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Moynihan Was Right: Now What?

Center on Children and Families at the Brookings Institution

In 1965, Daniel Patrick Moynihan predicted that the exposure of so many black children, especially males, to fatherless families would prevent many from seizing new opportunities through the civil rights revolution. Although Moynihan was excoriated in the academic world and beyond, subsequent events have proven him correct. Today, in part because of the continuing demise of married-couple families, the average black is far behind the average white in educational achievement, employment rates, and earnings; blacks also have much higher crime and incarceration rates. These outcomes have led to growing recognition that the promise of the civil rights revolution will not be achieved until the black family is repaired. This article proposes a series of policies intended to increase and reward work, reduce nonmarital births and increase marriage rates, expand preschool education, and reduce incarceration rates and integrate former prisoners back into society—all designed to reduce lone parenting or deal with its effects.

Key Words: Daniel Patrick Moynihan • The Negro Family • family structure • employment opportunities • preschool education • incarceration

The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 621, No. 1, 281-314 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0002716208324793


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