_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                                   | 3- to 5-year-olds,      |Enrolled in nursery      |Enrolled in kinder-      |  Enrolled in 1st        |  Enrolled in 2nd
             Maternal              |    not enrolled         |school or prekinder-     |       garten            |       grade             |      grade
          characteristics          |     in school\1\        |      garten             |_________________________|_________________________|_________________________
       and household income        |_________________________|_________________________|      |      |           |      |      |           |      |      |
                                   |      |      |           |      |      |           |      |      |           |      |      |           |      |      |
                                   | 1991 | 1995 |   1999    | 1991 | 1995 |   1999    | 1991 | 1995 |   1999    | 1991 | 1995 |   1999    | 1991 | 1995 |   1999
___________________________________|______|______|___________|______|______|___________|______|______|___________|______|______|___________|______|______|___________
                 1                 |  2   |  3   |    4      |  5   |  6   |    7      |  8   |  9   |   10      |  11  |  12  |    13     |  14  |  15  |    16
___________________________________|______|______|___________|______|______|___________|______|______|___________|______|______|___________|______|______|___________
  Total children, in thousands ....|4,853 |4,595 |4,037  (58)|3,571 |4,655 |4,510  (52)|4,022 |4,149 |3,948  (65)|4,001 |4,025 |4,540 (154)|3,724 |3,777 |4,083  (78)
                                   |______|______|___________|______|______|___________|______|______|___________|______|______|___________|______|______|___________
                                   |                              Percentage distribution
                                   |_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Mother's highest education\2\ .....|100.0 |100.0 |100.0  --- |100.0 |100.0 |100.0  --- |100.0 |100.0 |100.0  --- |100.0 |100.0 |100.0  --- |100.0 |100.0 |100.0  ---
  Less than high school ...........| 18.2 | 22.1 | 20.6 (1.2)|  8.2 |  9.8 | 10.4 (0.8)| 15.8 | 16.9 | 16.1 (1.3)| 15.6 | 15.9 | 17.1 (1.3)| 15.5 | 19.6 | 18.2 (1.4)
  High school diploma\3\ ..........| 42.8 | 35.3 | 33.6 (1.5)| 32.2 | 27.8 | 26.3 (1.2)| 39.6 | 33.0 | 31.1 (1.5)| 38.4 | 31.2 | 30.6 (1.6)| 37.7 | 31.0 | 29.8 (1.6)
  Some postsecondary ..............| 22.5 | 21.3 | 20.1 (1.2)| 28.7 | 22.8 | 19.6 (1.0)| 24.1 | 21.7 | 18.5 (1.3)| 24.0 | 23.6 | 19.8 (1.2)| 26.1 | 20.6 | 18.9 (1.4)
  Associate degree ................|  3.6 |  7.0 |  7.0 (0.8)|  4.5 |  8.6 |  9.6 (0.7)|  4.0 |  7.0 |  8.3 (0.9)|  3.5 |  7.3 |  7.9 (0.9)|  4.3 |  7.6 | 10.3 (0.9)
  Bachelor's degree ...............|  9.2 |  9.6 | 13.3 (1.0)| 16.5 | 18.9 | 22.1 (1.1)| 11.4 | 13.5 | 15.4 (1.1)| 11.7 | 13.7 | 15.8 (1.1)| 10.0 | 12.9 | 15.2 (1.2)
