Table 1.
Sample Characteristics According to Birth Cohort, Weighted Estimates, Health and Retirement Study Life History Mail Survey Sample, United States, 1998–2014
| Measure | Full (n = 9,565) | AHEAD/CODA (n = 782) | HRS/War Babies (n= 4,479) | Baby Boomers (n = 4,304) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | Mean (SE) | % | Mean (SE) | % | Mean (SE) | % | Mean (SE) | |
| Demographics | ||||||||
| Race/ethnicity | ||||||||
| Non-Hispanic white | 84.3 | 90.7 | 86.6 | 81.9 | ||||
| Non-Hispanic back | 8.4 | 5.1 | 7.4 | 9.6 | ||||
| Latino | 4.6 | 3.0 | 3.9 | 5.2 | ||||
| Other | 2.7 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 3.3 | ||||
| Female | 56.2 | 67.0 | 56.1 | 55.1 | ||||
| Proxy interview, LHMS | 6.1 | 21.5 | 7.3 | 3.4 | ||||
| Childhood and family experiences | ||||||||
| Parent’s education, years | 11.6 (0.04) | 9.6 (0.13) | 11.0 (0.06) | 12.3 (0.06) | ||||
| Number of books in the homea | 2.4 (0.02) | 1.9 (0.04) | 2.1 (0.02) | 2.7 (0.02) | ||||
| Self-rated health in childhoodb | 1.7 (0.01) | 1.8 (0.04) | 1.7 (0.02) | 1.6 (0.02) | ||||
| Educational experiences | ||||||||
| Learning problem | 14.4 | 9.4 | 11.5 | 17.3 | ||||
| Reading ability compared with peersc | 2.4 (0.01) | 2.3 (0.03) | 2.4 (0.02) | 2.4 (0.02) | ||||
| Math ability compared with peersc | 2.6 (0.01) | 2.5 (0.03) | 2.6 (0.02) | 2.6 (0.02) | ||||
| Attended majority-minority elementary school | 13.8 | 8.0 | 12.0 | 16.0 | ||||
| Involved in language or creative arts | 73.7 | 64.0 | 70.7 | 77.1 | ||||
| High-school curriculum | ||||||||
| Never attended high school | 3.3 | 9.4 | 4.4 | 1.8 | ||||
| Vocational or general education | 65.4 | 69.1 | 67.0 | 63.8 | ||||
| College preparatory | 31.3 | 21.5 | 28.6 | 34.4 | ||||
| Lived in rural area during school | 43.0 | 46.3 | 46.1 | 40.3 | ||||
| Educational attainment | ||||||||
| Less than high school | 8.6 | 17.1 | 11.4 | 5.5 | ||||
| High-school graduate or GED | 32.8 | 37.6 | 37.6 | 28.5 | ||||
| Some college | 26.8 | 21.1 | 23.1 | 30.4 | ||||
| College or more | 31.8 | 24.2 | 27.9 | 35.6 | ||||
Abbreviations: AHEAD/CODA, Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old/Children of the Depression; GED, General Educational Development; HRS, Health and Retirement Study; LHMS, Life History Mail Survey; SE, standard error.
a 1 = none or few; 5 = 200 or more books.
b 1 = excellent; 5 = poor.
c 1 = much better; 5 = much worse.