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Digest of Education Statistics
2013 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 207.10. Number of 3- to 5-year-olds not yet enrolled in kindergarten and percentage participating in home literacy activities with a family member, by type and frequency of activity and selected child and family characteristics: 1993, 2001, and 2007
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Selected child and family characteristics Number of children (in thousands) Percent of children participating in activity with family member1
Read to by family member three or more times in past week At least once in past week Visited a library at least once in past month
Told a story by family member Taught letters, words, or numbers Did arts and crafts
1993 2001 2007 19932 2001 2007 1993 2001 2007 1993 2001 2007 1993 2001 2007 1993 2001 2007
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Total 8,579 (42.0) 8,551 (11.0) 8,686 (18.1) 78 (0.7) 84 (0.8) 83 (1.1) 76 (0.9) 84 (0.8) 79 (1.1) 86 (0.5) 94 (0.6) 87 (1.1) 68 (0.9) 79 (0.9) 90 (1.1) 38 (1.0) 36 (1.1) 36 (1.2)
Age                                                                        
3 years old 3,889 (8.2) 3,795 (91.4) 3,755 (108.1) 79 (1.0) 84 (1.1) 84 (1.5) 77 (1.1) 83 (1.2) 80 (2.0) 85 (0.9) 93 (1.0) 87 (1.4) 67 (1.2) 77 (1.3) 91 (1.3) 34 (1.3) 35 (1.9) 36 (2.0)
4 years old 3,713 (15.7) 3,861 (89.0) 3,738 (123.5) 78 (1.0) 85 (1.2) 83 (1.6) 75 (1.3) 84 (1.1) 76 (2.0) 88 (0.7) 95 (0.7) 86 (1.9) 69 (1.3) 82 (1.2) 89 (2.0) 41 (1.5) 37 (1.4) 35 (1.6)
5 years old 976 (39.4) 896 (47.0) 1,193 (78.0) 76 (2.1) 81 (2.7) 83 (3.0) 68 (2.3) 82 (2.4) 86 (2.6) 88 (1.7) 93 (1.8) 89 (2.2) 69 (2.4) 80 (2.4) 89 (2.7) 38 (2.7) 37 (3.4) 39 (3.4)
                                                                         
Sex                                                                        
Male 4,453 (60.2) 4,292 (79.9) 4,364 (101.1) 77 (1.0) 82 (1.2) 81 (1.7) 75 (1.0) 82 (1.1) 77 (1.9) 86 (0.7) 94 (0.7) 86 (1.6) 66 (1.1) 76 (1.3) 87 (1.8) 38 (1.5) 35 (1.4) 34 (1.8)
Female 4,126 (65.0) 4,260 (79.6) 4,322 (100.8) 79 (1.0) 86 (1.0) 86 (1.2) 76 (1.4) 85 (1.0) 81 (1.6) 87 (0.9) 94 (0.8) 88 (1.5) 71 (1.2) 83 (1.3) 93 (1.1) 38 (1.1) 37 (1.6) 38 (1.8)
                                                                         
Race/ethnicity                                                                        
White 5,902 (63.6) 5,313 (68.0) 4,664 (66.3) 85 (0.7) 89 (0.8) 91 (1.3) 77 (1.1) 86 (1.0) 85 (1.4) 86 (0.7) 95 (0.7) 88 (1.3) 74 (1.0) 85 (1.0) 92 (1.3) 42 (1.3) 39 (1.3) 41 (1.6)
Black 1,271 (44.9) 1,251 (55.1) 1,311 (6.0) 66 (2.4) 77 (2.6) 78 (4.0) 72 (2.5) 81 (2.1) 61 (5.0) 89 (1.8) 94 (1.8) 81 (5.2) 56 (2.6) 70 (3.1) 82 (5.1) 29 (2.6) 31 (2.6) 25 (3.6)
Hispanic 1,026 (34.1) 1,506 (43.5) 1,899 (13.6) 58 (2.4) 71 (1.9) 68 (2.4) 73 (1.9) 75 (2.0) 75 (2.2) 84 (1.6) 92 (1.1) 86 (1.6) 53 (2.4) 67 (2.2) 91 (1.4) 26 (1.6) 30 (2.0) 27 (2.2)
Asian (†) (†) 349 (43.3) (†) (†) 87 (3.9) (†) (†) 75 (7.0) (†) (†) 92 (2.8) (†) (†) 84 (6.1) (†) (†) 49 (7.3)
                                                                         
