4.11 Family Background

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The Young Women surveys provide researchers with a variety of family background data. The surveys have collected information on three primary topics: parents, siblings, and the respondent’s family background at age 14.

Parent Background

In the 1968 interview, the women were asked about the birth countries of their parents and grandparents; Table 4.11.1 depicts the results.

Table 4.11.1 Birth Country of Parents and Grandparents

Country	Mother	Father	Maternal Grandfather	Maternal Grandmother	Paternal Grandfather	Paternal Grandmother
U.S. or Canada	4996	4940	4276	4322	4163	4238
N or W Europe¹	48	54	160	144	227	195
C or E Europe²	29	49	155	147	158	144
S Europe³	27	44	120	100	142	120
Latin America⁴	32	46	40	43	39	37
Other	23	22	26	19	26	21
Not available	4	4	382	384	404	404

Note: This table is based on R00384.-R00389. in the 1968 interview.
¹Austria, Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, Wales.
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.
⁴ Mexico, Central America, South America.

If a respondent did not live in her parents’ household, five of the first six surveys asked about the number of weeks worked by her parents, whether they usually worked full- or part-time, occupation. This information is in the “Household Roster” for respondents still residing with their parents.

The 1968 survey collected the life status of the respondent’s and her husband’s parents. In 1988 and 1991, additional information on the respondents’ biological parents included their current ages (if they were still alive) or the ages when they died. The 1991 survey also asked about the main cause of death for all deceased parents. The in-depth “Parents and Transfers” section of the 1993, 1997, and 2001 surveys collected information on the respondent’s and her husband’s biological parents, including their current ages or the ages when they died. The respondent also reported the month and year of each parent’s birth and death, as applicable. In these surveys, information was also collected about each parent’s overall health and the distance each parent lived from the respondent. Other information from this detailed series of questions is discussed in the “Transfers” section of this guide.

Siblings

The Young Women surveys collected sibling data six times. The first collection, in 1968, asked respondents how many brothers and sisters lived outside their home. It also asked the age and highest grade completed of the oldest sibling. In 1978, a full collection of information about siblings was included in the survey. Respondents were asked to provide the name, sex, birth date, and highest grade completed of up to 10 siblings who were not living in their home at the interview date. Respondents were also asked to count how many brothers and sisters lived in their home currently; information about these siblings is in the “Household Roster.” In 1983, 1988, 1991, and 1993, respondents were asked if they or their husbands had any dependents; they could then list how many brothers or sisters were dependent on them for at least half their support. Finally, in 1993, another full roster of siblings was included in the survey. Respondents were asked to state the sibling’s name, sex, age, life status, highest grade completed, number of children, and age when first child was born for up to 10 siblings.

User Notes: The sampling design for the Original Cohorts produced a number of multiple respondent households. Over 30 percent of Young Women have a mother in the Mature Women cohort; 20 percent have a father in the Older Men cohort. More than 50 percent of Young Women have a sister in the Young Women cohort, a brother in the Young Men cohort, or both. These multiple respondent households provide a great deal of data about a respondent’s parents and 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.

Respondent Background at Age 14

The 1968 survey asked respondents where they were born and how long they had lived at their current residence. Of the 5,159 respondents, 5,043 (97.8%) 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 14 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 respondents’ parents; these findings are reported in Tables 4.11.2 and 4.11.3 below. In 1978, the respondent was again asked whether her mother worked when she was a teenager. If so, follow-up questions asked about her mother’s occupation and about the respondent’s perception of how her mother felt about working. The 1968 survey also asked whether magazines and newspapers were available in the respondent’s home at age 14 and whether the respondent or someone in the household had a library card. In 1973, the survey asked the respondent whether a language other than English was spoken in the home when she was a child and, if so, which language.

Table 4.11.2 Occupation of Mother and Father of Respondent at Age 14

Occupation	Mother	Father
Professional, Technical & Kindred	205	388
Managers, Officials & Proprietors	69	477
Clerical & Kindred	394	178
Sales Workers	137	181
Craftsmen, Foremen & Kindred	25	891
Operatives & Kindred	405	871
Private Household Workers	320	7
Service Workers, Except Private Household	448	212
Farmers & Farm Managers	16	475
Farm Laborers & Foremen	104	91
Laborers, Except Farm & Mine	16	386
Armed Forces	0	52
No Job	2944	152
Not Available	76	798
Total	5159	5159

Note: This table is based on R00394.-R00395. (mother) and R00392.-R00393. (father/head of household) from the 1968 survey. In households without a father, mother information is found under the father/head of household variables. R00391. can be used to determine the respondent’s relationship to the head of the household.

Table 4.11.3 Highest Grade Completed by Mother and Father of Respondent in 1968

Grade Level	Mother	Father
Less Than 3	73	132
3-5	240	323
6-8	1054	974
9-11	992	663
12	1623	1057
1-3 years of college	349	287
4 years of college	189	197
5+ years of college	77	176
NA	562	1350
Total	5159	5159

Note: This table is based on R00676. (mother) and R00656. (father).

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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