Table 5.
Descriptive Information on NLSY79 Women By Highest Level of Education at Child Age 18, Comparing Between Women Who Earned Their Education Before Having Children and Those That Earned it After Having Children (N= 4,925)
| Highest Degree 18 Years after First Becoming a Mother
|
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High School Degree/GED | Associate’s degree or Some College |
Bachelor’s degree | ||||
|
| ||||||
| Obtained Pre- Motherhood |
Obtained Post- Motherhood |
Obtained Pre- Motherhood |
Obtained Post- Motherhood |
Obtained Pre- Motherhood |
Obtained Post- Motherhood |
|
| Mother Background Characteristics | ||||||
| White | 79% | 70%*** | 78% | 73% | 91% | 78%* |
| Black | 15% | 20%* | 17% | 20% | 6% | 15%* |
| Hispanic | 6% | 10%** | 5% | 7% | 3% | 6%* |
| Foreign born | 5% | 5% | 2% | 3% | 5% | 4% |
| Foreign language | 12% | 15%* | 13% | 15% | 12% | 14% |
| Foreign born parent | 8% | 10% | 9% | 6% | 11% | 8% |
| Lived with single mother | 25% | 43%*** | 21% | 30%* | 15% | 32%*** |
| Family received welfare | 9% | 18%*** | 5% | 10%* | 1% | 7%** |
| Urban area (1979) | 78% | 75% | 83% | 79% | 81% | 81% |
| Proportion of school poor | 22% | 26%** | 17% | 21%+ | 13% | 17% |
| Father less than high school | 44% | 55%*** | 25% | 38%** | 12% | 26%** |
| Father high school degree | 41% | 35%* | 37% | 38% | 28% | 36% |
| Father some college | 8% | 6% | 16% | 12% | 14% | 13% |
| Father Bachelor’s degree | 7% | 5%** | 21% | 13%* | 46% | 26%** |
| Mother less than high school | 41% | 57%*** | 22% | 33%* | 8% | 20%** |
| Mother high school degree | 49% | 36%*** | 49% | 48% | 44% | 56%* |
| Mother some college | 7% | 4% | 18% | 9%** | 20% | 14%* |
| Mother Bachelor’s degree | 3% | 2% | 10% | 9% | 27% | 10%** |
| Number of siblings | 3.57 (.06) | 4.01*** (.15) | 3.23 (.12) | 3.67* (.17) | 2.69 (.07) | 3.31* (.19) |
| Other Characteristics at First Birth | ||||||
| Divorced/widowed | 5% | 7% | 3% | 4% | 2% | 3% |
| Never married | 23% | 48%*** | 13% | 38%*** | 4% | 21%*** |
| Poverty | 23% | 47%*** | 10% | 27%*** | 3% | 19%*** |
| Employed | 37% | 18%*** | 50% | 33%*** | 57% | 43%* |
| Age | 23.46 (.14) | 19.24*** (.24) | 26.97 (.29) | 21.40*** (.28) | 29.58 (.20) | 24.41*** (.49) |
| Weighted % within degree | 87% | 13% | 62% | 38% | 85% | 15% |
| Raw n’s of total sample | 1932 | 361 | 348 | 241 | 568 | 132 |
Notes: Significant differences between pre-fertility and post-fertility group within each education strata indicated in post-fertility column. Standard errors presented in parenthesis. Estimates based on weighted sample.
***
p<.001,
**
p<.01,
*
p<.05,
+
p<.10.