Abstract
Racial differences in average per capita income are decomposed, as are changes over time for both races. The 1960–76 decline in household size accounted for 13 percent of the per capita income inprovement of both races. Whereas real increases in earnings of husbands contributed most to improvements in well-being in husband-wife households, increases in income from sources other than earnings were most important to female headed households. During a period in which a growing proportion of both races resided in female headed households and racial differences in living arrangements widened, the per capita income of female headed households relative to husband-wife households declined.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bianchi, S. M. 1978. Household Composition and Racial Inequality: 1960–76. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. University of Michigan.
Bianchi, S. M. 1979. More or Less Equality? Trends in the Earnings of Black and White, Male and Female Householders. Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Statistical Association, Social Statistics Section, Washington, D.C.
Bianchi, S. M, and R. Farley. 1979. Racial Differences in Family Living Arrangements and Economic Well-Being: An Analysis of Recent Trends. Journal of Marriage and the Family 41:537–551.
Bumpass, L., and R. Rindfuss. 1979. Children's Experience of Marital Disruption. American Journal of Sociology 85:49–65.
Cutright, P. 1974. Components of Change in the Number of Female Family Heads Aged 15–44: U.S. 1940-70. Journal of Marriage and the Family 36:714–721.
Duncan, G. J., and J. N. Morgan. 1977. An Overview of Part I Findings. Chapter I in G. J. Duncan and J. N. Morgan (eds.), Five Thousand American Families—Patterns of Economic Progress, Vol. V. Ann Arbor: Institute for Social Research.
Farley, R. 1977. Trends in Racial Inequalities: Have the Gains of the 1960's Disappeared in the 1970's? American Sociological Review 36:1–17.
Glick, P. C., and A. J. Norton. {dy1977}. Marrying, Divorcing, and Living Together in the U.S. Today. Population Bulletin. Vol. 32, No.5.
Kitagawa, E. 1955. Components of a Difference Between Two Rates. Journal of the Americal Statistical Association 50:1168–1194.
Kobrin, F. E. 1976. The Fall of Household Size and the Rise of the Primary Individual in the United States. Demography 73:127–138.
Levitan, S., W. B. Johnston and R. Taggart. 1975. Still a Dream. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
McEaddy, B. J. 1976. Women Who Head Families: A Socioeconomic Analysis. Monthly Labor Review 99:3–9.
Morgan, J. N. 1974. Change in Global Measures. Chapter I in J. N. Morgan (ed.), Five Thousand American Families—Patterns of Economic Progress, Vol. I. Ann Arbor: Institute for Social Research.
O'Connor, J. F. 1977. A Logarithmic Technique for Decomposing Change. Sociological Methods and Research 6:91–102.
Ross, H., and I. Sawhill. 1975. Time of Transition: The Growth of Families Headed by Women. Washington, D. C: The Urban Institute.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. 1977a. Household and Family Characteristics: March 1976. Current Population Reports. Series P-20, No. 311. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
—. 1977b. Money Income in 1975 of Families and Persons in the United States. Current Population Reports. Series P-60, No. 105. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bianchi, S.M. Racial differences in per capita income, 1960–76: The importance of household size, headship, and labor force participation. Demography 17, 129–143 (1980). https://doi.org/10.2307/2061055
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2061055