The rates are highest in the urban Northeast where 26 percent of Negro women ever married are either divorced, separated, or have their husbands absent.
On the urban frontier, the proportion of husbands absent is even higher. In New York City in 1960, it was 30.2 percent, not including divorces.
Among ever-married nonwhite women in the nation, the proportion with husbands present declined in every age group over the decade 1950-60 as follows:
Age
Percent with Husbands Present
1950
1960
15–19 years
77.8
72.5
24–24 years
76.7
74.2
25–29 years
76.1
73.4
30–34 years
74.9
72.0
35–39 years
73.1
70.7
40–44 years
68.9
68.2
Although similar declines occurred among white females, the proportion of white husbands present never dropped below 90 percent except for the first and last age group.9
Nearly One-Quarter of Negro Births are now Illegitimate.
Both white and Negro illegitimacy rates have been increasing, although from dramatically different bases. The white rate was 2 percent in 1940; it was 3.07 percent in 1963. In that period, the Negro rate went from 16.8 percent to 23.6 percent.
The number of illegitimate children per 1,000 live births increased by 11 among whites in the period 1940–63, but by 68 among nonwhites. There are, of course, limits to the dependability of these statistics. There are almost certainly a considerable number of Negro children who, although technically illegitimate, are in fact the offspring of stable unions. On the other hand, it may be assumed that many births that are in fact illegitimate are recorded otherwise. Probably the two opposite effects cancel each other out.
Percent Distribution of Ever-Married Negro Females with Husbands Absent or Divorced, in Urban Areas, by Region, 1960
