Table 1.

Characteristics of Mothers at Wave 1 Interview by Union Status at Wave 2 Interview

	Total Sample	Remained Single	Cohabiting	Married
Employment Characteristics
Not employed the day before the interview	72%	75%	71%	52%
Employed the day before the interview	28%	25%	29%	48%
Nonstandard schedule*	10%	11%	10%	4%
Standard schedule	18%	15%	18%	44%
Perceived economic instability	23%	25%	25%	6%
Male community employment rate	47%	47%	48%	52%
Caregiving Responsibilities
Mother’s caregiving responsibilities for disabled children or adults	13%	14%	8%	9%
Average number of children in the household	3.1	3.1	2.6	3.8
Children under 6 years in the household	67%	68%	78%	50%
Access to enough child care support	47%	52%	36%	23%
Human Capital and Demographic Characteristics
High school diploma or GED	25%	25%	28%	21%
Some or all of college/tech school	43%	39%	47%	68%
Average Woodcock-Johnson score at Wave 2	90	87	99	97
Ongoing health problems	15%	16%	13%	2%
Average months of welfare receipt in 2-year period up to Wave 1 interview	11	12	10	5
Average age of mother	31	31	30	32
Black	50%	54%	39%	32%
Hispanic	45%	41%	53%	65%
Non-Hispanic White	5%	5%	8%	3%
Boston	33%	33%	54%	16%
Chicago	33%	36%	21%	23%
San Antonio	33%	31%	25%	62%
Mother and biological father previously married	14%	14%	11%	20%
Mother and biological father previously cohabited	51%	49%	62%	64%

Note. All numbers are weighted. (The unweighted sample size is 1,299).

^*Ten percent of the total sample of mothers is employed in nonstandard shifts, which represents 35% of all employed mothers at Wave 1.