The Disadvantaged Black Female Household Head: Migrants to Indianapolis

THE DISADVANTAGED BLACK FEMALE HOUSEHOLD HEAD: MIGRANTS TO INDIANAPOLIS C. Shane Davies and Gary L. Fowler* Urban poverty in America is increasingly concentrated among black families headed by females, most of whom live in the central cities of large metropolitan areas. By 1967, this type of family accounted for 57 percent of the poor families in metropolitan areas, an increase from 39 percent in 1959. (1) The black female household head and her family are the most impoverished of the inner city residents, and their chances of escaping the poverty of the ghetto are relatively small. (2) Many of the female-headed black families have recently migrated from the South. According to the Cleveland southern in-migrant study, (3) the majority of the disadvantaged black female migrants come to the city expecting to work, but few make arrangements for employment prior to migrating. Because of her low skills, the barriers to employment for the black female household head are severe. Their rate of entry into employment is slow; unemployment and underemployment are common; and compared with other migrants, they have the least upward mobility with respect to occupation and wages. (4) This paper describes selected characteristics of the black female household head which affect her search for employment after entry into the metropolitan area. Although the barriers to employment are common to all disadvantaged individuals, her particular deficiencies, including her status as a new resident of the city, intensifies her problem. The data are for a sample of recent disadvantaged migrants to Indianapolis, Indiana. STUDY AKEA AND DATA SOURCE. Recent population trends within the central city of the Indianapolis SMSA are similar to those of other medium-sized metropolitan areas in the Midwest. The total population of the city was 476,258 in 1960, and in 1970, 742,613. In 1960, whites comprised 79.3 percent of the total, and blacks 20.6 percent. Almost 40,000 families were located in central-city poverty areas. (5) One quarter of these families were below the poverty level, and 42.8 percent of the poor families were black. As the pace of metropolitan decentralization accelerated during the 1960's, the proportion of black population in central city ghettos increased. Expansion of the black ghettos into areas vacated by whites dominated the changing residential structure of the poverty areas. (6) The poverty areas in Indianapolis are located in the immediate vicinity of Monument Circle (Figure 1). The poorest are north of *Dr. Davies is assistant professor of geography at the University of Texas, Austin, and Dr. Fowler is assistant professor of geography at the University of Kentucky, Lexington. The paper was accepted for publication in May 1971. 114 Southeastern Geographer ggmg^Lii Hilllid· 6. Mathediil 7. Houghvill· II. Tech¦"~ Poverty Area ------ City Boundary ' One ?ß??ß??ßß Migrain * On« Kentucky Migrant° On· Mississippi Migrant D0n· Alabama Migrant Figure 1. Residential Location of Disadvantaged Black Female Household Heads Who Entered Indianapolis August 1966-August 1968 Massachusetts Avenue and primarily house the inner city's black population . Those to the south house the whites, many of whom are from the Southern Appalachian region. High rates of unemployment are characteristic of these areas. A recent survey of the labor force status in Hillside, Broadway, and Methodist founH that whereas the seasonal adjusted unemployment rate for the SMSA was 2.6 percent in July 1968, the average rate for the three neighborhoods was 11.7 percent. (7) The unemployment rate was 12.3 percent for all blacks, 9.3 percent for whites, and 15.3 percent for black female household heads. (8) In 1966, the Indianapolis Employment Security Division opened Employment Outreach Centers in each area to improve job placement assistance for people experiencing employment difficulties. The data used in this study are from the personal records of job seekers who filed Employment Security (ES 511 Y) job application forms in the Outreach Vol. XI, No. 2 115 Centers between August 1966 and August 1968. (9) Among 4,840 applications , there are 146 listed cases of whites and 494 listed cases of blacks who established residence in the Indianapolis SMSA during this period. Of the latter, 232 are female household heads, comprising 47 percent of the black disadvantaged migrants. (JO...