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State of the Black Family
2008
DATA SHEET
POPULATION
As of July 1, 2004, the estimated population of black residents in the United States was 39.2 million, including those of more than one race. Blacks made up 13.4 percent of the total U.S. population. This figure represents an increase of half a million residents from one year earlier.
(Source: http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/005164.html)
32% is the proportion of the black population under the age 18 as of July 1, 2004. At the other end of the spectrum, eight percent of the black population was 65 or older.
(Source: http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/005164.html)
Southern Living
Fifty-five percent of the nation's African American population lives in the South; 12.5 percent of these reisdents live in rural communities.
Of the estimated 10,000 black farmers left in the United States, fewer than 200 are younger than 65. Opportunities for African American youth to be exposed to the principles and practices of sustainable agriculture in the Southesaset are rare; roots communities are disintegrating.
(Source: Smiley, Tavis (2006). The Covenant with Black America. Chicago, Illinois: Third World Press.)
MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
There are 9.1 million black families in the United States. Of these, nearly one-half (47 percent) are married-couple families (of all ages). (Source: http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2004.html)
11% of black children live in a household maintained by a grandparent. (Source: http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2004.html)
Black married couples are more likely to break up than white married couples, and black divorcees are less likely to remarry than white divorcees.
(Source: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_23/sr23_022.pdf)
The number of children born into a black marriage averages less than 0.9 children per marriage. Put another way, an African American women averages less than one child during marriage.
(Link: http://www.divorcereform.org/black.html. Source: The Abolition of Marriage: How We Destroy Lasting Love. Regnery Publishing (Washington, D.C.).
Census figures show that 35% of Americans between 24 and 34 have never married. For African-Americans, that figure is 54%." Possible explanation given by Marital therapist and radio talk-show host Audrey Chapman: “Young black women are now spending years getting an education and building a career. When they turn to thoughts of settling down, they find a small pool of marriageable black men...”
(Source: http://www.divorcereform.org/mel/rdivorceblack.html)
FAITH
African Americans are more likely than whites to report that they have prayed to God during the past 7 days. 92% of African Americans reported praying compared to 82% of white adults nationwide. (2002)
African Americans are significantly more likely than are whites to have read from their Bible in the past 7 days other than at church. (61% to 42%, respectively). (2002)
53% of African Americans attend church on a given Sunday, which is similar to the rate of church attendance among whites (43%). 2002)
African Americans are more likely than average to say that they are “a born again Christians.” A belief held by 57% of African Americans compared to 39% of adults nationwide. (2001)
21% of the African American population is unchurched, compared to 32% of whites. (1998)
Compared to 66% of whites, 83% of blacks say their religious faith is very important in their lives. (2001)
46% feel that they have a responsibility to tell other people about thier religious beliefs; 33% of whites feel the same way. (2001)
45% of black adults are born again Christians.(2001)
African-American adults are less likely than Hispanics or whites to contend that moral truth is absolute. In total, 10% of African-Americans believe moral truth is absolute, compared to 15% of Hispanics and 26% of whites. (2001)
56% of blacks interviewed are absolutely committed to Christianity. (2002).
The typical black church has an average attendance that is about 50% greater than that of the typical white church. (1997)
63% say the pastors of black churches are the most important leaders in the African-American community (1996)
71% are "concerned about the moral condition of the nation" (2001)
(Source: www.Barna.org Link: http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=Topic&TopicID=1 )
Black Youth
The following data on Black Youth is from the University of Chicago Black Youth Project. http://blackyouthproject.uchicago.edu
Perspectives on Education
54% of Black youth believe that Black youth receive a poorer education on average than do White youth.
Perspectives on the Neighborhood
Only 14% of Black youth believe that they grew up in a very good neighborhood, and 33% of Black youth thought things like drugs, violence, gangs, and crime were a big problem in their neighborhood as opposed to only 10% of white youth reporting such things as a big problem.
Sex
76% of Black Youth agree that condoms should be available in high schools.
In 2005, Black high-school students were more likely than White students to report ever having had sexual intercourse—68 percent and 43 percent, respectively— having initiated sex before age 13—17 percent and 4 percent, respectively—having had sex with four or more partners.
