Table 1.
Descriptive statistics by Head Start participation and matching status
| Full Sample (n = 2,807) |
Non-HS Before Matching (n = 2,421) |
Head Start (n = 386) |
Non-HS After Matching (n = 382) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Care Arrangement right before K | ||||
| Head Start | 0.14 (0.34) | — | 1.00 (0.00) | — |
| Exclusively parental care | 0.16 (0.37) | 0.19 (0.39) | — | 0.19 (0.40) |
| Pre-kindergarten | 0.25 (0.43) | 0.29 (0.45) | — | 0.28 (0.45) |
| Other center-based care | 0.37 (0.48) | 0.43 (0.50) | — | 0.42 (0.49) |
| Other non-parental care | 0.08 (0.27) | 0.09 (0.29) | — | 0.11 (0.31) |
| Child Characteristics | ||||
| Child male | 0.53 (0.50) | 0.53 (0.50)+ | 0.49 (0.50) | 0.52 (0.50) |
| Age at in-home assessment (months) | 64.17 (2.54) | 64.17 (2.54) | 64.13 (2.52) | 64.21 (2.51) |
| Race/ethnicity | ||||
| Non-Hispanic White | 0.17 (0.38) | 0.18 (0.39)** | 0.07 (0.26) | 0.07 (0.25) |
| Non-Hispanic Black | 0.49 (0.50) | 0.47 (0.50)** | 0.60 (0.49) | 0.59 (0.49) |
| Hispanic | 0.20 (0.40) | 0.20 (0.40) | 0.21 (0.41) | 0.21 (0.40) |
| Biracial/other | 0.14 (0.35) | 0.15 (0.36)+ | 0.11 (0.32) | 0.13 (0.35) |
| Low birth-weight | 0.10 (0.30) | 0.10 (0.30) | 0.11 (0.31) | 0.11 (0.32) |
| Mother’s first child | 0.39 (0.49) | 0.40 (0.49)** | 0.32 (0.47) | 0.34 (0.47) |
| Mother reported fair/poor health | 0.03 (0.16) | 0.03 (0.16) | 0.03 (0.17) | 0.03 (0.17) |
| Parenting and child maltreatment at age 3 | ||||
| Low parental warmth | 0.12 (0.32) | 0.11 (0.32) | 0.15 (0.36) | 0.16 (0.37) |
| Parental harshness | 0.18 (0.39) | 0.17 (0.38)* | 0.23 (0.42) | 0.24 (0.43) |
| Child’s low access to learning | 0.14 (0.34) | 0.12 (0.33)** | 0.21 (0.41) | 0.21 (0.41) |
| Spanking | 0.24 (0.42) | 0.24 (0.43) | 0.22 (0.42) | 0.23 (0.43) |
| Other physical assault | 0.16 (0.37) | 0.16 (0.37) | 0.16 (0.37) | 0.16 (0.36) |
| Neglect | 0.11 (0.31) | 0.10 (0.30)* | 0.14 (0.35) | 0.13 (0.34) |
| CPS contact | 0.03 (0.18) | 0.03 (0.17) | 0.04 (0.20) | 0.04 (0.20) |
| Mother & Household Characteristics | ||||
| Age | 28.13 (5.92) | 28.30 (5.97)** | 27.02 (5.46) | 26.94 (5.28) |
| Born in the U.S. | 0.88 (0.33) | 0.87 (0.34)** | 0.92 (0.28) | 0.91 (0.28) |
| Lived with both parents at age 15 | 0.41 (0.49) | 0.43 (0.49)** | 0.33 (0.47) | 0.32 (0.47) |
| First child born under age 19 | 0.32 (0.46) | 0.30 (0.46)** | 0.40 (0.49) | 0.41 (0.49) |
| Alcohol, cigarette, drugs at pregnancy | 0.25 (0.43) | 0.25 (0.43) | 0.26 (0.44) | 0.28 (0.46) |
| Parental stress score at child age 3 | 13.05 (7.41) | 12.94 (7.45)* | 13.74 (7.12) | 13.33 (7.09) |
