Familism among the black and Mexican-American elderly: Myth or reality?

Familism proposes that the black and Mexican-American elderly enjoy special advantages through the economic and social support of extended families. Review of the literature raises serious reservations about this hypothesis, especially for the black aged. Analysis of census data on households indicates that older women of Spanish origin may benefit from familistic practices, but that black women are distinctive for extending their own households to children and grandchildren, bearing child-care and housekeeping responsibilities into old age. Rather than being products of historical minority cultures, unusual family and household patterns are probably consequences of economic dislocation, migration, and urbanization and thus reflect socioeconomic need in minority populations. Familistic theory may obscure the recognition of such need.