Black demographic trends in the 1980s

Most of the black demographic trends witnessed in the 1970s have continued during the first half of the 1980s, but the pace of demographic change has slowed in some areas and quickened in others. A short summarization of the major trends is provided below; 1. The black population is growing faster than the white population and blacks are becoming a larger share of the total population. 2. Blacks continue to move out of the North and into the South and West. 3. Blacks continue to move out of central cities into suburbs, but blacks are not moving out of central cities as fast as whites and central city populations are becoming increasingly black. 4. The growth rates of preschool-age blacks increased in the 1980s, but the growth rates of the school age and young adult populations declined. 5. The fertility rates of blacks continued to fall and to approach convergence with those of whites, although there still is a significant gap between black and white fertility rates. 6. Teen birthrates for unmarried blacks continued to fall during the first half of the 1980s. 7. Life expectancy for blacks continued to increase during the 1980s, but at a somewhat slower pace than seen during the 1970s. 8. The share of black children living in single parent families continued to grow during the 1980s at a faster rate than seen during the 1970s. 9. The share of black children living with a never-married parent grew much more rapidly in the 1980s than in the 1970s.