--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: While marriage rates for middle-class…" description: "\"“While marriage rates for middle-class white women soared through the 1940s and 1950s, for black women, mid-twentieth century conditions were very diff..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/rebecca-traister-4925_age-gap_while-marriage-rates-for-middle-class-wh_1275970.jpg" --- # While marriage rates for middle-class white women soared… ![“While marriage rates for middle-class white women soared through the 1940s and 1950s, for black women, mid-twentieth century conditions were very different. Since emancipation, black women had married earlier and more often than their white counterparts. In the years directly after World War II…” quote by Rebecca Traister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/rebecca-traister-4925_age-gap_while-marriage-rates-for-middle-class-wh_1275970.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/rebecca-traister-4925_age-gap_while-marriage-rates-for-middle-class-wh_1275970.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/rebecca-traister-4925_age-gap_while-marriage-rates-for-middle-class-wh_1275970.jpg) > ““While marriage rates for middle-class white women soared through the 1940s and 1950s, for black women, mid-twentieth century conditions were very different. Since emancipation, black women had married earlier and more often than their white counterparts. In the years directly after World War II, thanks to the return of soldiers, black marriage rates briefly increased further.66 However, as white women kept marrying in bigger numbers and at younger ages throughout the 1950s, black marriage rates began to decrease, and the age of first marriage to climb.67 By 1970, there had been a sharp reversal: Black women were not marrying nearly as often or as early as their white counterparts. It was nothing as benign as coincidence. While one of the bedrocks of the expansion of the middle class was the aggressive reassignment of white women to domestic roles within the idealized nuclear family, another was the exclusion of African-Americans from the opportunities and communities that permitted those nuclear families to flourish. Put more plainly, the economic benefits extended to the white middle class, both during the New Deal and in the post-World War II years, did not extend to African-Americans. Social Security, created in 1935, did not apply to either domestic laborers or agricultural workers, who tended to be African-Americans, or Asian or Mexican immigrants. Discriminatory hiring practices, the low percentages of black workers in the country’s newly strengthened labor unions, and the persistent (if slightly narrowed68) racial wage gap, along with questionable practices by the Veterans Administration, and the reality that many colleges barred the admission of black students, also meant that returning black servicemen had a far harder time taking advantage of the GI Bill’s promise of college education.69 Then there was housing. The suburbs that bloomed around American cities after the war, images of which are still summoned as symbols of midcentury familial prosperity, were built for white families. In William Levitt’s four enormous “Levittowns,” suburban developments which, thanks to government guarantees from the VA and the Federal Housing Association, provided low-cost housing to qualified veterans, there was not one black resident.70 Between 1934 and 1962, the government subsidized $120 billion in new housing; 98 percent of it for white families.”” [Rebecca Traister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-traister/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Historical analysis of how systemic racism limited economic and social opportunities for black women, affecting marriage patterns compared to white women. **In simple terms:** Racism shaped marriage trends by limiting black women’s economic options. Key Takeaway Address structural inequality to improve equity. Themes race gender economics family policy Mood reflective critical historical Type sociological analytical When to use this quote - post‑war housing - GI Bill access - labor market - education - marriage trends Key Concepts systemic discrimination social stratification economic opportunity Questions to Reflect On - How did policy exclusions shape family formation? - What reforms could reverse these disparities? A Different Perspective Economic benefits were unevenly distributed, not solely due to personal choice. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [1950S Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/1950s-black-4106902/) [Age gap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age-gap/) [Ages 1950S](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ages-1950s-4106901/) [Black Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-marriage-4106898/) [Black women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-women/) [Labor Unions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labor-unions/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Marriage Rates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage-rates-4106899/) [Midcentury Familial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/midcentury-familial-4106900/) [Middle class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle-class/) [New deal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-deal/) [Social security](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-security/) [Taking advantage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taking-advantage/) [World war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-war/) [World war ii](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-war-ii/) ## Related quotes > [It concerns me when people frame the conversation about equal pay about the entertainment business. I don't want the wage gap issue to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-arquette/it-concerns-me-when-people-frame-the-conversation-about-equal-pay/) [Patricia Arquette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-arquette/) > [They had nothing to say to each other. A five-year age gap between siblings is like a garden that needs constant attention. Even