4 ms·

Why does race matter for calculating when married or college educated women have babies? Serious question. I'm genuinely wondering what it means in all of this

Why does race matter for calculating when married or college educated women have babies? Serious question. I'm genuinely wondering what it means in all of this?

frockington 8y ago
Birthrates vary between races. In general, the more established a race is, the lower the birth rate. As an example, Somalian refugees have a higher than average birth rate
- LyndsySimon 8y ago
  I get what you're saying, but that doesn't really meet either the scientific nor the popular definition of "race". Recent immigrants have higher birthrates than nth-generation descendants. I've not verified, but my initial assumption is that the less wealthy have higher birthrates than the more wealthy. This isn't really a matter of race, but one of economics and social norms.
  - frockington 8y ago
    I think we're in agreement. I think the difference is often tied to race due to the relative wealth of incoming immigrants compared to the population. I don't think there is some scientific "Because they are this race they will have more children" argument
fipple 8y ago
21 year old black mothers are likely to be unmarried without college degrees. 21 year old white mothers are likely to be married and are likely to hold or someday hold a college degree. They’re two entirely different populations and scenarios which get jumbled together when you average them. Its like if you asked “what’s the average height of the most popular American Olympic athletes?” And found that the answer is 5 foot 6. Huh, they’re just like us? No, the gymnasts are 4 foot 8 and the swimmers are 6 foot 4.
- bilbo0s 8y ago
  ??? That's still a bit confusing. Maybe I'm being dense, but one chart is for women with college degrees having babies and the other is for women without college degrees having babies. So what impact would race have on when a woman with a college degree has a baby? (I mean, whether they are married or not is presumably irrelevant to the question of whether they have a college degree. So why would race not be irrelevant to that question?) My question is the similar for the graph of married vs unmarried? If you are married and having a baby, (I mean, unless I'm missing something?), you are married and having a baby. Why would your race change that fact?
  - danielvf 8y ago
    [edit: probably wrong, see below] Great question. If married/college were the only relevant factors, it would not matter. However, there are cultural differences beyond just those. Black women in the US do go to college at approximately the same rate as the rest of the US population, however they are far less likely to study STEM subjects, nor go to graduate school school, and are more likely to be going to a lower tier of school. Also, even college educated black women are far less likely to be married or in long term relationships.
    - bilbo0s 8y ago
      ??? But the charts are not counting women who have college degrees AND are married. The chart is a count of women who have college degrees and had their first child. So whether or not a college educated black or hispanic woman is married, is totally irrelevant to that question. I'm starting to think that, perhaps, you have misread the graphs? These are not graphs of women who are college educated AND married. These are graphs of women who are college educated. And then there is another set of graphs for women who are married. With both factors isolated to get a true picture of what's going on.
      - danielvf 8y ago
        You are correct, I was misreading the graphs - I'll have to rethink things!
danielvf 8y ago
It's not race that matters here, but race in the US can be a strong proxy measure for extremely different cultural behaviors, particularly around childbearing.
- DoreenMichele 8y ago
  It's also a good proxy for socioeconomic factors. In the US, people of color are much more likely to be poor.
  - Vraxx 8y ago
    Isn't there public available data sources for geographic information as it pertains to socioeconomic classes available through the census? Why use a proxy if the actual variable is available?

Why does race matter for calculating when married or college educated women have babies? Serious question. I'm genuinely wondering what it means in all of this?

frockington 8y ago

Birthrates vary between races. In general, the more established a race is, the lower the birth rate. As an example, Somalian refugees have a higher than average birth rate

LyndsySimon 8y ago
I get what you're saying, but that doesn't really meet either the scientific nor the popular definition of "race". Recent immigrants have higher birthrates than nth-generation descendants. I've not verified, but my initial assumption is that the less wealthy have higher birthrates than the more wealthy. This isn't really a matter of race, but one of economics and social norms.
- frockington 8y ago
  I think we're in agreement. I think the difference is often tied to race due to the relative wealth of incoming immigrants compared to the population. I don't think there is some scientific "Because they are this race they will have more children" argument

fipple 8y ago

21 year old black mothers are likely to be unmarried without college degrees. 21 year old white mothers are likely to be married and are likely to hold or someday hold a college degree. They’re two entirely different populations and scenarios which get jumbled together when you average them. Its like if you asked “what’s the average height of the most popular American Olympic athletes?” And found that the answer is 5 foot 6. Huh, they’re just like us? No, the gymnasts are 4 foot 8 and the swimmers are 6 foot 4.

bilbo0s 8y ago
??? That's still a bit confusing. Maybe I'm being dense, but one chart is for women with college degrees having babies and the other is for women without college degrees having babies. So what impact would race have on when a woman with a college degree has a baby? (I mean, whether they are married or not is presumably irrelevant to the question of whether they have a college degree. So why would race not be irrelevant to that question?) My question is the similar for the graph of married vs unmarried? If you are married and having a baby, (I mean, unless I'm missing something?), you are married and having a baby. Why would your race change that fact?
- danielvf 8y ago
  [edit: probably wrong, see below] Great question. If married/college were the only relevant factors, it would not matter. However, there are cultural differences beyond just those. Black women in the US do go to college at approximately the same rate as the rest of the US population, however they are far less likely to study STEM subjects, nor go to graduate school school, and are more likely to be going to a lower tier of school. Also, even college educated black women are far less likely to be married or in long term relationships.
  - bilbo0s 8y ago
    ??? But the charts are not counting women who have college degrees AND are married. The chart is a count of women who have college degrees and had their first child. So whether or not a college educated black or hispanic woman is married, is totally irrelevant to that question. I'm starting to think that, perhaps, you have misread the graphs? These are not graphs of women who are college educated AND married. These are graphs of women who are college educated. And then there is another set of graphs for women who are married. With both factors isolated to get a true picture of what's going on.
    - danielvf 8y ago
      You are correct, I was misreading the graphs - I'll have to rethink things!

danielvf 8y ago

It's not race that matters here, but race in the US can be a strong proxy measure for extremely different cultural behaviors, particularly around childbearing.

DoreenMichele 8y ago
It's also a good proxy for socioeconomic factors. In the US, people of color are much more likely to be poor.
- Vraxx 8y ago
  Isn't there public available data sources for geographic information as it pertains to socioeconomic classes available through the census? Why use a proxy if the actual variable is available?