EMBARGOED UNTIL: 12:01 A.M. EST, FEBRUARY 14, 2000 (MONDAY) Public Information Office CB00-27 301-457-3030/301-457-3670 (fax) 301-457-1037 (TDD) e-mail: pio@census.gov Jesse McKinnon/Karen Humes 301-457-2402 Profile of the Country's African American Population Released by Census Bureau In 1999, nearly 1 in 3 African Americans were under age 18, more than one-half lived in the South and more than 1 in 7 age 25 and over had earned at least a bachelor's degree, according to tables released today on the Internet by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau. The March 1999 Current Population Survey (CPS) tables show African American population data on such topics as age, marital status, family type and size, education, occupation, income, poverty and housing. They also show comparable national data for non-Hispanic Whites. Other highlights: - Forty-seven percent of all African American families were married couples, 45 percent were maintained by women without a husband present and 8 percent were maintained by men without a wife present. - African American families are larger than non-Hispanic White families: 16 percent of African American families had five or more members in contrast to 11 percent of non-Hispanic White families. - A slightly higher percentage of African American women than men age 25 and over had earned at least a bachelor's degree (16 percent and 14 percent). For non-Hispanic Whites, the opposite was true: 31 percent of men and 25 percent of women had at least a bachelor's degree. - Seventeen percent of African American men and 24 percent of African American women worked in managerial and professional specialty occupations. - Forty-eight percent of all African American married-couple families had incomes of $50,000 or more. - About 46 percent of African American householders were homeowners. As in all surveys, the data are subject to sampling variability and other sources of error. Also today, the Census Bureau released African American History Month Facts for Features, a brief compendium of current Census Bureau statistics on African Americans. Later this year, the Census Bureau will release "The Black Population in the United States: March 1999," an analytical report on the country's African American population, using the data collected in the March 1999 CPS.-X-
