Descriptive statistics of outcome and predictor variables
| . | Full Sample . | Less Than High School . | High School . | Some College . | College Degree+ . | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variable | Mean | SD | Mean | SD | Mean | SD | Mean | SD | Mean | SD |
| Percentage of Low Birth Weight Births | .06 | .02 | .08 | .02 | .07 | .01 | .06 | .01 | .04 | .01 |
| Percentage of Preterm Births | .10 | .02 | .13 | .02 | .11 | .02 | .10 | .01 | .08 | .01 |
| Total Number of Births | 48,236 | 41,240 | 52,030 | 51,191 | 51,495 | 42,189 | 43,272 | 35,315 | 46,696 | 36,469 |
| Average Maternal Age | 27.60 | 2.85 | 24.28 | 1.51 | 25.86 | 0.80 | 27.92 | 0.69 | 31.55 | 0.72 |
| Average Paternal Age | 30.43 | 2.33 | 28.04 | 1.37 | 28.95 | 0.89 | 30.55 | 0.77 | 33.62 | 0.86 |
| Percentage of Births To married parents | .62 | .22 | .37 | .08 | .49 | .09 | .64 | .09 | .92 | .03 |
| To Black mothers | .14 | .11 | .16 | .12 | .19 | .12 | .16 | .10 | .07 | .05 |
| To AI/AN mothers | .01 | .03 | .01 | .04 | .01 | .03 | .01 | .02 | .00 | .01 |
| To Asian mothers | .06 | .07 | .03 | .04 | .04 | .04 | .04 | .05 | .11 | .08 |
| To Hispanic mothers | .24 | .23 | .50 | .26 | .25 | .20 | .18 | .15 | .09 | .07 |
| To White mothers | .55 | .23 | .30 | .19 | .51 | .19 | .60 | .17 | .73 | .13 |
| State-Level Variables | ||||||||||
| Total per-child spendinga | 6.97 | 2.16 | ||||||||
| Per-child spending on cash income supporta | 2.88 | 1.11 | ||||||||
| Per-child spending on tax creditsa | 1.26 | 0.38 | ||||||||
| Per-child spending on healtha | 2.33 | 0.87 | ||||||||
| Per-child spending on housinga | 0.50 | 0.30 | ||||||||
| Unemployment rate (%) | 5.88 | 1.96 | ||||||||
| Poverty rate (%) | 13.27 | 2.95 | ||||||||
| Minimum wage ($) | 6.29 | 1.39 | ||||||||
| Proportion of Black residents | .12 | .08 | ||||||||
| Proportion of Hispanic residents | .16 | .13 | ||||||||
| Proportion of residents with a college degree | .28 | .05 | ||||||||
| Proportion of states with a Democratic governor | .42 | .50 | ||||||||
| . | Full Sample . | Less Than High School . | High School . | Some College . | College Degree+ . | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variable | Mean | SD | Mean | SD | Mean | SD | Mean | SD | Mean | SD |
| Percentage of Low Birth Weight Births | .06 | .02 | .08 | .02 | .07 | .01 | .06 | .01 | .04 | .01 |
| Percentage of Preterm Births | .10 | .02 | .13 | .02 | .11 | .02 | .10 | .01 | .08 | .01 |
| Total Number of Births | 48,236 | 41,240 | 52,030 | 51,191 | 51,495 | 42,189 | 43,272 | 35,315 | 46,696 | 36,469 |
| Average Maternal Age | 27.60 | 2.85 | 24.28 | 1.51 | 25.86 | 0.80 | 27.92 | 0.69 | 31.55 | 0.72 |
| Average Paternal Age | 30.43 | 2.33 | 28.04 | 1.37 | 28.95 | 0.89 | 30.55 | 0.77 | 33.62 | 0.86 |
| Percentage of Births To married parents | .62 | .22 | .37 | .08 | .49 | .09 | .64 | .09 | .92 | .03 |
| To Black mothers | .14 | .11 | .16 | .12 | .19 | .12 | .16 | .10 | .07 | .05 |
| To AI/AN mothers | .01 | .03 | .01 | .04 | .01 | .03 | .01 | .02 | .00 | .01 |
| To Asian mothers | .06 | .07 | .03 | .04 | .04 | .04 | .04 | .05 | .11 | .08 |
| To Hispanic mothers | .24 | .23 | .50 | .26 | .25 | .20 | .18 | .15 | .09 | .07 |
| To White mothers | .55 | .23 | .30 | .19 | .51 | .19 | .60 | .17 | .73 | .13 |
| State-Level Variables | ||||||||||
| Total per-child spendinga | 6.97 | 2.16 | ||||||||
| Per-child spending on cash income supporta | 2.88 | 1.11 | ||||||||
| Per-child spending on tax creditsa | 1.26 | 0.38 | ||||||||
| Per-child spending on healtha | 2.33 | 0.87 | ||||||||
| Per-child spending on housinga | 0.50 | 0.30 | ||||||||
| Unemployment rate (%) | 5.88 | 1.96 | ||||||||
| Poverty rate (%) | 13.27 | 2.95 | ||||||||
| Minimum wage ($) | 6.29 | 1.39 | ||||||||
| Proportion of Black residents | .12 | .08 | ||||||||
| Proportion of Hispanic residents | .16 | .13 | ||||||||
| Proportion of residents with a college degree | .28 | .05 | ||||||||
| Proportion of states with a Democratic governor | .42 | .50 | ||||||||
Note: The following state–year observations were excluded: Alaska, 2008 less than high school; Rhode Island, 2008 less than high school and high school, and 2009 less than high school; Washington, D.C., 1997–2016 all education categories when controlling for Democratic governor. AI = American Indian. AN = Alaska Native.
a Spending is reported in $1,000s.