University Study Finds Wealth Plays a Role in the Racial Marriage Gap

A study by Daniel Schneider, a doctoral candidate in sociology at Princeton University, shows that between 1970 and 2000 the median age of first marriage in the United States rose by four years.

From 1980 to 2000 the percentage of white woman ages 25 to 29 who had ever been married dropped by 13 percentage points to 68 percent. For black women ages 25 to 29, the percentage dropped by a whopping 25 percentage points to 38 percent.

People with low levels of education and income are less likely than their peers to get married. But even controlling for these factors, blacks are less likely to get married than whites. Schneider’s data shows that wealth also plays a role. Those that own a home, a car, or financial assets are more likely to get married. And since the median black wealth in this country is about one tenth that of the median wealth of whites, the wealth gap impacts the marriage-rate gap.

Schneinder estimates that 30 percent of the marriage rate gap can be explains by racial differences in wealth.

The article “Wealth and the Marital Divide,” published in the American Journal of Sociology, can be accessed here.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Get the JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News

Meta Sued for Discriminatory For-Profit College Marketing Targeted at Black Social Media Users

"This lawsuit aims to make it clear that no corporation — not even a Big Tech company as powerful as Meta—should be allowed to profit from the discriminatory treatment of Black students and consumers," said Damon T. Hewitt, president of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

In Memoriam: Jerry Washington Ward, Jr., 1943-2025

Dr. Ward taught English at Tougaloo College in Mississippi for over three decades. He then served a a distinguished professor at Dillard University in New Orleans for 10 years before his retirement in 2012.

The Education Department Takes Aim at Colleges’ Diversity and Inclusion Programs

The acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the United States Department of Education, warned colleges and universities that they risked losing federal funding if they continued to use race as a factor in a wide range of programs.

Black Americans Represent Just 5 Percent of All Top Staff in the New U.S. Congress

While Black Americans represent nearly 14 percent of the total U.S. population, they represent just 5.5 percent of all top staff positions in the personal offices of U.S. House members and senators.

Featured Jobs