Bling, Bling
More than 40 percent of Black youth agree with the statement that “people judge me by what I can buy and what I own.”
Politics
79% percent of Black youth believe that they can make a difference by participating in politics. 79% of white youth also feel the same way.
56% Black youth believe that the leaders in government care very little about people like them.
Rap Music
58% of Black youth say they listen to rap music every day.
25% of Black Youth watch rap music programming on television every day, as opposed to only 5% of white youth.
In general, most young people (over 50%) agree with the statement “Rap music videos portray Black women in bad and offensive ways,” and young Black women and girls (26%) are the most likely to strongly agree with the statement. However, only 17% of young black men strongly agree.
While the majority of young people agree with the statement “Rap music videos portray Black men in bad and offensive ways,” only 44% young Black men and boys agree that they are portrayed in bad and offensive ways.
HIV/AIDS
In 2004, Black youth comprised 55 percent of those ages 13–24 with HIV.
Even though Black youth represent only 16 percent of all young people ages 13–19, Black youth comprised 61 percent of new AIDS cases in 2001, and 51 percent of all AIDS cases in this age range from 1981 to 2001.
Crime
In 2004, Black males ages 14–24 constituted 1 percent of the general
population; however, they comprised nearly 15 percent of all victims of homicide and more than a quarter—26 percent—of homicide offenders.
While Black youth comprise only 16 percent of the adolescent population in the U.S., in 2004 they accounted for 50 percent of adolescents arrested for murder, 46 percent of those arrested for violent crimes,6 and approximately 40 percent of juveniles in public and private residential custody facilities.
HEALTH
US. Recent statistics show that over half of the US population is overweight or obese. Unhealthy weight trends are even more pronounced among African Americans with 60.1% of African American men and 78% of African American women identified as overweight. In addition, 28.8% of men and 50.8% of African American women are considered obese. The charts below show that black women lead the population both in the numbers who are overweight and obese.
(Link: http://www.netwellness.org/healthtopics/aahealth/healthybody.cfm Primary Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NationalCenter for Health Statistics, Division of Health Examination Statistics.
HIV/AIDS
African Americans account for 56% of all new HIV infections annually. A quarter of these new infections are among people under the age of twenty-five.
Two-thirds of new AIDS cases among teens are black, yet blacks are only 15% of the national teen population.
Source: Smiley, Tavis (2006). The Covenant with Black America. Chicago, Illinois: Third World Press.
Percent of Black births with low birth weight: 13
(Source: Births: Final Data 2003, tables 1, 24)
Percent of Black individuals in fair or poor health: 12
Source: Summary Health Statistics for the U.S. Population: National Health Interview Survey, 2003, Appendix III, table V
Percent of Black men 20 years and over with hypertension: 36 (1999-2002)
Percent of women 20 years and over with hypertension: 42 (1999-2002)
Source: Health, United States, 2004, table 67
Health Insurance
20% of the black population lacked health insurance in 2004, unchanged from the previous year. (Source: http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/005647.html)
Mortality
Leading Causes of Death among African Americans:
- Heart disease
- Cancer
- Stroke
(Source: Deaths: Leading Causes for 2002, table 1)
Lead Poisoning
Lead poisoning continues to be the number-one environmental health threat to children of color in the United States, especially poor children and children living in inner cities.
Source: Smiley, Tavis (2006). The Covenant with Black America. Chicago, Illinois: Third World Press.
Life Expectancy:
Black men remain the group with the lowest life expectancy. Those born in 1999 are expected to live to the age of 67.8, which is about 7 years less than for comparable white men (74.6). Among women born in 1999, blacks are expected to live to the age of 74.7, and whites to age 79.9. (Link: http://www.jointcenter.org/DB/factsheet/lifexpec.htm Primary source: National Center for Health Statistics).
ENVIRONMENTAL
Access to Full Service Grocery Stores
Nationally, only half of all black neighborhoods lack access to a full-service grocer store or supermarket.
(Source: Smiley, Tavis (2006). The Covenant with Black America. Chicago, Illinois: Third World Press.)
