| Low-income |
Family income at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level in 1996. |
| Employment |
Adults (age 25-54) employed full-time or part-time at the time of the survey interview in 1997. |
| Problems paying rent, mortgage, or utilities |
Adults' (age 18-64) inability to pay mortgage, rent, or utility bills at any time during the 12 months prior to the survey interview in 1997. |
| Worries about or difficulties affording food |
Adults' (age 18-64) experience with at least one of the following during the 12 months prior to the survey interview in 1997:
i. worries that food would run out before they got money to buy more
ii. food they bought did run out
iii. one or more adults in the family ate less or skipped meals because there wasn't enough money for food.
|
| Health insurance |
Health insurance coverage at the time of the survey interview in 1997. |
| Lack of confidence in the ability to get children medical care |
Parents who stated that they were "not confident at all" or "not too confident" that they could get medical care for their children when needed. |
| Usual source of health care |
A regular place or provider of health care (note: those who reported that they or their children went to a hospital emergency room when they needed health services were defined as having no usual source of care). |
| Fair or poor health |
Adults' (age 18-64) classification of themselves, their spouse/partners, or their children as generally being in fair or poor health. |
| High engagement in school |
Parents were asked to describe whether their child cares about doing well in school, only works on schoolwork when forced to, does just enough schoolwork to get by, and always does homework. The response categories were all of the time, most of the time, some of the time, or none of the time. Answers were summed to create scale scores ranging from 4 to 16. A score greater than or equal to 15 indicated high engagement in school. |
| Reading and telling stories to young children fewer than 3 days per week |
Children whose parents reported reading or telling stories to them fewer than 3 days per week. |
| Participation in extracurricular activities |
Children's involvement in either lessons, clubs, sports, or other activities during the 12 months prior to the survey interview in 1997. |
| Behavioral and emotional problems |
All parents were asked to indicate whether the child doesn't get along with other kids, can't concentrate or pay attention for long, or is unhappy, sad, or depressed. Respondents for 6- to 11-year-olds were also asked to indicate whether the child feels worthless or inferior, has been nervous, high-strung, or tense, and acts too young for his or her age. Respondents for 12- to 17-year-olds were also asked whether the child has trouble sleeping, lies or cheats, and does poorly at schoolwork. The possible response categories were often true, sometimes true, or never true. Answers to the six questions were summed to create scores ranging from 6 to 18. A score less than or equal to 12 indicates greater behavioral and emotional problems. |
| Participation in volunteer activities |
Parental participation in volunteer activities at least a few times a month. |
| Participation in religious activities |
Parental participation in religious activities at least a few times a month. |
| Aggravation among parents |
Aggravation was assessed using a scale that summed a parent's estimates of how often in the month prior to the survey interview he or she felt the child was much harder to care for than most, the child did things that really bothered the parent a lot, the parent was giving up more of his or her life to meet the child's needs than expected, and the parent felt angry with the child. Respondents' answers were summed to create scores ranging from 4 to 16. A score less than or equal to 11 indicates high aggravation in parenting. |
| Poor mental health of parents |
Parents were asked five questions about how often in the past month they had been a very nervous person, felt calm and peaceful, felt downhearted and blue, been a happy person, and felt so down in the dumps that nothing could cheer them up. The answers to these questions were summed to create a 100-point scale, on which a score of 67 or less indicated poor mental health. |
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