Mate Selection Differentials Between Whites and Blacks in the United States

The greater excess of women among blacks than among whites during the years in which mate selection and first typically occur is documented. The extent to which this imbalance has implications for differential patterns of mate selection and marital history is explored through the use of data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census Current Population Survey for June 1975. The data are weighted to reflect estimates of the resident civilian noninstitutional population of the United States age 14 and over. Findings establish that demographic necessity requires black females to have a more restricted field of eligibles than white females. It is demonstrated that black women enlarge their field of eligibles by marrying males who tend to be older who have lower educational attainment and who have previously been married. The findings suggest that the marriage squeeze young marriageable black women experience may have important consequences for courtship during adolescence entrance into and marital dissolution. (authors)