared to other groups. At the same time, education level is often related to income so it might be the consequence of the relationship between the rate of married couples and family income level. Another plausible cause of low rates of married couples among Black families might be the combination of two factors: high prison rates among Black men (which reduce the pool of potential partners for Black women) and the increasing percentage of interracial marriages between Black males and non-Black females (this trend also reduces the pool of potential husbands for Black women).
Part F. Discussion and conclusion
According to Maxine Baca Zinn, there exists such phenomenon as racial stratification. The differences in the patterns of reproductive and productive labor which have emerged historically have led to the differences in the social position and access to social resources between the representatives of different race-ethnic groups. These differences which are not directly attributable to race but largely to the functioning of social institutions and their historical legacy are referred to by Maxine Baca Zinn as racial stratification.
Furthermore, the author states that racial stratification has a notable impact on families, and there emerges a significant link between race and family in the United States. Indeed, the author emphasizes that racial stratification leads to different social positioning of families, creates distinctive patterns in the locations of families. In addition to this, the structure of social opportunities and their accessibility vary for different race-ethnic groups, and therefore influence development and social integration of families.
Maxine Baca Zinn also points out that the changes in racial composition of the society have a strong influence on family structure and on the development of family as a social institution. In particular, the author emphasizes Black families as an important social indicator of the general social processes, and states that many family behaviors which have emerged among middle-income families of non-Latino Whites were actually common for Black families for a long time, but were considered as deviant or improper earlier. Maxine Baca Zinn argues that family is changing as a social institution and shows that there is an important relationship between race and family in the United States. As racial composition of the society is changing, family institution will also respond with changes and transformations.
The results of data analysis exercise are mostly consistent with Baca Zinn’s argument about the relationship between racial stratification and family. In the short-term perspective, the assumptions of Maxine Baca Zinn are likely to be correct: there are notable differences in the rate of married couples among race-ethnic groups, and some of these differences are clearly related to socioeconomic position (which is, according to Baca Zinn, associated with race and ethnicity). Indeed, the patterns common for Black families seem to be significantly different from non-Latino Whites and Asian, with the patterns for American Indians and Latinos being in between the two extremes.
At the same time, in order to assess whether the data support or refute Baca Zinn’s claims, it is necessary to explore the dynamics of changes in the rate of married families by race-ethnic group during a long-term period of time. Baca Zinn emphasizes that the changes of racial composition of the society lead to the changes in family status, and the most appropriate way to assess this would be to collected data for 10- or 20-year period. However, in the short-term perspective the findings of the data analysis largely support Baca Zinn’s claims.
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