INTRODUCTION

This report presents a statistical portrait of the demographic, social, and economic characteristics of Blacks based primarily on the March 1992 Supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS).1 Topics covered include: population growth, marital status, family type and distribution, the living arrangements of children, education, employment, unemployment, occupational distribution, family income, earnings, poverty status, and the tenure of householders.

Most of the data presented in this report are estimates based on sample surveys and are subject to sampling variability since they are not based on a complete enumeration of the population. Caution is advised when comparing differences in estimates that are based on small numbers of cases, especially if the differences between the two estimates being compared is not large. The values shown in the parentheses represent the 90-percent confidence interval. (See Appendix B, "Source and Accuracy of Estimates," for a more detailed discussion of sampling errors.)

Survey estimates in this report are not totally consistent with census data due to many factors, including differences in population universes, methodologies, and in the classification of persons by race. (See Appendix B, "Source and Accuracy of Estimates.")

Some of the major findings of the report are presented below:

HIGHLIGHTS

Both the Black and White populations have aged since 1980. The Black population had a median age of 28.2 years in 1992, compared with 24.8 years in 1980. The corresponding median ages for Whites were 34.3 and 30.8 years.

'The population universe for the March 1992 CPS is the civilian noninstitutional population of the United States plus members of the Armed Forces in the United States living off post or with their families on post, but excludes all other members of the Armed Forces. The estimates for 1992 in this report are inflated to national population controls by age, race, and sex. The population controls are based on results of the 1980 census carried forward to 1992. The estimates in this report, therefore, may differ from estimates that would have been obtained using 1990 census results brought forward to the survey date. Population controls incorporating 1990 census results will be used for survey estimation beginning in the near future.

• In 1980, 8 percent of Black adults (25 years old and over) had a bachelor's degree or more. By 1992, this proportion had increased to 12 percent. The corresponding percentages for Whites were 18 and 22 percent, respectively.

• The annual average labor force participation rate for Black men in 1992 (70 ± 0.6 percent) was somewhat lower than in 1980 (71 ± 0.6 percent). Over the same period, the annual average labor force participation rate of White men experienced a similar decline from 78 (± 0.2) percent to 76 (± 0.2) percent. However, their 1992 participation rate (76 ± 0.2 percent) remained higher than that for Black men (70 ± 0.6 percent).

• In 1992, the annual average labor force participation rates of Black women (58 ± 0.6 percent) and White women (58 ± 0.3 percent) were similar. These represented increases over the 1980 labor force participation rate of both Black (53 ± 0.6) and White (51 ± 0.2)

women.

Black families had a real median income of $21,550 (+$730) in 1991, not statistically different from their 1979 level of $21,300 (± $640).2 The 1991 median income of White families was $37,780 (+ $350), similar to their 1979 level of $37,620 (± $270).

• The ratios of Black-to-White median income for all family types (0.57 ± 0.02) in 1979 and 1991 did not statistically differ. In 1991, the ratio of Black-to-White married-couple median family income was 0.80 (± 0.03), similar to the 0.77 (± 0.03) in 1979. The apparent change in the comparable ratio for male householder families, from 0.70 (± 0.09) in 1979 to 0.85 (± 0.13) in 1991, is not statistically significant. The Black-toWhite median family income ratio for female householders with no spouse present was also unchanged-0.60 (0.03) in 1979 and 0.58 (± 0.04) in 1991.

In 1991, the median earnings of year-round, full-time Black workers 25 years old and over who were high school graduates was $18,620 (± $700); 55 (± 2.4) percent of them had earnings below $20,000. In contrast, the median earnings of comparable Black

2Changes in real income refer to comparisons after adjusting for inflation. The percentage change in prices between 1979 and 1991 was computed by dividing the annual average Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers (CPI-U-X1) for 1991 by the annual average for 1979.

workers with a bachelor's degree or more was $30,910 (+$1,060), or 66 percent higher than Black high school graduates. Only 16 (± 2.6) percent of Black workers with at least a bachelor's degree earned less than $20,000.

• In occupations with statistically significant earnings differentials between Black and White males who worked year-round, full-time, the median earnings ratio of Black men to White men ranged from an apparent low of $64 (± $16) per $100 for men employed in farming, fishing, and forestry, to an apparent high of $87 (+$7) for men employed in service occupations. ⚫ Black men with a high school education employed as executives, administrators, and managers earned about $60 ($8) for every $100 earned by comparable White men. Three (± 1.0) percent of Black and 9 (±0.6) percent of White male high school graduates were employed in these jobs.

