One Step Forward: African-American Married Women in the South, 1950-1960

The labor-force participation of African-American married women in the southern United States was increasing during a period of deteriorating labor markets when that of African-American men was decreasing. Although the effect of this development on the African-American family was complex, the trend was certainly a sign of limited progress for these women. The jobs that they were able to acquire were generally better than their customary work since the Civil War, despite the adverse labor-market shocks to which African-American families were subject.