During the rest of the 1960's the nonwhite civilian population 14 years of age and over will increase by 20 percent—more than double the white rate. The nonwhite labor force will correspondingly increase 20 percent in the next 6 years, double the rate of increase in the nonwhite labor force of the past decade.
| Family income in 1959 | Number of Children per Nonwhite Mother Age 35 39, 1960 | ||
| Under $2,000 | 5.3 | ||
| $2,000 to $3,999 | 4.3 | ||
| $4,000 to $4,999 | 4.0 | ||
| $5,000 to $5,999 | 3.8 | ||
| $6,000 to $6,999 | 3.5 | ||
| $7,000 to $9,999 | 3.2 | ||
| $10,000 to $14,999 | 2.9 | ||
| $15,000 and over | 2.9 | ||
| |||
As with the population as a whole, there is much evidence that children are being born most rapidly in those Negro families with the least financial resources. This is an ancient pattern, but because the needs of children are greater today it is very possible that the education and opportunity gap between the offspring of these families and those of stable middle-class unions is not closing, but is growing wider.
A cycle is at work; too many children too early make it most difficult for the parents to finish school. (In February, 1963, 38 percent of the white girls who dropped out of school did so because of marriage or pregnancy, as against 49 percent of nonwhite girls.)25 An Urban League study in New York reported that 44 percent of girl dropouts left school because of pregnancy.26
Low education levels in turn produce low income levels, which deprive children of many opportunities, and so the cycle repeats itself.
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