Among college educated males who worked yearround, full-time, a higher proportion of Whites (32 ± 1.0 percent) than of Blacks (26 ± 4.2 percent) were employed in executive, administrative, and managerial jobs. The median earnings of Black college educated males in these jobs was 77 (± 6.7) percent of comparable White males' earnings.

• Thirty-three (± 1.3) percent of all Black persons were poor in 1991, similar to their 1979 poverty rate of 31 (±1.3) percent. Among White persons, 11 (± 0.4) percent were poor in 1991 and 9 (± 0.3) percent in 1979.

• Among Black persons age 65 and over, 34 (± 4.7) percent were poor in 1991, compared with 10 (± 0.9) percent of elderly Whites.

A larger proportion of elderly poor Blacks (65 ± 8.1 percent) than of all poor Blacks lived in the South (56 ± 2.5 percent).

• There were more Black women (1.2 million ± 174,000) than Black men (0.8 million ± 144,000) among the working poor. In contrast, a similar number of White men (3.5 million ± 296,000) and White women (3.3 million 290,000) were working poor.

In 1991, Blacks (15 ± 1.5 percent) were more than twice as likely as Whites (6 ± 0.4 percent) to be working poor-that is, with income below the poverty level and held a job in 1991.

In 1991, 30 (± 1.3) percent (or 2.3 million ± 116,000) of Black families were poor. This was about three and one-half times the proportion of White families in poverty (9 ± 0.9 percent). In 1979, 28 (± 1.3) percent of Black families and 7 (± 0.3) percent of White families were poor.

In 1992, more Black householders were renters (56 ± 1.2 percent) than owners (42 ± 1.2 percent). This was in sharp contrast to White householders where about two-thirds (67 ± 0.4 percent) were owners and less than one-third (31 ± 0.4 percent) were renters.3 POPULATION GROWTH AND DISTRIBUTION Population growth. In March 1992, the Black civilian noninstitutional population numbered 31.4 million and constituted 12.5 percent of the total population, up from 11.7 percent in 1980 and 12.3 percent in 1990. The Black population has grown faster than either the total or White population since the 1980 Decennial Census. The Black population increased an average of 1.4 percent per year between 1980 and 1992, compared with 0.6 percent for the White population and 0.9 percent per year for the total population (table A). Eighty-four percent of the growth in the Black population was from natural increase (the excess of births over deaths). Immigration, which has increased substantially since 1980 for the Black population, accounted for the remaining 16 percent.

Geographic distribution. In March 1992, 54 percent of Blacks or 17.1 million persons lived in the South (table B). In 1992, 46 percent of all Blacks lived in the North and West (18 percent in the Northeast, 20 percent in the Midwest, and 8 percent in the West) (table 3). Based on current population projections, the majority of Blacks are likely to live in the South well into the next century.4

In contrast to the Black population, the majority (68 percent) of Whites lived in the North and West in 1992 (21 percent in the Northeast, 25 percent in the Midwest, and 22 percent in the West). About 32 percent of the White population lived in the South.

Eighty-five percent of all Blacks lived in metropolitan areas in 1992, compared with 77 percent of all Whites (tables B and 3). Blacks continued to be heavily concentrated in the central cities of metropolitan areas. The proportion of Blacks residing in central cities (56 percent) was more than twice that of Whites (26 percent). A substantially higher proportion of Whites (51 percent) than Blacks (29 percent) lived in the suburban portion of metropolitan areas. Blacks constituted a relatively small proportion (8 percent) of the total population outside of central cities, but 23 percent of the total population inside central cities (tables B and 3).

Due to the lower life expectancy of Blacks (69 years) than Whites (76 years), data for Blacks 55 years of age

3Figures do not add to 100 percent because persons who occupied a dwelling, but paid no cash rent are not included.

4U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, Series P25, No. 1017, Projections of the Population of States, by Age, Sex, and Race: 1988 to 2010. By the year 2010, the Nation's Black population is projected to number almost 39 million. The number of Blacks living in the South is projected to be over 20 million in 2010, an increase of more than 6 million since 1980.