three…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/they-had-nothing-to-say-to-each-other-a-five-year-age-gap-between/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [When I wrote 'The Assistants,' I knew very much that I wanted to write about income inequality and student loan debt and the gender…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-perri/when-i-wrote-the-assistants-i-knew-very-much-that-i-wanted-to-write/) [Camille Perri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-perri/) > [“The game is a thread, microscopic in breadth, a hint of gossamer drawing unsuspecting souls together in simple competition to the exclusion of all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-rogers/the-game-is-a-thread-microscopic-in-breadth-a-hint-of-gossamer/) [Drew Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-rogers/) > [I think there can be a tipping point in relationships with a big age gap when the older partner finds themselves in a very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coleen-nolan/i-think-there-can-be-a-tipping-point-in-relationships-with-a-big-age/) [Coleen Nolan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coleen-nolan/) > [I'm fighting to make childcare more affordable for working parents so they can continue working and advancing their careers, closing wage gaps that for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirsten-gillibrand/i-m-fighting-to-make-childcare-more-affordable-for-working-parents-so/) [Kirsten Gillibrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirsten-gillibrand/) > [Most women without childrenspend much more time than men on housework; with children, they devote more time to both housework and child care. Just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arlie-hochschild/most-women-without-childrenspend-much-more-time-than-men-on-housework/) [Arlie Hochschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arlie-hochschild/) > [Forty-year-old seems to be nothing without the father's advice. Father to learn properlythe huge age gap that hurts a lot. Why do not understand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/forty-year-old-seems-to-be-nothing-without-the-father-s-advice-father/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [My mom was right. That's one hell of an age gap.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-tyler/my-mom-was-right-that-s-one-hell-of-an-age-gap/) [Rose Tyler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-tyler/) > [It's not like I'm some kind of veteran and there is this huge age gap. I identify with them more off the field. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-zito/it-s-not-like-i-m-some-kind-of-veteran-and-there-is-this-huge-age-gap/) [Barry Zito](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-zito/) > [For women the wage gap sets up an infuriating Catch-22 situation. They do the housework because they earn less, and they earn less because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-ann-hewitt/for-women-the-wage-gap-sets-up-an-infuriating-catch-22-situation-they-2/) [Sylvia Ann Hewitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-ann-hewitt/) > [We have required under law for years that men and women get paid equal money for equal work. But we've faced challenges enforcing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-frankel/we-have-required-under-law-for-years-that-men-and-women-get-paid/) [Lois Frankel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-frankel/) > [For women the wage gap sets up an infuriating Catch-22 situation. They do the housework because they earn less, and they earn lessbecause they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-ann-hewlett/for-women-the-wage-gap-sets-up-an-infuriating-catch-22-situation-they/) [Sylvia Ann Hewlett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-ann-hewlett/) > [The raw wage gap number is not a measure of equal pay for equal work. It is a comparison of averages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-mace/the-raw-wage-gap-number-is-not-a-measure-of-equal-pay-for-equal-work/) [Nancy Mace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mace/) > [In life, you see younger men and older women, and the majority of marriages don't have such a huge age gap as we're used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trudie-styler/in-life-you-see-younger-men-and-older-women-and-the-majority-of/) [Trudie Styler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trudie-styler/) ## More by Rebecca Traister > [“..the expectations of Republican Motherhood – in which women’s obligations were the instilling of civic virtue in offspring and the moral maintenance of their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-traister/the-expectations-of-republican-motherhood-in-which-women-s/) [Rebecca Traister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-traister/) > [“Andrea Dworkin famously commented that “Marriage as an institution developed from rape as a practice.” In”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-traister/andrea-dworkin-famously-commented-that-marriage-as-an-institution/) [Rebecca Traister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-traister/) > [Changing professional expectations and technological tools have created an impossibility of balancing work and life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-traister/changing-professional-expectations-and-technological-tools-have/) [Rebecca Traister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-traister/) > [I'd spent my whole adult life considering myself an independent entity, my life filled by work and friends and family. Suddenly I had a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-traister/i-d-spent-my-whole-adult-life-considering-myself-an-independent/) [Rebecca Traister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-traister/) > [The lack of marriage is being blamed for almost every social ill - whether it's gun violence, whether it's poverty, whether it's the dropping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-traister/the-lack-of-marriage-is-being-blamed-for-almost-every-social-ill/) [Rebecca Traister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-traister/) > [“Friedan