in part to the disproportionate number of single-
parent families among these two minorities.
Impact Demographic trends that had been evolv-
ing since the late 1960’s came to fruition in the
1980’s. The growth rate of the population declined
moderately, while the two-year increase in life expec-
tancy produced much concern about the long-term
health costs of an aging population. At the same
time, increasing immigration was changing the eth-
nic makeup of the United States, rendering it more
diverse than at any time in the nation’s history. With
the increase in births out of wedlock combined with
the growing divorce rate, many social scientists
warned about the problems associated with single-
parent families. Investors in the stock market did
much better than did middle-class workers, and Afri-
can American families made almost no progress
toward reducing the gap between their average in-
comes and those of white families. With few excep-
tions, these trends of the decade would continue
into the early years of the twenty-first century.
Further Reading
Anderton, Douglas, Richard Barrett, and Donald
Bogue.The Population of the United States.3d ed.
New York: Free Press, 1997. Large book contain-
ing a wealth of historical statistics with clear tables
and cogent discussions about the reasons for
changing statistics.
Bouvier, Leon, and Lindsey Grant.How Many Ameri-
cans? Population, Immigration, and the Environment.
San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1994. Makes in-
formed predictions about the future based on his-
torical precedents.
Ehrlich, Paul, and Anne Ehrlich.The Population Ex-
plosion. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990. Influ-
ential work arguing that population must be re-
duced in order to prevent a future catastrophe.
Hinde, Andrew.Demographic Methods. New York: Ox-
ford University Press, 1998. Textbook that ex-
plains the concepts, methods, and goals of the
field.
Klein, Herbert.A Population Histor y of the United
States. New York: Cambridge University Press,
- Scholarly survey of demographic history,
from the first Native Americans through the
changing patterns of the post-1980 era. Highly
recommended.
Longman, Phillip.The Empty Cradle: How Falling
Birthrates Threaten World Prosperity and What to Do
About It. New York: Basic Books, 2004. Rejects con-
ventional wisdom to emphasize the negative as-
pects of a declining population.
Wright, Russell.Twentieth Centur y Histor y of the United
States Population. New York: Rowman & Littlefield,- Summary of census data from 1900 until
1990, providing insight into the social, economic,
and political factors that have shaped the nation.
Thomas Tandy Lewis
See also Abortion; AIDS epidemic; Health care in
the United States; Immigration to the United States;
Income and wages in the United States; Social Secu-
rity reform; Unemployment in the United States;
Women in the workforce.Designing Women
Identification Television comedy series
Date Aired from September 29, 1986, to May 24,
1993
Set in Atlanta during the late 1980’s and early 1990’s and
revolving around four female characters,Designing
Womenpresented a new image of Southern women that
appealed to a diverse audience.
Celebrating rather than mocking the South and
Southerners,Designing Womenfeatured strong char-
acters and snappy dialogue delivered with authentic
accents. It elevated Southern humor to an entirely
new level. The show introduced audiences to the
Sugarbaker Design firm of Atlanta, which was owned
and operated by the characters. The women of the
show—the spirited, feisty owner of the firm, Julia
Sugarbaker (played by Dixie Carter); Julia’s younger
sister, Suzanne Sugarbaker (played by Delta Burke, a
former beauty queen); their initially shy but later ag-
gressive associate, Mary Jo Shively (played by Annie
Potts); and the sweet, naïve office manager, Charlene
Frazier (played by Jean Smart)—were beautiful, smart,
and funny.
When the series began, all four women were sin-
gle, either by circumstance or by choice, and in each
episode, instead of actually designing anything, the
characters would deliver their highly opinionated
commentary on everything from fast food to the
First Amendment. Action was limited, but scripts
were packed with clever jokes, memorable one-
liners, witty verbal repartee, and sentimental anec-286 Designing Women The Eighties in America