Parental Education
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Headline

Nearly one-half of Hispanic children ages 6-18 had parents who lacked a high school degree in 1999, compared to less than 10 percent of white non-Hispanic children. (See Figure 3)

Importance

Higher levels of parent educational attainment are strongly associated with positive outcomes for children in many areas including school readiness¹ and educational achievement,² health and health-related behaviors including smoking and binge drinking,³ and pro-social activities such as volunteering.⁴ Children of more educated parents are also likely to have access to greater material, human, and social resources.⁵

Trends

Since 1974, the percentage of children ages 6-18 whose parents had less than a high school education has greatly declined while the percentage with a bachelor's degree or higher has increased steadily. Among black children, for example, the proportion with mothers lacking a high school degree decreased from 58 percent in 1974 to 20 percent in 1999, while the proportion with mothers with a bachelor's degree increased from 4 percent to 14 percent. For white non-Hispanic children the percentage whose mothers did not complete high school decreased from 27 percent to 7 percent, while the proportion whose mothers had completed bachelor's degrees increased from 9 percent to 26 percent. Hispanic gains were more modest. (See Figure 1 and Figure 2)

Differences by Race and Ethnicity

Nearly one half of Hispanic children had parents who lacked a high school degree in 1999 compared to less than 20 percent among black non-Hispanic children, and less than 10 percent of white non-Hispanic children. (See Figure 3). A similar pattern of disparity is found when looking at the proportion with bachelor's degrees. (See Table 1)

Related Indicators

School Readiness, Educational Attainment, and Volunteering

State and Local Estimates

Not Available

International Estimates

Estimates from the Program for International Student Assessment for 30 countries, including the United States, are available at: http://www.pisa.oecd.org/dataoecd/44/53/33691596.pdf (See Chapter 6)

National Goals

None

What Works: Programs and Interventions that May Influence this Indicator

None available at this time.

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Research References

¹Chandler, K., Nord, C. W., Lennon, J., & Liu, B. (1999, November). Statistics in Brief: Home Literacy Activities & Signs of Children's Emerging Literacy, 1993 and 1999. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Based on National Household Education Survey, 1993 and 1999 analyses. (Table 2) http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2000026

²The Nation's Report Card, 2000 Science Assessments. National Center for Education Statistics. National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Online. Available: http://www.nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/science/results/

³See Child Trends DataBank, Daily Cigarette Use indicator, located at http://www.childtrendsdatabank.org/indicators/3Smoking.cfm , and Binge Drinking, located at http://www.childtrendsdatabank.org/indicators/2BingeDrinking.cfm
National Center for Health Statistics. Health, United States, 1998 with Socioeconomic Status and Health Chartbook. Hyattsville, MD: 1998.

⁴See Child Trends DataBank, Volunteering indicator, located at http://www.childtrendsdatabank.org/indicators/20Volunteering.htm

⁵Nord, C.W. and J. West. Fathers' and Mothers' Involvement in Their Children's Schools by Family Type and Resident Status. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2001. See Tables in Appendix B. http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2001/2001032.pdf Colemen, J.S. 1988. Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94. 995-5120.

⁶U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, The Condition of Education 2001, Table 4-1, NCES 2001-072, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2001.

Definition

This indicator reports the highest level of educational attainment among parents living in the home of the child at the time of the interview.⁶

Data Source

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, The Condition of Education 2001, Table 4-1, NCES 2001-072, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2001. http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2001/section1/indicator04.asp

Raw Data Source

Current Population Surveys, March Supplement. http://www.bls.census.gov/cps/ads/adsmain.htm

Approximate Date of Next Update

Unknown

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