also didn’t consider the population of American women who were already altering marriage patterns,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-traister/friedan-also-didn-t-consider-the-population-of-american-women-who/) [Rebecca Traister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-traister/) > [After Emancipation, black women married earlier and more often because they were legally free to do so for the first time, and that was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-traister/after-emancipation-black-women-married-earlier-and-more-often-because/) [Rebecca Traister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-traister/) > [Throughout America's history, the start of adult life for women - whatever else it might have been destined to include - had been typically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-traister/throughout-america-s-history-the-start-of-adult-life-for-women/) [Rebecca Traister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-traister/) > [“In his 1873 Sex in Education; or A Fair Chance for the Girls, Harvard professor Edward Clarke argued that the female brain, if engaged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-traister/in-his-1873-sex-in-education-or-a-fair-chance-for-the-girls-harvard/) [Rebecca Traister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-traister/) > [By the time Clinton graduated from Yale Law School, many people, including her boyfriend Bill, believed she could, and should, embark on a political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-traister/by-the-time-clinton-graduated-from-yale-law-school-many-people/) [Rebecca Traister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-traister/) > [In 2013, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, around 64 percent of mothers with children under six worked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-traister/in-2013-according-to-the-bureau-of-labor-statistics-around-64-percent/) [Rebecca Traister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-traister/) > [Since the late 19th century, the median age of first marriage for women had fluctuated between 20 and 22. This had been the shape,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-traister/since-the-late-19th-century-the-median-age-of-first-marriage-for/) [Rebecca Traister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-traister/) > [“we “are married, or have been, or plan to be, or suffer from not being.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-traister/we-are-married-or-have-been-or-plan-to-be-or-suffer-from-not-being/) [Rebecca Traister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-traister/) > [There is a kind of woman who is economically powerful, professionally powerful, who threatens a white male grip on power that has a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-traister/there-is-a-kind-of-woman-who-is-economically-powerful-professionally/) [Rebecca Traister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-traister/) > [One of the favorite conservative themes is that the cure for poverty is more marriage and earlier marriage. We hear that all the time;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-traister/one-of-the-favorite-conservative-themes-is-that-the-cure-for-poverty/) [Rebecca Traister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-traister/) [Explore all 105 Rebecca Traister quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-traister/) ## More Age gap quotes > [It concerns me when people frame the conversation about equal pay about the entertainment business. I don't want the wage gap issue to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-arquette/it-concerns-me-when-people-frame-the-conversation-about-equal-pay/) [Patricia Arquette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-arquette/) > [The raw wage gap number is not a measure of equal pay for equal work. It is a comparison of averages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-mace/the-raw-wage-gap-number-is-not-a-measure-of-equal-pay-for-equal-work/) [Nancy Mace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mace/) > [For women the wage gap sets up an infuriating Catch-22 situation. They do the housework because they earn less, and they earn lessbecause they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-ann-hewlett/for-women-the-wage-gap-sets-up-an-infuriating-catch-22-situation-they/) [Sylvia Ann Hewlett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-ann-hewlett/) > [We have required under law for years that men and women get paid equal money for equal work. But we've faced challenges enforcing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-frankel/we-have-required-under-law-for-years-that-men-and-women-get-paid/) [Lois Frankel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-frankel/) > [For women the wage gap sets up an infuriating Catch-22 situation. They do the housework because they earn less, and they earn less because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-ann-hewitt/for-women-the-wage-gap-sets-up-an-infuriating-catch-22-situation-they-2/) [Sylvia Ann Hewitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-ann-hewitt/) > [It's not like I'm some kind of veteran and there is this huge age gap. I identify with them more off the field. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-zito/it-s-not-like-i-m-some-kind-of-veteran-and-there-is-this-huge-age-gap/) [Barry Zito](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-zito/) > [My mom was right. That's one hell of an age gap.