The shifting structure of production agriculture in Louisiana, characterized by technological change and economic growth, has created problems for farmers, forcing them either to get large, get out of farming, or get off-farm work to survive. A survey of 142 farmers living in parishes surrounding the Baton Rouge metropolitan area indicates…

This paper addresses health and social issues as well as other socioeconomic problems which affect the black family, and the development of appropriate policy and programs to deal with those problems. Data on infant mortality, life expectancy, maternal mortality, physician and dental visits, and some selected death rates from specific causes are…

The black community is considered as an economy where the consumption and investment behavior of black families have no significant impact on the growth rate of family income. This is seen to be a problem. The thrust of the argument that follows is that in the absence of a closer relationship between aggregate black family consumption spending,…

This document provides an overview of the distribution of minority groups across the economic class structure, examines the concept of a separate underclass, and assesses the potential of strategies based on residential and job mobility for improving the prospects of each of the different classes. A racial comparison of all urban households on the…

This paper considers the following dimensions of the change in household composition of the United States population between 1960 and 1980: (1) a decrease in the number of households headed by a couple; and (2) a decrease in the number of children per household. Examination of census figures from 1960, 1970, and 1980 reveals that blacks and whites…

This document consists of 15 data tables, without accompanying text, for a National Center for Restructuring Education, Schools, and Teaching (NCREST) presentation on the education and economic condition of Hispanic Americans. Each table contains a source note. The following are the table titles: (1) "Resident Population of the United States,…

Reviews trends in Black economic progress and compares data for Black and White families. Describes how structural changes in families and income inequalities are symptoms of a growing Black underclass. Calls for policies to reduce joblessness among underclass men and increase child support by absentee fathers. (MW)

A longitudinal study of racial/ethnic residential segregation in 27 central Texas cities used data from the 1970 and 1980 censuses to investigate effects of 3 socioeconomic indicators (education, income, occupation) and other variables (age of city, city growth rate, percent of Black and Spanish population) on changes in Black-White,…

This paper has a dual purpose. First, it relates the research and writings of DuBois, a social scientist and humanist in the best intellectual tradition of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, to the sociology of the black family in the United States; and second, it presents selected data having to do with the structure and functioning of…

The major portion of this presentation describes research results and policy implications of the Family Matters Project, a longitudinal study of social contexts as they affect children and families during the period of transition from home to school. Also provided in this portion are highlights of what was learned from delivering to 160 families…

This study examined television viewing patterns among 89 children of 2 and 4 years of age and their families. The purpose was to describe television and VCR viewing patterns among young children as a function of family characteristics and media options in the home. Information about family structure, income, media availability, child care…

A study was conducted to determine the (theoretical) relative influence of family status and occupational and attitudinal variables on women's commitment to work. Twelve hundred working women were asked. "If you were to get enough money to live as comfortably as you'd like for the rest of your life, would you continue to work? Yes or…