Family Structure
In 1998, 51 percent of African-American children
lived in mother-only families, compared to 18 per-
cent of European-American children. Two primary
events result in female-headed households, namely,
births to unmarried women and marital dissolution,
and both are more common among African Ameri-
cans than European Americans. This is partly a conse-
quence of the unfavorable economic status of African-
American men relative to European-American men,
which reduces their eligibility as desirable mates.
African-American men who are stably employed have
higher marriage rates and lower rates of divorce and
separation than those who are unemployed or have
only minimal or unstable attachment to the labor
force. Employment factors, however, represent only
one set of factors that influence rates of marriage, di-
vorce, and separation among African Americans. Fol-
lowing divorce and separation, African-American
children are more likely to fall into poverty than are
European-American children because they were less
well-off to begin with. In addition, African-American
children spend more time than European-American
children in a mother-headed family before making
the transition to a two-parent family and are far more
likely than European-American children to remain in
a mother-headed family for the duration of child-
hood. All of these factors contribute to race differ-
ences in long-term childhood poverty.
Nevertheless, the difference in family structure is
not the sole factor responsible for the increased prev-
alence of poverty among African-American children.
The expected prevalence of poverty among African-
American children living in two-parent families
throughout childhood is roughly the same as the ex-
pected prevalence among European-American chil-
dren who spend their entire childhood living in
single-parent families. These race differences are fun-
damentally rooted in structural forces—traceable to
longstanding racial discrimination in employment,
education, mortgage lending, and housing—that
have produced layers of accumulated disadvantages.
Racial discrimination is not only individual-level be-
havior based on negative racial prejudice. It is also a
‘‘system of advantage based on race’’ sustained by in-
stitutional practices and policies. It also encompasses
behavior intended to maintain racial advantage even
though actors may not overtly embrace prejudicial
thinking (Tatum 1997).
Academic, Cognitive, and Physical Well-
Being
At all levels of family income, African-American
children receive lower scores on subtests of IQ tests
and on reading and writing achievement tests than
European-American children. Several factors contrib-
ute to these differences, including cultural bias in IQ
tests and differences in school quality, teacher expec-
tancy, the home learning environment, and economic
resources not reflected in current income. Racial dis-
parity in children’s early physical health status also
may be a factor. African-American children, com-
pared to European-American children, have higher
rates of iron deficiency anemia, elevated blood lead,
and low birthweight (less than or equal to 2,500 grams
(5 pounds, 8 ounces) at birth). Racial disparities in
anemia and elevated blood lead exist at all income le-
vels but are especially significant among children who
are poor.
The adverse effects of these physical health con-
ditions on children’s development are well docu-
mented. Iron-deficiency anemia in infancy adversely
affects brain development partly by affecting the
neurotransmitter function and myelin formation; it is
consistently associated with poorer scores on cogni-
tive and motor functioning. Children with elevated
blood lead levels, compared to those with lower lead
burdens, have slightly decreased scores on measures
of intelligence, poorer school performance and
achievement test scores, shorter attention spans, and
increased impulsiveness. Although the vast majority
of low birthweight children have normal outcomes, as
a group they have more problems in cognition, atten-
tion, and neuromotor functioning during middle
childhood and adolescence.Elevated levels of lead in the blood is more preva-
lent among African-American children because pov-
erty and housing discrimination have relegated
African-American families in disproportionate num-
bers to poor, older, urban neighborhoods. Housing
units in these neighborhoods often contain deterio-
rating lead-based paint and lead-contaminated dust.
In addition, these neighborhoods tend to be near in-
dustrial areas, which increases exposure to lead gaso-
line. It remains a puzzle why low birthweight births
are more common among African Americans than
among any other ethnic group, regardless of the
mother’s educational level (an indicator of socioeco-
nomic status). Higher teen pregnancy rates among
African Americans do not explain this race differen-
tial and genetic hypotheses have been discounted
(McLoyd and Lozoff 2001).Socioemotional Well-Being
The self-esteem of African-American children
and adolescents is reported to be equal to and often-
times higher than that of European-American chil-
dren and adolescents. During the grade school years,AFRICAN-AMERICAN CHILDREN 15