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-tyler/my-mom-was-right-that-s-one-hell-of-an-age-gap/) [Rose Tyler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-tyler/) > [Forty-year-old seems to be nothing without the father's advice. Father to learn properlythe huge age gap that hurts a lot. Why do not understand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/forty-year-old-seems-to-be-nothing-without-the-father-s-advice-father/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [Most women without childrenspend much more time than men on housework; with children, they devote more time to both housework and child care. Just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arlie-hochschild/most-women-without-childrenspend-much-more-time-than-men-on-housework/) [Arlie Hochschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arlie-hochschild/) > [I'm fighting to make childcare more affordable for working parents so they can continue working and advancing their careers, closing wage gaps that for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirsten-gillibrand/i-m-fighting-to-make-childcare-more-affordable-for-working-parents-so/) [Kirsten Gillibrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirsten-gillibrand/) > [I think there can be a tipping point in relationships with a big age gap when the older partner finds themselves in a very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coleen-nolan/i-think-there-can-be-a-tipping-point-in-relationships-with-a-big-age/) [Coleen Nolan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coleen-nolan/) > [“The game is a thread, microscopic in breadth, a hint of gossamer drawing unsuspecting souls together in simple competition to the exclusion of all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-rogers/the-game-is-a-thread-microscopic-in-breadth-a-hint-of-gossamer/) [Drew Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-rogers/) > [When I wrote 'The Assistants,' I knew very much that I wanted to write about income inequality and student loan debt and the gender…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-perri/when-i-wrote-the-assistants-i-knew-very-much-that-i-wanted-to-write/) [Camille Perri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-perri/) > [They had nothing to say to each other. A five-year age gap between siblings is like a garden that needs constant attention. Even three…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/they-had-nothing-to-say-to-each-other-a-five-year-age-gap-between/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [In life, you see younger men and older women, and the majority of marriages don't have such a huge age gap as we're used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trudie-styler/in-life-you-see-younger-men-and-older-women-and-the-majority-of/) [Trudie Styler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trudie-styler/) [Browse all 44 Age gap quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age-gap/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“While marriage rates for middle-class white women soared through the 1940s and 1950s, for black women, mid-twentieth century conditions were very different. Since emancipation, black women had married earlier and more often than their white counterparts. In the years directly after World War II, thanks to the return of soldiers, black marriage rates briefly increased further.66 However, as white women kept marrying in bigger numbers and at younger ages throughout the 1950s, black marriage rates began to decrease, and the age of first marriage to climb.67 By 1970, there had been a sharp reversal: Black women were not marrying nearly as often or as early as their white counterparts. It was nothing as benign as coincidence. While one of the bedrocks of the expansion of the middle class was the aggressive reassignment of white women to domestic roles within the idealized nuclear family, another was the exclusion of African-Americans from the opportunities and communities that permitted those nuclear families to flourish. Put more plainly, the economic benefits extended to the white middle class, both during the New Deal and in the post-World War II years, did not extend to African-Americans. Social Security, created in 1935, did not apply to either domestic laborers or agricultural workers, who tended to be African-Americans, or Asian or Mexican immigrants. Discriminatory hiring practices, the low percentages of black workers in the country’s newly strengthened labor unions, and the persistent (if slightly narrowed68) racial wage gap, along with questionable practices by the Veterans Administration, and the reality that many colleges barred the admission of black students, also meant that returning black servicemen had a far harder time taking advantage of the GI Bill’s promise of college education.69 Then there was housing. The suburbs that bloomed around American cities after the war, images of which are still summoned as symbols of midcentury familial prosperity, were built for white families. In William Levitt’s four enormous “Levittowns,” suburban developments which, thanks to government guarantees from the VA and the Federal Housing Association, provided low-cost housing to qualified veterans, there was not one black resident.70 Between 1934 and 1962, the government subsidized $120 billion in new housing; 98 percent of it for white families.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rebecca Traister" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-traister/while-marriage-rates-for-middle-class-white-women-soared-through-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Age gap" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-traister/while-marriage-rates-for-middle-class-white-women-soared-through-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/rebecca-traister-4925_age-gap_while-marriage-rates-for-middle-class-wh_1275970.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/rebecca-traister-4925_age-gap_while-marriage-rates-for-middle-class-wh_1275970.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/rebecca-traister-4925_age-gap_while-marriage-rates-for-middle-class-wh_1275970.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“While marriage rates for middle-class white women soared through the 1940s and 1950s, for black women…” — Rebecca Traister", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Rebecca Traister", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-traister/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“While marriage rates for middle-class white...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-traister/while-marriage-rates-for-middle-class-white-women-soared-through-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-traister/while-marriage-rates-for-middle-class-white-women-soared-through-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```