Part 1: An Overview of Black Men and Care

Almost 60 percent of Black adult respondents in our survey have ever been parents or guardians of children, and more than 44 percent have ever provided some form of care to an adult family member or friend.

In this study, more than a third of Black adults (38 percent) have children under the age of 18, and about 25 percent have at least one child between the ages of zero to eight years old. Over a third of Black parents (37 percent) in our survey have ever, at some point in their lives, personally taken care of a child or children with a medical or behavioral condition or other disability.

Often, the term “caregiving” evokes images of parenting and young children; however, this perception of care ultimately renders individuals who care for adults—parents, spouses, kin relatives, neighbors, and friends—invisible. In our survey, 44 percent of Black adults had ever provided ongoing or periodic living assistance on a regular basis to an adult family member or close friend.

Among men who provide care, nearly half of all the Black men in our survey report that they have ever been parents or guardians, and 43 percent of all Black men have ever provided care as high-intensity caregivers and/or parents.

There is obviously some overlap between these two caregiving groups, fathers and Black male HICPs. For example, one-third (33 percent) of Black fathers have had experience caring for an adult, just under one-third had experience giving care to a child with special needs, and 19 percent had experience caring for both an adult and a child with special needs. Among all Black fathers in this report, including those who have experience providing high-intensity care to adults or children with special needs, more than half have at least one child under the age of 18 and one-third have a young child between zero and eight years of age. Though this report does not separately discuss the unique experiences of Black men caring for both adults and children at the same time, a 2019 report by Caring Across Generations and the National Alliance for Caregiving, Burning the Candle at Both Ends, provides insightful findings about sandwiched caregivers across gender and race.¹

Regarding the age of Black fathers in this study, 15 percent are between 18 and 29 years of age, about one-third are between 30 and 44 years of age, 31 percent are between the ages of 45 and 59, and 20 percent are 60 or older. The average age of Black male HICPs is 43 years old and the average income is $40,000 to $49,999. At the time of this survey, 64 percent of Black male HICPs were working, and 71 percent of Black fathers were also employed.