conjugal condition of black americans according to age periods
Digital draft.
“The statistical indexes of marital status, family size and composition, which are available from census data… are obviously not very adequate measures of the extent to which Negroes have conformed to white practices in regards to marriage and family organization. There are no data from which long-term trends can be determined and inaccuracies in census reporting of age and marital status prevent holding the age factor constant for the determination of short-term trends in marital proportions”
Eleanor C. Isbell, Memorandum on the Negro Family in America
Census tabulations on marriage and families are unable to meaningfully capture the variety in domestic arrangements and family structures. These lived realities may be better captured by looking at community studies.