(Primary Source: R. Flournoy, "Regional Development and Physical Activity: Issues and Strategies for Promoting Health Equity," PolicyLink, Oakland, CA, November 2002, p.10.)
Polluted Communities
Seventy-one percent of African Americans across the Uniterd States live in counties that violate federal air pollution standards, compared with 58% of white Americans.
(Primary Source: American Lung Association, "Air Quality and African Americans," http://www.lungusa.org)
Nationally, three out of five African and Latino Americans live in communties with abandoned toxic waste sites.
(Source: Smiley, Tavis (2006). The Covenant with Black America. Chicago, Illinois: Third World Press.)
The Katrina Aftermath
Hurrican Katrina caused six major oil spills, releasing 7.4 million gallons of oil. It hit 60 underground storage tanks, five Superfund sites, 466 industrial facilities that stored highly dangerous chemicals, and disabled more than 1,000 drinking-water systems. The result: one large "toxic soup" with e.coli in the floodwaters far exceeding EPA's safe levels.
(Source: Smiley, Tavis (2006). The Covenant with Black America. Chicago, Illinois: Third World Press.)
ECONOMICS
$92.7 billion in receipts for black-owned businesses in 2002, up 30 percent from 1997. The rate at which black-owned businesses increased their receipts was higher than the national average (22 percent). (Source: http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/business_ownership/005477.html)
There were 1.2 million black-owned businesses in 2002, up by more than 370,000, or 45 percent, since 1997. An estimated 94,862 such firms had paid employees, with receipts of $69.8 billion or about $735,586 per firm. (Source: http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/business_ownership/005477.html)
Thirty-eight percent of black-owned firms were in health care and other service industries; health care and retail trade accounted for a fourth of their receipts.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/business_ownership/005477.html>
A fourth of the businesses in Washington, D.C., were black-owned. Black-owned businesses accounted for between 12 percent and 15 percent of firms in Maryland, Georgia, Mississippi and Louisiana. <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/business_ownership/005477.html>
Black business owners were more likely to hold graduate degrees when they started or acquired ownership in their business (about 1-in-4) than the national average (19 percent).
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/business_ownership/003913.html>
Unemployment and Networth
The unemployment rate for black people nationwide is twice that for whites.
African Americans have a median net worth of $5,998, compared to $88,651 for whites. Even more alarming, 32 percent of African Americans have a zero or negative net worth.
(Source: Smiley, Tavis (2006). The Covenant with Black America. Chicago, Illinois: Third World Press.)
Black Buying Power
Black Buying Power: $679 Billion in 2004. Up 3.5% from 2003.
Top Five Expenditures:
-110.2 billion on housing
-53.8 billion on food
-28.7 billion on cars/trucks
-22.0 billion on Clothing
-17.9 billion on health care
(Source: http://targetmarketnews.com/BuyingPower05.htm )
Travel
African American travel has grown by 16 percent in the past three years according to the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA). Family reunions, African American heritage sites and special events are all major components of this billion dollar segment of the overall industry
(Source: http://www.travelboundmagazine.com/travelbound.html)
EDUCATION
High School Diploma—81% of blacks age 25 and older, had at least a high school diploma in 2004. This proportion rose by 8 percentage points from 1994 to 2004.
(Source: http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/004214.html)
Bachelors Degree—18% of blacks age 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2004 — up 5 percentage points from 1994.
(Source: http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/004214.html)
Advanced Degree—1.1 million blacks age 25 and older had an advanced degree in 2004 (e.g., master’s, Ph.D., M.D. or J.D.). Ten years earlier — in 1994 — only 624,000 blacks had this level of education.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/004214.html>
College Students—2.3 million black college students in the fall 2004, roughly double the number 15 years earlier. (Source: http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/005787.html)
Blacks at the Nations Top-Ranked Universities
For the 27 high-ranking universities for which we have data for both this year and last, it is encouraging to report that 17 universities showed gains in black first year enrollments. Only eight high-ranking universities had declines in their number of black freshmen.
