Why did the black family disintegrate in the 1960s?

Question

Among African-Americans, birth out of wedlock is now 67%. This was not always the case. What happened?

Source:
http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9218127

@Meg: This is not true. Read the economist article. Very interesting reading.

@All: Thanks for the answers. This is a problem that might destroy the very fabric of US society if we can't resolve it.

Answer 1

Politics and money. It's always a good idea in sociologic trends to follow the money.
In the forties and fifties, marriage made economic sense as a matter of economic survival. Johnson's "Great Society" gave unmarried mothers economic support they'd never had before, but didn't offer the same money to the married. Supposedly labor-friendly economic policies pushed the wage-price structure in such a way that unskilled laborers in major industries were no longer economically viable for business, so they did with fewer, skilled workers, causing a lot of economic displacement. It was the greatest example yet of the law of unintended consequences.
At the same time, society in general was undergoing a radicalization that acted as a catalyst. The "educated" were moving away from traditional values and towards "free love" and other such catchphrases.
Note that even today, public policy remains largely unchanged, and it makes economic sense for young women to remain unmarried. It's quite possible that your children may qualify for Medicaid, for instance, if your boyfriend owns a car, but not if your husband does.

Answer 2

Since the 1950's out of wedlock births are up dramatically for all segments of American society and European countries, and would be higher were it not for abortion. At the same time births rates have dropped by almost half, to or below replacement level, and divorce rates are up and marriage rates are down. Last year the census reported that for the first time more adult woman were unmarried than married. The traditional family with a male bread winner and a stay home mother is disappearing. Woman are less financially dependent on men, and men feel less need to stay around and support their families, so many families are reverting to matriarchal family structures relying on maternal grandparents instead of fathers.The impact on African_Americans has been greater because they had a more matriarchal family structure to start with as a result of their experience in slavery, when men were often separated from their families leaving women alone to raise the children.

Why this is happening is open to speculation, but correct answer will also apply to most of the developed nation of the world not just African Americans.
http://www.unece.org/stats/trends2005/family.htm

Reply By segment I meant racial and ethic groups not education of mother
http://www.childtrendsdatabank.org/figures/75-Figure-1.gif

Answer 3

If you look at major urban centers like LA and Detroit, a disintegration of unskilled to semi-skilled manufacturing jobs occurred at this time. For years African-American men could support a family working a good-stable job. When the stable jobs left, so did the stability of families.

I do believe some discussion about possible peculiarities in African-American culture is valid, but I don't think they are applicable in any analysis of the early days of the breakdown of the family unit.

Answer 4

Entitlement programs were poorly thought out.

Paying benefits to women to have out of wedlock births without requiring them to join the work force is part of the problem. The Welfare Reform Act changed this but now a cycle has developed that will be hard to reverse.

Answer 5

LBJ's Great Society.

There is a correlation between an increase in social programs and disintegration of "traditional" society.

Answer 6

The same thing that happened to white families at the same time.

Sex

Drugs

Rock 'n Roll

Loosening of Divorce laws