In his 1965 report on the black family, Daniel Patrick Moynihan highlighted the rising fraction of black children growing up in households headed by unmarried mothers. He attributed the increase largely to the precarious economic position of black men, many of whom were no longer able to play their traditional role as their family's primary…

The unions of unwed parents are referred to as "fragile families" because they are similar to traditional families in many respects, but are more vulnerable. The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFS) is designed to study such families by following a new birth cohort of approximately 4,700 children, including 3,600 children…

Although the vast majority of single mothers do not fit the description of an underclass, there is a small group of predominantly black single mothers concentrated in northern urban ghettos that is persistently weakly attached to the labor force, socially isolated, and reproducing itself. Although welfare programs are necessary for those who are…