"Gender Differences in Marriage, Romantic Involvement, and Desire for Romantic Involvement Among Older African Americans"

• In Event: 3523 - Family Section Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 min): Table 10: Marriage, Intimate Relationships, and Singleness

Abstract

Background: The decline in U.S. marriage rates is one of the most striking demographic trends in recent history. Approximately 72% of Americans were married in 1960, compared to only half (51%) in 2010. However, there is a dearth of research on the correlates of marriage and romantic involvement among older African Americans. This is an important omission because although the marriage decline is universal, African Americans show the steepest decline in marriage rates. Marriage has conventionally been linked to better economic and health outcomes, especially for older cohorts. Therefore, lack of marriage/romantic involvement is likely to exacerbate health and economic disparities at the later life course.

Methods: Using data from the National Survey of American Life, multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to identify demographic and health correlates of: 1) being married or cohabiting, 2) having a romantic involvement, 3) not having a romantic involvement but desiring one, and 4) not having and not desiring a romantic involvement.

Results: Four in 10 older African Americans are married or cohabiting, 11% are unmarried but romantically involved, 9.5% are unmarried and not romantically involved but open to the possibility of a relationship, and 38% neither have nor desire a romantic involvement. More men than women are married or cohabiting, a gap that increases with advanced age. For unpartnered respondents, an age by gender interaction indicated that older age was associated with decreased desire for romantic involvement, especially for African American women.

Conclusion: Almost as many older African Americans do not want a romantic relationship as are married. Findings support social exchange theories and the importance of unbalanced sex ratios. Furthermore, the results suggest that singlehood among older African Americans (especially women) is not necessarily an involuntary status. Nonetheless, this group is at higher risk of economic and health problems as they age.

Authors

• Dawne M. Mouzon, Rutgers University-New Brunswick

• Robert Joseph Taylor, University of Michigan

• Linda Chatters