Search

A Rand study develops a model concerning mothers in Peninsular Malaysia's three major ethnic groups (Malay, Chinese, Indian), investigating relationships between their early life experiences and their expectations for education levels of their children. The model examines three of the women's early life experiences that are governed by their parents' desires and characteristics: education, early labor force experience, and age at family formation (marriage or first birth). Data are from mothers of 1,159 children, aged 5-9, from the 1976-77 Malaysian Family Life Survey. Results indicate that relationships among mothers' early life experiences and between those outcomes and expectations for children's education often differ by ethnicity and by child's sex. Modern-sector work experience substantially increases mothers' expectations among Chinese and Indian women, but not among Malays, many of whom are from rural areas. Chinese mothers (but not Malays or Indians) strongly favor sons over daughters in expected schooling, but modern-sector work experience changes this pattern, dramatically increasing Chinese expectations for daughters' schooling, but not affecting expectations for sons' attainments. Government policies to improve Malays' social and economic standing have apparently raised expectations for their children's education, relative to Chinese and Indian expectations, as Chinese and Indian women expect their children to complete less schooling than Malays expect. (MH)

This report presents data on daytime care arrangements for children aged 3 to 13 of working and non-working mothers. Presented by age, race and school enrollment of the child, marital status of the mother and family income, data were collected through two surveys: one of day care arrangements for children aged 3 to 6 and another for children aged 7 to 13. About one half the report consists of statistical tables and charts. Data indicate that, of the approximately 41 million children aged 3 to 13 in the United States about 33 million are usually cared for by a parent while not in school. For the additional eight million, other arrangements are made for daytime care. The most common arrangement is care in the child's home by a relative, with 2.1 million children aged 3 to 13 cared for in this way. An additional 1.8 million (mostly in the 7 to 13 age group) care for themselves. Fairly small proportions are taken to an outside home for care, either to a relative or non-relative (about 1.2 million to each), or to a day care center (326,000). The use of a day care center is thus the least often reported child care arrangement in the United States, involving approximately 2 per cent of children aged 3 to 6. Approximately two-fifths of all children from 3 to 13 years of age have working mothers, with three-fifths of these reported under parent care when not in school. Type of care provided for grade school children was found to vary only slightly by income level of the family. (BF)

The early 1970's was a period of rapid decline for all fertility indicators in the United States. This paper explores some of the reasons for this decline. Data from a National longitudinal survey of young women are used to examine changes in expectations for lifetime births from 1971 to 1973. These young women decreased their birth expectations substantially over this two-year period from an average of 2.7 to 2.4 births per woman. The relationship of changes in birth expectations to social and demographic characteristics of the woman were explored. The analysis of these longitudinal data showed that expected family size fell dramatically for all women regardless of age, marital status, educational levels, race, age at marriage, current family size, or labor force status. Attitudes toward women's role and family financial status as measured in this research had no significantly systematic impact on young women's family size expectations. Concern for population growth did show a substantial effect on reducing expected family size. The evidence in this paper suggests that a strong consensus has developed that families in the United States should be limited to two children. (Author)

A study was conducted on the factors which influence young women to marry or have their first child at a given age. The data used were taken from the National Longitudinal Survey of Young Women conducted by the Center for Human Resource Research at Ohio State University, during which a sample of 5,159 young women aged 14 to 24 in 1968 were interviewed yearly between 1968 and 1973. It was found that taste for market work, school enrollment, and mother's education all decrease the likelihood of a first marriage or birth at a given age. Young women in the South and those in rural areas are likely to marry and have their first child earlier than those in other regions or in urban areas. Black women are less likely to marry at almost any age than are white. The analysis showed that while in early adulthood current employment status has a small positive impact on the likelihood of a first marriage or birth at most ages, those variables which indicate a preference or preparation for future employment cause postponement of family formation. The analysis also provided evidence that the current trends in timing of family formation, women's educational attainment, and labor force participation are linked to a rise in general level of preference for market work among young women. (Tables of data and a list of references are appended.) (LMS)