Many thanks to Amanda Lewis & Eduardo Bonilla-Silva for all their hard work in editing the special issue that this paper is a part of. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to check out the full issue!

I found that once barriers to entry were taken into account, family structure explained only a small fraction of the racial gap in young adult outcomes. When we ignore barriers to marriage, we overestimate family structure’s role in maintaining racial inequality.

Are lower rates of two-parent families among African Americans the reason they have lower life outcomes than white Americans? Or do the barriers to living in a two-parent family (e.g., mass incarceration) also explain their more limited life opportunities?

It’s really hard to get married and stay married when you’ve been imprisoned, and/or struggle to earn a living wage. These same barriers also limit your chances of getting ahead more generally.

African Americans’ lower rates of two-parent families are often viewed as a root cause of the disadvantages they face. What’s often overlooked are the barriers—like mass incarceration and limited job opportunities—that make it harder for them to form two-parent families in the first place.

Thank you, Ani!