  Graduate/professional school ....|  3.7 |  4.7 |  5.5 (0.6)|  9.9 | 12.1 | 11.9 (0.9)|  5.0 |  7.9 | 10.6 (1.0)|  6.7 |  8.3 |  8.8 (0.8)|  6.4 |  8.3 |  7.6 (0.8)
                                   |      |      |           |      |      |           |      |      |           |      |      |           |      |      |
Mother's employment status\2\ .....|100.0 |100.0 |100.0  --- |100.0 |100.0 |100.0  --- |100.0 |100.0 |100.0  --- |100.0 |100.0 |100.0  --- |100.0 |100.0 |100.0  ---
  Working 35 hours/week or more ...| 33.8 | 33.4 | 36.1 (1.5)| 34.0 | 38.4 | 42.7 (1.3)| 35.3 | 35.9 | 43.6 (1.6)| 38.2 | 38.5 | 43.4 (1.6)| 38.9 | 40.5 | 44.5 (1.7)
  Working less than 35 hours/week .| 20.6 | 17.8 | 21.0 (1.3)| 26.7 | 23.7 | 23.3 (1.1)| 21.5 | 20.8 | 22.2 (1.4)| 23.9 | 20.8 | 23.4 (1.4)| 22.3 | 21.4 | 22.1 (1.5)
  Looking for work ................|  7.0 |  6.8 |  5.9 (0.7)|  5.2 |  5.9 |  4.9 (0.6)|  6.5 |  5.6 |  5.3 (0.7)|  6.1 |  5.0 |  4.4 (0.7)|  6.6 |  5.4 |  4.0 (0.7)
  Not in labor force ..............| 38.6 | 42.0 | 36.9 (1.5)| 34.1 | 32.0 | 29.2 (1.2)| 36.7 | 37.7 | 28.9 (1.5)| 31.7 | 35.6 | 28.8 (1.5)| 32.1 | 32.7 | 29.5 (1.6)
                                   |      |      |           |      |      |           |      |      |           |      |      |           |      |      |
Household income  .................|100.0 |100.0 |100.0  --- |100.0 |100.0 |100.0  --- |100.0 |100.0 |100.0  --- |100.0 |100.0 |100.0  --- |100.0 |100.0 |100.0  ---
  $10,000 or less .................| 19.6 | 22.7 | 14.5 (1.3)| 15.2 | 16.2 | 10.8 (0.9)| 17.9 | 19.4 | 13.4 (1.2)| 18.7 | 17.4 | 15.6 (1.4)| 18.2 | 19.5 | 14.7 (1.5)
  $10,001 to $20,000 ..............| 19.3 | 15.7 | 19.5 (1.3)| 14.0 | 10.4 | 12.6 (0.9)| 16.5 | 12.6 | 13.2 (1.1)| 16.9 | 13.2 | 13.8 (1.1)| 16.9 | 11.6 | 15.3 (1.2)
  $20,001 to $30,000 ..............| 23.0 | 19.1 | 17.3 (1.1)| 16.6 | 13.0 | 14.1 (0.9)| 20.8 | 15.8 | 15.3 (1.1)| 20.2 | 16.6 | 15.2 (1.2)| 18.9 | 16.5 | 16.2 (1.3)
  $30,001 to $40,000 ..............| 15.9 | 16.2 | 14.6 (1.0)| 15.6 | 12.3 | 11.4 (0.7)| 14.8 | 15.1 | 14.6 (1.1)| 15.1 | 14.1 | 12.8 (1.0)| 15.4 | 16.1 | 11.3 (1.0)
  $40,001 to $50,000 ..............| 10.4 | 11.0 |  9.9 (0.8)| 12.1 | 11.5 |  9.9 (0.7)| 11.5 | 11.7 |  9.8 (0.9)| 10.8 | 11.1 | 10.2 (0.9)| 12.0 | 11.3 | 10.4 (0.9)
  $50,001 to $75,000 ..............|  8.5 | 10.5 | 12.9 (0.9)| 15.7 | 19.3 | 19.4 (1.0)| 11.7 | 14.4 | 15.9 (1.1)| 11.1 | 15.6 | 16.1 (1.1)| 11.8 | 15.0 | 15.2 (1.1)
  More than $75,000 ...............|  3.3 |  4.7 | 11.3 (0.9)| 10.9 | 17.1 | 21.9 (1.1)|  6.8 | 11.1 | 17.8 (1.2)|  7.2 | 12.1 | 16.4 (1.1)|  6.9 | 10.1 | 16.9 (1.2)
___________________________________|______|______|___________|______|______|___________|______|______|___________|______|______|___________|______|______|___________

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey (NHES), 1991, 1995, and 1999. (This table was prepared September 2001.)