THE GREAT MIGRATION AND CHANGES IN THE NORTHERN BLACK-FAMILY, 1940 TO1990

There is a strong tradition in the social sciences that links the migr ation of southern blacks to northern cities with changes in family str ucture in the North. This article examines that assumption by comparin g the living arrangements of children and women for migrants and nonmi grants in northern central cities. Data from the newly available Integ rated Public Use Microdata Series, for the period 1940 through 1990, a re used for this purpose. The findings show that northern urbanites wi th ''southern origins'' actually exhibited move traditional family pat terns - more children living with two parents, more ever-married women living with their spouses, and fewer never-married mothers. It is con cluded that the evidence yields no support for the longstanding assump tion that southern migrants contributed disproportionately to changes in the African American family in northern cities during this century.