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A new report from the Pew Research Center finds there has been a dramatic shift in marriage rates among college-educated adults. Also, women have assumed more of a lead role in providing family income. These shifts are particularly pronounced in the African-American community where the gender gap in educational attainment is wider than it is for whites.
Readers of this journal are aware of the wide gender gap in African-American higher education. For example, the latest data shows that black women make up nearly two thirds of all African- American enrollments in higher education. Black women have a college graduation rate that is 12 percentage points higher than the rate for black men. As a result, black women now earn two thirds of all bachelor's degrees awarded to African Americans. In master's degree awards, black women win more than 70 percent of all degrees earned by African Americans.
A new report from the Pew Research Center examines the relationship between marriage, education, race, and income for women between the ages of 30 and 44. This age group is the first in U.S. history where women on average have achieved higher educational attainment than men. And mese gains in educational attainment for women are particularly noteworthy for blacks.
The gender gap in African- American higher education has created a situation where it is extremely difficult for educated black women to find a spouse of the same race and educational background. As a result, marriage rates for educated black women are very low.
The data shows that in 2007, only 33 percent of black women ages 30 to 44 were married at the...