How did they count single family households in the 40s? Would a mother and her children living with a sibling or aunt count as a single mom? My guess is your stats are based on census records, and given the fact that Ive looked at various census records across the US since college, the ones from southern states pre-1950 were trash. My hypothesis is single mothers were woefully underreported in black and whites communities out of fear of social backlash. Blacks of the Silent generation kept secrets from each other even within the nuclear family. Hiding the truth from a census taker was mucb easier. Discovering that a sibling was actually a nephew/aunt/neice/uncle, or only a half sibling wasnt rare by any stretch. You think teens werent having sex back then? You think all those light bright babies in the 40s and 50s came from 2 parent households too, huh?