Table 1. Descriptive statistics of the level of interest in entrepreneurship among Americans aged 50 to 70.
| Very interested | Somewhat interested | Not too interested | Not at all interested | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interest in entrepreneurship | 14.00% | 24.75% | 17.30% | 43.94% |
| Demographics | ||||
| Age (50–70) | 56.48 (0.53) | 57.37 (0.40) | 58.52 (0.52) | 61.04 (0.35) |
| Gender: Male | 56.40% | 58.74% | 54.95% | 38.46% |
| Female | 43.60% | 41.26% | 45.05% | 61.54% |
| Race: White | 56.82% | 62.81% | 80.40% | 77.86% |
| Black, not Hispanic | 21.45% | 17.63% | 10.74% | 4.32% |
| All other races | 21.73% | 19.55% | 8.86% | 17.81% |
| Urbanicity: Urban | 72.30% | 65.10% | 72.62% | 64.97% |
| Rural | 27.70% | 34.90% | 27.38% | 35.03% |
| Work status: Working for pay | 32.98% | 39.36% | 30.24% | 23.75% |
| Self-employed | 21.50% | 9.39% | 11.49% | 5.47% |
| Retired | 13.61% | 19.33% | 22.50% | 42.31% |
| Disabled | 17.17% | 13.21% | 15.89% | 14.82% |
| Unemployed | 8.99% | 9.33% | 12.07% | 4.53% |
| Others | 5.73% | 9.38% | 7.81% | 9.12% |
| Human capital | ||||
| Education: High school or less | 36.12% | 33.99% | 36.60% | 49.48% |
| Associate’s degree | 31.98% | 28.44% | 34.23% | 22.67% |
| Bachelor’s degree | 21.38% | 21.81% | 15.48% | 16.43% |
| Master’s degree and above | 10.52% | 15.75% | 13.69% | 11.43% |
| Self-rated health (1–5) | 3.25 (0.10) | 3.16 (0.08) | 3.08 (0.10) | 3.01 (0.07) |
| Completed adult education/training | 51.96% | 44.37% | 37.63% | 36.30% |
| Did not complete | 48.04% | 55.63% | 62.37% | 63.70% |
| Social capital | ||||
| Married | 50.71% | 59.29% | 54.87% | 61.10% |
| Not married | 49.29% | 40.71% | 45.13% | 38.90% |
| Volunteer | 51.64% | 47.78% | 37.64% | 32.73% |
| Not a volunteer | 48.36% | 52.22% | 62.36% | 67.27% |
| Financial capital | ||||
| Income: Less than $20,000 | 18.61% | 17.75% | 18.86% | 19.76% |
| $20,000 to $44,999 | 37.58% | 31.11% | 29.51% | 34.28% |
| $45,000 to $72,499 | 22.30% | 25.49% | 23.72% | 25.00% |
| $72,500 to $124,999 | 13.50% | 15.64% | 20.89% | 14.93% |
| $125,000 or more | 8.01% | 10.01% | 7.02% | 6.03% |
| Assets: Less than $10,000 | 36.46% | 39.04% | 32.47% | 41.51% |
| $10,000 to 49,999 | 23.32% | 16.86% | 18.22% | 13.64% |
| $50,000 to $99,999 | 11.13% | 10.88% | 11.96% | 10.17% |
| $100,000 to $199,999 | 7.66% | 8.62% | 9.32% | 13.65% |
| $200,000 to $499,999 | 13.61% | 13.78% | 15.89% | 10.49% |
| $500,000 or more | 7.83% | 10.82% | 12.14% | 10.54% |
| Personal preferences and values | ||||
| Meaning of work: Personal (5–25) | 21.44 (0.33) | 19.87 (0.36) | 19.15 (0.27) | 19.01 (0.26) |
| Social (5–25) | 18.00 (0.50) | 16.72 (0.34) | 16.23 (0.27) | 15.42 (0.26) |
| Financial (3–15) | 11.26 (0.28) | 10.68 (0.24) | 10.35 (0.22) | 10.16 (0.20) |
| Generativity (3–15) | 11.92 (0.29) | 11.23 (0.24) | 10.82 (0.18) | 10.37 (0.18) |
| Startup reason: Work for oneself | 35.20% | 24.95% | 13.45% | 10.15% |
| Make money | 42.95% | 40.60% | 44.49% | 37.13% |
| Meet social challenge, help others | 21.00% | 29.75% | 23.47% | 14.74% |
| Something else / Don’t know | 0.85% | 4.70% | 18.59% | 37.97% |
Note. Results incorporate survey weights developed using the raking method in the survwgt program in Stata [72]. Means and standard deviations presented for continuous variables and column percentages presented for categorical variables.