increased and employment dislocation has resulted. Return to Table of ContentsEmployment DislocationWhile employment dislocation leads to joblessness among many inner city residents, it can also lead to the creation of an urban underclass. Definitions of the underclass vary but most are closely linked to areas of high poverty (Ricketts and Sawhill 1988). Initially the term underclass was defined primarily in terms of income. But in the 1980's the term took on behavioral and moral overtones referring to the underclass as persons residing in areas with high crime rates, high premarital pregnancy rates, high unemployment rates, and high welfare dependency rates (Auletta 1982; Wilson 1991; Jargowsky and Bane 1990). The term urban underclass today is used to represent the segments of the urban poor that have deviant social behaviors and most of these people are minorities (Jargowsky and Bane 1990). Joblessness itself is not as much of a problem as the problems it can cause and the role conflicts it produces. Traditionally, in two parent families the male has played the role of the breadwinner while the female stayed home, raised the children, and ran the household. It has been suggested that when men have no job or they are not the principle breadwinner in the family they lose status. They can no longer assume the breadwinner role and as a result, divorce and separation are more likely (Farley 1988). "The central factor in this situation is the inability of black males to meet the normative responsibilities of husband and father." (Staples 1985). In addition, especially among blacks, high unemployment rates among young males make them less desirable partners for marriage (Wilson 1987; Lichter et al. 1992; South and Lloyd 1992). Finally, Testa et al. (1993) found that regardless of race, employed fathers were two times as likely to marry the mother of their first child than unemployed fathers.Return to Table of ContentsFamily Structure Chang...
