Citation URL: http://www.urban.org/RonaldBMincy

Despite the overall economic gains in the 1990s, many young black men continue to have the poorest life chances of anyone in our society. Joblessness and low earnings among these less-educated young adults are contributing to reductions in marriage, increases in nonmarital childbearing, and a host of other social problems. In Black Males Left Behind, Ronald Mincy has assembled a distinguished group of experts who examine how less-educated black men fared relative to other less-educated young people during the economic expansion of the 1990s and why. Chapters explore the roles of the macroeconomy, the deconcentration of blue-collar employment, criminal justice policy, and the employment aspirations of young less-educated black men and consider their implications for the design of employment services, welfare-to-work policies, workforce development policy, and child support enforcement. Two chapters comprehensively review policy opportunities to assist less-educated young black fathers and discuss how to overcome political resistance to initiatives serving less-educated black men. This book makes a compelling case for greater public attention to a serious domestic problem.

Nearly half of young, poor children and two-thirds of poor infants are likely to see their fathers frequently even if their parents are not married according to data from the 1999 National Survey of America's Families. The report identifies six living arrangements based on the marital status of the child's parents, whether they live together, and whether the father visits the child regularly. Black children are much less likely than white or Hispanic children to live with both of their parents. Instead, fragile-visiting families (the child's parents have never been married to each other, the child lives with the mother, and the father visits regularly) are a uniquely important arrangement by which poor black children have frequent contact with their fathers. [View the press release]

This brief argues that welfare reform has not gone far enough to encourage two-parent families and responsible fatherhood. In fact, some of its own policies discourage this behavior. Furthermore, many poor families with young children are already struggling to stay together against the odds. Eventually, the majority of these families break up. By intervening early, government could help these "fragile families" scale the most common barriers to remaining intact over the long haul.

Most young black American men in the United States grow up to lead productive lives. However, only 50 percent of black male high school dropouts have jobs, and over 40 percent are in prison, on parole, or on probation. Some programs, most of them private, are proving it is possible to help these teenagers. This book tells how the programs work, describes the difficulties they encounter, and shows how a national program network can be developed. Included are chapters on adolescent development, shifting the focus of youth programs from deterrence to development, and Afrocentrism and the African American male.

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