New research seems to confirm notions that Black people tend to have extended definitions of who counts as family.
The data also suggests that family ties for Black people are more likely to include financial help compared to those of non-Black Americans.
Black Americans define family broadly
The Pew Research Center details its findings in a report, “For Many Black Americans, Family Extends Beyond Birth and Legal Ties,” published on Wednesday. The survey-based research explored definitions of family for Black and non-Black Americans, as well as issues of emotional and financial support among people considered family.
As Pew noted in its summary findings, “The survey finds Black Americans have wider family networks than other U.S. adults, often encompassing non-relatives like close friends and play cousins.” Specifically, the study shows that over three-quarters of Black Americans (77%) have at least one non-relative they consider family, with 58% having more than one non-relative family member. By contrast, only 63% of non-Black Americans have a non-relative they consider part of their family, and less than half — 48% — have more than one non-relative family member.
Closer ties with broader groups of family members
These non-relative family members are almost always described as “close friends” or people “they have known a long time,” or people who “supported them through a difficult time,” with over 90% of Black adults with non-relative family members describing these individuals with at least one of those descriptions. Black respondents were also more likely than non-Black counterparts to be “very close” or “extremely close” to more distant relatives, such as cousins, aunts, uncles or grandparents. For example, 42% of Black adults are “extremely or very close” to at least one cousin, compared to only 20% of non-Black adults. Black people are significantly more likely than non-Black people to rely on these more distant relatives for emotional support.
Financial support for relatives is common for Black people
The Pew survey also confirmed that family relations for Black people often entailed financial support. A majority of Black people (59%) reported that they had given money or other financial support to a family member within the year before answering the survey, compared to only 42% of non-Black respondents. Furthermore, among those who gave financial assistance to family members, 51% of Black people said they were financially worse off as a result of giving. In comparison, only 35% of non-Black givers reported being hurt financially by giving to their family members. About one-third of Black respondents (32%) reported receiving financial assistance from a family member in the year before the survey. Comparatively, less than one-quarter of non-Black respondents (23%) said they had received financial help from family over the previous year. These results came from a survey of 4,271 Black adults and 2,555 non-Black adults conducted in June.
These findings demonstrate the prevalence of Black family practices that match the lived experiences of many Black people across the country. For many Black Americans, more distant relatives and even non-relatives are considered parts of the family, and familial connections often bring financial obligations, even when such support may leave the giver economically worse off than before. Together, these results confirm the importance and sometimes complicated nature of relationships within Black families.