Table 1

Weighted descriptive statistics of college graduates by gender and generation status, NLSY97

WomenMen
CharacteristicFirst GenerationContinuing GenerationFirst GenerationContinuing Generation
Race     
 White 68.9 81.1 69.4 83.4 
 Black 15.0 6.7 12.5 5.4 
 Hispanic 5.3 3.4 5.8 2.2 
 Other 10.8 8.8 12.3 9.0 
Family Structure     
 Two biological parents 57.9 74.2 58.8 76.7 
 Single parent 26.7 15.4 22.9 11.6 
 Other 15.4 10.4 18.3 11.8 
Region     
 Northeast 22.8 17.0 24.1 17.5 
 North Central 26.9 30.8 27.8 31.9 
 South 30.5 30.7 31.0 28.6 
 West 19.8 21.6 17.1 22.0 
Religion     
 Catholic 29.8 26.7 35.8 32.7 
 Protestant 58.6 59.3 52.0 48.3 
 Other 2.6 5.5 2.9 6.7 
 None 9.0 8.5 9.3 12.4 
Median Age at High School Graduation 18.5 18.4 18.7 18.5 
Proportion Marrieda     
 At age 23 0.14 0.11 0.12 0.07 
 At age 28 0.44 0.45 0.42 0.35 
 At age 32 0.60 0.64 0.60 0.59 
Marriage Relative to Educationb     
 Married before college 2.1 0.4 3.0 0.6 
 Married during college 27.5 17.2 28.4 19.6 
 Married post–BA completion 70.3 82.3 68.5 79.8 
Assortative Mating     
 Never married 40.2 35.2 38.1 40.4 
 Married <BA 32.1 20.2 21.8 13.6 
 Married ≥BA 27.7 44.6 40.1 46.1 
Number of Person-Months 84,820 72,301 51,207 66,305 
Number of Respondents 693 602 420 517 
WomenMen
CharacteristicFirst GenerationContinuing GenerationFirst GenerationContinuing Generation
Race     
 White 68.9 81.1 69.4 83.4 
 Black 15.0 6.7 12.5 5.4 
 Hispanic 5.3 3.4 5.8 2.2 
 Other 10.8 8.8 12.3 9.0 
Family Structure     
 Two biological parents 57.9 74.2 58.8 76.7 
 Single parent 26.7 15.4 22.9 11.6 
 Other 15.4 10.4 18.3 11.8 
Region     
 Northeast 22.8 17.0 24.1 17.5 
 North Central 26.9 30.8 27.8 31.9 
 South 30.5 30.7 31.0 28.6 
 West 19.8 21.6 17.1 22.0 
Religion     
 Catholic 29.8 26.7 35.8 32.7 
 Protestant 58.6 59.3 52.0 48.3 
 Other 2.6 5.5 2.9 6.7 
 None 9.0 8.5 9.3 12.4 
Median Age at High School Graduation 18.5 18.4 18.7 18.5 
Proportion Marrieda     
 At age 23 0.14 0.11 0.12 0.07 
 At age 28 0.44 0.45 0.42 0.35 
 At age 32 0.60 0.64 0.60 0.59 
Marriage Relative to Educationb     
 Married before college 2.1 0.4 3.0 0.6 
 Married during college 27.5 17.2 28.4 19.6 
 Married post–BA completion 70.3 82.3 68.5 79.8 
Assortative Mating     
 Never married 40.2 35.2 38.1 40.4 
 Married <BA 32.1 20.2 21.8 13.6 
 Married ≥BA 27.7 44.6 40.1 46.1 
Number of Person-Months 84,820 72,301 51,207 66,305 
Number of Respondents 693 602 420 517 

Notes: BA = bachelor's degree. Totals may not add to 100.0 because of rounding.

a

Based on Kaplan-Meier estimates, roughly five, 10, and 14 years after high school completion.

b

Conditional on marriage being observed in NLSY97.

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