| Depressed in past year | 0.21 (0.41) | 0.21 (0.40) | 0.24 (0.43) | 0.22 (0.40) |
| Cognitive ability score | 6.82 (2.55) | 6.88 (2.59)** | 6.44 (2.29) | 6.64 (2.40) |
| Relationship with father at child age 3 | ||||
| Married | 0.31 (0.46) | 0.32 (0.47)** | 0.19 (0.39) | 0.18 (0.39) |
| Cohabitating | 0.20 (0.40) | 0.20 (0.40) | 0.20 (0.40) | 0.24 (0.43) |
| Friends/visiting | 0.24 (0.43) | 0.23 (0.42)** | 0.30 (0.46) | 0.28 (0.45) |
| Other | 0.25 (0.44) | 0.24 (0.43)** | 0.31 (0.46) | 0.30 (0.46) |
| Employment at child’s age 3 | ||||
| Work paid less 35hrs | 0.16 (0.37) | 0.16 (0.37) | 0.17 (0.38) | 0.17 (0.37) |
| Work paid 35+ hrs | 0.45 (0.50) | 0.45 (0.50) | 0.44 (0.50) | 0.47 (0.50) |
| Look for job | 0.21 (0.41) | 0.20 (0.40)+ | 0.25 (0.43) | 0.23 (0.42) |
| Not working | 0.18 (0.39) | 0.19 (0.39)+ | 0.15 (0.35) | 0.13 (0.34) |
| Education | ||||
| Less than high school | 0.27 (0.44) | 0.27 (0.44) | 0.29 (0.45) | 0.31 (0.46) |
| HS diploma/GED | 0.29 (0.46) | 0.28 (0.45)** | 0.38 (0.49) | 0.37 (0.48) |
| Some college/tech school | 0.32 (0.46) | 0.32 (0.47) | 0.29 (0.46) | 0.28 (0.45) |
| BA/graduate | 0.12 (0.33) | 0.13 (0.34)** | 0.04 (0.19) | 0.05 (0.21) |
| Number of other adults in household | 1.25 (0.67) | 1.25 (0.66) | 1.28 (0.74) | 1.24 (0.64) |
| Household income at child’s birth | ||||
| Below 50% poverty line | 0.19 (0.39) | 0.18 (0.38)** | 0.27 (0.44) | 0.25 (0.44) |
| 50–100% poverty line | 0.17 (0.38) | 0.16 (0.37)* | 0.21 (0.41) | 0.24 (0.43) |
| 100–200% poverty line | 0.25 (0.44) | 0.25 (0.43) | 0.26 (0.44) | 0.26 (0.44) |
| 200–300% poverty line | 0.15 (0.36) | 0.15 (0.36) | 0.16 (0.37) | 0.16 (0.37) |
| 300%+ poverty line | 0.23 (0.42) | 0.26 (0.44)** | 0.10 (0.29) | 0.08 (0.27) |
| Household income at child’s age 3 | ||||
| Below 50% poverty line | 0.23 (0.42) | 0.22 (0.41)** | 0.31 (0.46) | 0.30 (0.44) |
| 50–100% poverty line | 0.19 (0.39) | 0.18 (0.38)** | 0.27 (0.44) | 0.29 (0.45) |
| 100–200% poverty line | 0.25 (0.44) | 0.25 (0.43) | 0.26 (0.44) | 0.27 (0.46) |
| 200–300% poverty line | 0.14 (0.35) | 0.14 (0.35)* | 0.10 (0.30) | 0.11 (0.32) |
| 300%+ poverty line | 0.19 (0.39) | 0.21 (0.41)** | 0.06 (0.24) | 0.03 (0.19) |
Notes: Means with standard deviations in parentheses
**
p<0.01
*
p<0.05
+
p<0.10 for two-tailed t-statistics testing mean differences between Head Start participants and non-participants before and after propensity score matching (with significance levels, if applicable, indicated in the descriptive statistics for non-participants), respectively.