Table 3.

Descriptive Statistics on Parental Background of Four to Five Year Old Children in Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, and United States

Child characteristics	Australia	Canada	United Kingdom	United States
Socio-economic characteristics
1. Highest education level (per cent)
Native-born parents, official language	34.3	52.8	35.0	35.4
Foreign-born parent, official language	46.6	53.9	50.9	45.7
Foreign-born parent, foreign language	44.3	55.5	25.4	21.1
2. Lowest education level (per cent)
Native-born parents, official language	9.1	6.2	10.3	6.8
Foreign-born parent, official language	4.0	5.1	7.6	3.7
Foreign-born parent, foreign language	9.7	5.4	29.5	29.5
3. Gross Household Income ($ PPP adjusted)
Native-born parents, official language	24,863	30,029	28,020	30,250
Foreign-born parent, official language	31,426	29,870	32,359	36,495
Foreign-born parent, foreign language	21,404	22,521	16,868	18,383
Demographic characteristics
4. Single parent household (per cent)
Native-born parents, official language	18.0	17.5	21.8	30.2
Foreign-born parent, official language	8.1	12.0	10.7	12.9
Foreign-born parent, foreign language	8.6	4.5	12.2	12.6
5. Mother’s age at the child’s birth (years)
Native-born parents, official language	29.6	29.0	28.9	27.2
Foreign-born parent, official language	32.0	31.2	30.8	28.7
Foreign-born parent, foreign language	30.5	30.2	28.1	27.6
6. Children under 16 in household (number)
Native-born parents, official language	2.52	2.22	2.33	2.40
Foreign-born parent, official language	2.42	2.43	2.45	2.36
Foreign-born parent, foreign language	2.62	2.43	3.00	2.52
7. Child low birth weight (per cent)
Native-born parents, official language	5.9	5.3	6.8	7.7
Foreign-born parent, official language	4.3	3.7	7.0	7.7
Foreign-born parent, foreign language	7.8	11.5	9.8	6.3

Note. Highest educational level is ISCED 5A/6, equivalent to a US bachelor’s degree or higher. Lowest education level is ISCED 2, equivalent to less than US high school. Low birth weight is defined as less than 2500g.