(Source: http://www.jbhe.com/pdf/2005freshmensurvey.pdf)
Black Enrollment at Ivy League Schools
For the 1992 to 2005 period, enrollment trends are up at six of the eight Ivy League colleges, with the largest gains at Princeton (56.7% gain) and Harvard (55% gain). Black enrollments are down at Brown and Columbia over the 14-year period, but Columbia posted a 26.7 percent gain in black freshmen this year compared to a year ago. Among the 23 universities that disclosed black student yield (the percentage of applicants who decide to go to a college that issues an invitation to them) Harvard once again had the highest rate at 69.2 percent.
(Source: http://www.jbhe.com/pdf/2005freshmensurvey.pdf)
College Graduation Rates
Nationally, only 40% of enrolled black college students graduate, compared to 61% of enrolled white students.
Source: Smiley, Tavis (2006). The Covenant with Black America. Chicago, Illinois: Third World Press.
Performance Gap Between Blacks & Whites Widens
Performance gaps between blacks and whites ages 13-17 have actually widened between 1988 and 1999. Down the line, these measures lead to lower pay, higher unemployment levels for equal levels of education, higher dropout rates and lower test scores. Gaps in reading achievement showed no evidence of narrowing during the 1990s.
Thus, more blacks have completed high school and have gone on to college than in the past, "But despite some gains, black children and adults don't advance to the next level at the same rate as our white peers," states Secretary of Education, Rod Paige.
Source: "Status and Trends in the Education of Blacks," released by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). 2003
http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2003/10/10142003b.html
INCOME AND POVERTY
Annual median income—The annual median income of black households in 2004 was $30,134. This represents no change from 2003.
(Source: http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/005647.html)
In 1998, black men earned, on average, 71 cents for every dollar earned by white men. Black male college graduates earned 72 cents for every dollar earned by comparable whites. (Source: http://www.jointcenter.org/DB/factsheet/earnings.htm)
Job Type—27% percent of blacks age 16 and older work in management, professional and related occupations. (Source: American FactFinder)
Professionals—There are 50,600 black physicians and surgeons; 69,400 postsecondary teachers; 44,800 lawyers; and 53,800 chief executives. (Source: Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2006, Table 604.)
Poverty Rate— The poverty rate was 24.7% in 2004 for those reporting black as their only race. This rate was unchanged from 2003. (Source: http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/005647.html)
Wealth Disparities— There is a 6-to-1 gap between whites and African-Americans in the area of wealth. 11-to-1 between whites and Latinos. The median net worth of whites is $121,000 as compared to $18,000 for Blacks and $11,500 for Latinos.
(Source: http://www.inequality.org/facts.cfm )
Homeownership
48% of black householders own their own hom, (as compared with more than 75% of whites. (Source: http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing/hvs/qtr305/q305prss.pdf)
OTHER DATA
Voting
60% percent of black citizens age 18 and older voted in the 2004 presidential election. That amounted to 14 million voters. The percentage of those voting is up 3 percentage points from the previous election. Blacks had the highest turnout rate of any minority group in 2004.
(Source: http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/voting/004986.html)
Military
There are 2.4 million black military veterans in the United States in 2004.
(Source: American Fact Finder
Incarceration
At the end of 2002, 6.7 million people in the United States were on probation, in jail or prison, or on parole. This represented 3.1% of the nation’s resident adults, or 1 in every 32 adults. Black males (586,700) outnumbered white males (436,800) and Hispanic males (235,000) among inmates with sentences of more than 1 year at year end 2002. Black inmates represented an estimated 45% of all inmates with sentences of more than 1 year, while white inmates accounted for 34% and Hispanic inmates 18%.
(Source: http://www.jointcenter.org/DB/factsheet/correctionalsys.htm )
Black Elected Officials
There are approximately 10,000 Black elected officials in the United States.
(Source: The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies)
Disclaimer
The information/data provided in the State of the Black Family 2007 Data Sheet is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. I encourage you to seek out the primary sources—review the census data charts, and read the books and reports mentioned in their entirety and arrive at your own, informed conclusions. Also feel free to share any data or sources that you believe we overlooked.
Data compiled by Anita S. Lane
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