Table 1.
Current and childhood socioeconomic status by age group, U.S. young adults ages 18–34 years, Truth Initiative Young Adult Cohort Study, 2016.
| Ages 18–24 (30.6%)
|
Ages 25–34 (69.4%)
|
Total
|
p-Value | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | 95% CI | % | 95% CI | % | 95% CI | ||
| Current SES measures | |||||||
| Education completed | <0.001 | ||||||
| Less than high school | 11.7 | (9.3, 14.7) | 9.6 | (7.8, 11.8) | 10.3 | (8.8, 12.0) | |
| High school | 29.5 | (26.4, 32.9) | 23.4 | (21.2, 25.8) | 25.3 | (23.4, 27.2) | |
| Some college/AA degree | 45.7 | (42.4, 49.1) | 31.1 | (28.8, 33.4) | 35.5 | (33.7, 37.5) | |
| Bachelor’s or Graduate degree | 13.0 | (11.3, 14.9) | 35.9 | (33.8, 38.1) | 28.9 | (27.3, 30.6) | |
| Annual household income - quartile | 0.448 | ||||||
| <$30,000 | 38.4 | (35.1, 41.9) | 32.5 | (30.0, 35.0) | 34.3 | (32.3, 36.3) | |
| $30,000–$59,999 | 26.6 | (23.7, 29.6) | 32.2 | (29.9, 34.6) | 30.5 | (28.7, 32.4) | |
| $60,000–$84,999 | 13.2 | (11.2, 15.5) | 16.1 | (14.5, 17.9) | 15.2 | (13.9, 16.6) | |
| $85,000 or more | 21.8 | (19.2, 24.7) | 19.2 | (17.5, 21.0) | 20.0 | (18.6, 21.5) | |
| Subjective financial status | 0.530 | ||||||
| Don’t meet basic expenses | 6.5 | (4.9, 8.6) | 7.5 | (6.1, 9.1) | 7.2 | (6.1, 8.5) | |
| Just meet basic expenses | 30.4 | (27.2, 33.7) | 26.4 | (24.2, 28.7) | 27.6 | (25.8, 29.5) | |
| Meet needs with a little left | 37.7 | (34.5, 41.0) | 40.3 | (37.9, 42.8) | 39.5 | (37.6, 41.5) | |
| Live comfortably | 25.4 | (22.6, 28.4) | 25.8 | (23.8, 27.9) | 25.7 | (24.0, 27.4) | |
| Current job/paid employment status | <0.001 | ||||||
| Work full-time (35 h/week or more) | 32.4 | (29.4, 35.6) | 60.5 | (58.0, 62.9) | 51.9 | (49.9, 53.9) | |
| Work part-time (15–34 h/week) | 21.1 | (18.5, 23.9) | 11.4 | (9.9, 13.0) | 14.3 | (13.0, 15.8) | |
| Work part-time (<15 h/week) | 12.9 | (10.8, 15.4) | 4.5 | (3.6, 5.7) | 7.1 | (6.1, 8.2) | |
| Don’t currently work for pay | 33.6 | (30.4, 36.9) | 23.6 | (21.4, 26.0) | 26.7 | (24.8, 28.6) | |
| Childhood SES measures | |||||||
| Maternal education (highest completed) | 0.247 | ||||||
| Less than high school | 15.3 | (12.9, 18.1) | 15.7 | (13.6, 18.1) | 15.6 | (13.9, 17.4) | |
| High school | 25.5 | (22.5, 28.6) | 28.0 | (25.7, 30.3) | 27.2 | (25.4, 29.1) | |
| Some college/AA degree | 31.7 | (28.7, 35.0) | 30.8 | (28.5, 33.1) | 31.1 | (29.2, 32.9) | |
| Bachelor’s or Graduate degree | 27.5 | (24.6, 30.5) | 25.6 | (23.7, 27.6) | 26.2 | (24.6, 27.8) | |
| Paternal education (highest completed) | 0.088 | ||||||
| Less than high school | 20.0 | (17.3, 23.1) | 19.9 | (17.6, 22.3) | 19.9 | (18.1, 21.8) | |
| High school | 25.3 | (22.4, 28.5) | 30.7 | (28.4, 33.1) | 29.1 | (27.2, 31.0) | |
| Some college/AA degree | 25.7 | (22.8, 28.8) | 23.6 | (21.7, 25.7) | 24.3 | (22.6, 26.0) | |
| Bachelor’s or Graduate degree | 28.9 | (26.0, 32.1) | 25.8 | (23.9, 27.8) | 26.8 | (25.1, 28.4) | |
| Parental divorce before age 18 | 0.094 | ||||||
| Yes | 20.1 | (17.5, 23.0) | 21.8 | (19.8, 24.0) | 21.3 | (19.7, 23.0) | |
| No | 60.5 | (57.0, 63.8) | 59.0 | (56.5, 61.5) | 59.5 | (57.4, 61.5) | |
| One or both parents died | 3.6 | (2.6, 5.0) | 8.4 | (7.0, 10.0) | 6.9 | (5.9, 8.1) | |
| Parents never married | 15.8 | (13.2, 18.8) | 10.7 | (9.2, 12.5) | 12.3 | (10.9, 13.8) | |
| Subjective childhood financial status | 0.082 | ||||||
| Pretty well off financially | 16.6 | (14.3, 19.2) | 13.5 | (12.0, 15.1) | 14.4 | (13.2, 15.8) | |
| About average | 53.1 | (49.7, 56.5) | 52.9 | (50.4, 55.5) | 53.0 | (50.9, 55.0) | |
| Poor | 20.1 | (17.4, 23.1) | 23.6 | (21.4, 26.0) | 22.5 | (20.8, 24.4) | |
| 10.2 | (8.3, 12.4) | 10.0 | (8.5, 11.7) | 10.1 | (8.9, 11.4) | ||
Bold text indicates p < 0.05 from bivariate Poisson regression model with robust variance estimation.