Mixed Race Studies

Fatherhood Institute Research Summary: African Caribbean fathers

Fatherhood Institute
2010-03-10

The picture for UK fathers of Black Caribbean heritage is complex since as many of their children are now conceived with partners from outside Black Caribbean communities than are conceived within them. This pattern is not yet strong among UK fathers of Black African heritage, 81% of whose children are conceived within their own heritage group (Platt, 2009).
 
Black and Black British fathers are twice as likely as white British fathers (and three times as likely as British Asian fathers) to live apart from their children; and high rates of non-resident fatherhood are also found where children are of Mixed Heritage (Hunt, 2009a; Platt, 2009).  However, there are substantial social class differences here, and while cultural factors contribute (Reynolds, 2009) the main reasons for non-resident fatherhood in Black and Mixed Heritage families are the same as those found in white families: low socio-economic status, unemployment, low education, and so on (e.g. Amato & Sobolewski, 2004); Maclean & Eekelaar, 1997). Experience of racism, and institutionalised racism, are key to all of these (making them far more common in Black families) and are also relevant to other factors which further contribute to high levels of non-resident-fatherhood in Black families: early fatherhood, poor mental health, imprisonment, having been raised without own father present, and so on…

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What about These Children? Assessing Poverty Among the ‘Hidden Population’ of Multiracial Children in Single-Mother Families

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research
Discussion Paper Series: DP 2010-09
2010
ISSN: 1936-9379
48 pages

Jenifer L. Bratter, Associate Professor of Sociology
Rice University

Sarah Damaske, Assistant Professor of Labor Studies and Employment Relations
Pennsylvania State University

Capturing the conditions of children of color living in single-parent families has become more complex due to the growing presence of interracial households. This analysis assesses the size and poverty status of single-female headed families housing multiracial children. Using data from the 2000 Census, we find that 9 percent of female-headed families house either children who are classified with more than one race or are classified as a single race different than their mother’s compared to only 3 percent of married couple families. Logistic regression analyses assessing the odds of poverty status for families finds that being a multiracial family does not constitute a uniform advantage or disadvantage for female headed households. Rather, these families, like most families of color, are more likely to experience poverty than white monoracial families. The two exceptions are White multiracial families who are more likely to be in poverty relative to this reference group and Asian multiracial families who have similar poverty rates as white monoracial families (and a lower rate than Asian monoracial families).

Read the entire report here.