There are several hypotheses – both social and economic – explaining the persistence of the current African-American family structure. Some researchers theorize that the low economic statuses of the newly freed slaves in 1850 led to the current family structure for African Americans.

These researchers suggest that extreme poverty has increased the destabilization of African American families while others point to high female labor participation, few job opportunities for black males, and small differences between wages for men and women that have decreased marriage stability for black families.