The Mature Women surveys provide researchers with a variety of family background data. The surveys collected information on three primary topics: parents, siblings, and the respondent's family background at age 15.
In the 1967 interview, the women were asked about the birth countries of their parents and grandparents; Table 4.9.1 depicts the results.
| Country | Mother | Father | Maternal Grandfather |
Maternal Grandmother |
Paternal Grandfather |
Paternal Grandmother |
| U.S. or Canada | 4409 | 4356 | 3622 | 3696 | 3588 | 3633 |
| N or W Europe1 | 190 | 212 | 332 | 378 | 346 | 310 |
| C or E Europe2 | 137 | 160 | 65 | 70 | 55 | 67 |
| S Europe3 | 136 | 179 | 32 | 31 | 41 | 37 |
| Latin America4 | 69 | 67 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| Other | 82 | 91 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 10 |
| Not available | 60 | 18 | 1014 | 991 | 1032 | 1017 |
| Note: This table is based on R00504.00-R00509.00 from the 1967 survey. | ||||||
| 1 Austria, Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands,
Northern Ireland, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, Wales. |
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| 2 Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, U.S.S.R., Yugoslavia. | ||||||
| 3 Andorra, Azores, Gibraltar, Gozo, Greece, Italy, Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, Portugal, San Marino,
Spain, Trieste, Vatican City, Europe--Country not specified. |
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| 4 Mexico, Central America, South America. | ||||||
Information on the life status of the respondent's and her husband's parents was collected in 1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1981, 1984, 1989, 1997, 2001, and 2003. The 1981 survey also asked how frequently respondents had contact with their parents and parents-in-law, as well as the distance they lived from each. In 1984, 1989, and 1997, respondents were again asked about the distance they lived from their parents and parents-in-law. These surveys also collected information on whether the respondent's or her husband's parents needed help for health reasons and, if so, who provided the care. The 1992, 1997, 2001, and 2003 surveys collected additional information on the respondents' biological parents including their current ages (if they were still alive) or the ages when they died. For all deceased parents, the survey collected information on the main cause of death. The 1997 survey also asked about each parent's overall health condition. Other information from these detailed 1997, 2001, and 2003 series of questions is discussed in the "Transfers" section of this guide.
The Mature Women surveys collected data about siblings in two survey years. The first collection, in 1977, asked respondents to provide the name, sex, birth date, and highest grade completed of up to 10 siblings who were not living in their home on the date of the survey. Respondents were also asked to count how many brothers and sisters lived in their home currently; information about these siblings is on the 1977 "Household Roster." In 1981, the survey asked how many living brothers and how many living sisters the respondent had. The respondent also answered questions about how often she contacted her closest sibling and the distance that sibling lived from the respondent's home.
| User Notes: The sampling design for the Original Cohorts produced a number of multiple respondent households. A small number of Mature Women have a sister in the Mature Women cohort or a brother in the Older Men cohort. These multiple respondent households provide a great deal of data about a respondent's siblings in addition to that collected during the regular surveys. For more information, see the "Screening" section in chapter 2 and the "Household Composition" section in this chapter. |
The 1967 survey asked respondents where they were born and how long they had lived at their current residence. Of the 5,083 respondents, 4,836 (95.1%) reported having been born in the United States.
Information was also collected during the initial interview about the living arrangements of respondents when they were 15 years old, including with whom the respondent lived and whether the residence was in a large or small city or in the country. In addition, the survey collected the occupation and the highest grade completed of the respondent's parents; these findings are reported in Tables 4.9.2 and 4.9.3 below.
| Occupation | Mother | Father |
| Professional, Technical & Kindred | 101 | 234 |
| Managers, Officials & Proprietors | 55 | 446 |
| Clerical & Kindred | 129 | 155 |
| Sales Workers | 109 | 115 |
| Craftsmen, Foremen & Kindred | 22 | 663 |
| Operatives & Kindred | 384 | 866 |
| Private Household Workers | 437 | 134 |
| Service Workers, Except Private Household | 204 | 231 |
| Farmers & Farm Managers | 58 | 1089 |
| Farm Laborers & Foremen | 248 | 125 |
| Laborers, Except Farm & Mine | 17 | 376 |
| Armed Forces | 1 | 33 |
| No Job | 2760 | 216 |
| Not Available | 558 | 400 |
| Total | 5083 | 5083 |
| Note: This table is based on R00515.00 and R00809.00 (mother) and R00512.00
and R00811.00 (father/head of household) from the 1967 survey. In households without a father, mother information is found under the father/head of household variables. R00511.00 can be used to determine the respondent's relationship to the head of the household. |
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| Grade Level | Mother | Father |
| None | 137 | 145 |
| 1-2 | 76 | 89 |
| 3-5 | 445 | 548 |
| 6-8 | 1536 | 1343 |
| 9-11 | 603 | 373 |
| 12 | 752 | 478 |
| 1-3 years of college | 226 | 148 |
| 4 years of college | 106 | 104 |
| 5+ years of college | 15 | 65 |
| Don't Know | 857 | 992 |
| NA | 330 | 798 |
| Total | 5083 | 5083 |
| Note: This table is based on R00517.00 and R00514.00 from the 1967 survey. In households without a father, mother information is found under the father/head of household variables. R00511.00 can be used to determine the respondent's relationship to the head of the household. |
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Related Variables: In each survey, information is collected on all members of the respondent's household; see the "Household Composition" section of this guide for details. More information about the respondent's background is available in the "Race, Ethnicity & Nationality" section of this guide.
Survey Instruments: Questions pertaining to family background can be found within the "Family Background" sections of the questionnaires. Questions about life status of parents are located in the "Health" or "Parents and Transfers" sections of the questionnaires.
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