Mother's highest level
     of education3
                                                                       
Less than high school 1,036 (50.1) 996 (54.5) 808 (71.6) 60 (2.7) 69 (2.8) 56 (5.1) 67 (3.2) 72 (2.7) 66 (4.5) 82 (2.4) 91 (2.0) 84 (3.3) 49 (2.6) 62 (3.0) 86 (4.4) 22 (2.7) 21 (2.4) 20 (3.7)
High school/GED 3,268 (79.6) 2,712 (89.0) 2,048 (108.7) 75 (1.3) 81 (1.6) 74 (2.8) 75 (1.3) 83 (1.3) 74 (3.2) 87 (0.9) 95 (0.9) 82 (3.3) 65 (1.6) 77 (1.8) 89 (2.3) 30 (1.8) 30 (1.9) 29 (2.9)
Vocational/technical
   or some college
2,291 (69.1) 1,833 (73.9) 1,838 (107.2) 83 (1.4) 85 (1.8) 84 (2.3) 77 (1.5) 85 (1.7) 75 (3.5) 88 (1.0) 94 (1.2) 85 (3.2) 73 (1.5) 81 (1.9) 87 (3.4) 44 (2.2) 38 (2.2) 28 (2.5)
Associate's degree 332 (25.7) 573 (40.9) 821 (59.4) 84 (3.1) 89 (2.5) 90 (2.1) 78 (3.5) 84 (2.7) 84 (2.8) 93 (2.1) 92 (2.3) 91 (2.1) 77 (3.9) 82 (3.2) 92 (2.2) 38 (4.1) 42 (4.3) 45 (4.5)
Bachelor's degree 912 (42.3) 1,553 (68.4) 1,990 (92.4) 90 (1.6) 93 (1.2) 95 (0.9) 80 (2.0) 88 (1.5) 86 (1.7) 84 (1.7) 95 (1.1) 90 (1.3) 77 (2.0) 89 (1.4) 92 (1.7) 55 (2.2) 46 (2.4) 43 (2.5)
Graduate/professional
   degree
569 (37.7) 685 (45.7) 1,053 (63.7) 90 (2.1) 96 (1.1) 95 (1.6) 81 (2.5) 89 (2.3) 90 (1.7) 86 (2.3) 95 (1.3) 93 (1.4) 83 (2.2) 86 (2.2) 92 (1.8) 59 (3.5) 55 (3.8) 54 (3.5)
                                                                         
Mother's employment
     status3
                                                                       
Employed 4,486 (77.3) 5,148 (84.2) 4,985 (130.1) 79 (1.0) 86 (1.0) 85 (1.2) 76 (1.0) 84 (1.0) 80 (1.4) 86 (0.8) 94 (0.7) 86 (1.5) 70 (1.1) 80 (1.2) 90 (1.3) 39 (1.2) 36 (1.2) 35 (1.7)
Unemployed 594 (45.0) 396 (36.9) 467 (61.5) 71 (3.4) 77 (5.0) 69 (7.5) 73 (3.0) 80 (4.7) 69 (7.9) 89 (2.6) 94 (3.3) 94 (2.0) 63 (3.6) 69 (5.5) 88 (7.1) 37 (3.7) 37 (4.8) 26 (5.8)
Not in labor force 3,328 (72.9) 2,809 (73.3) 3,105 (128.9) 79 (1.3) 83 (1.4) 83 (1.7) 76 (1.2) 82 (1.5) 79 (2.2) 86 (1.0) 94 (0.9) 87 (2.1) 67 (1.4) 80 (1.3) 89 (2.1) 37 (1.4) 38 (1.9) 38 (2.0)
                                                                         
Number of parents in the
     household
                                                                       
Two parents 6,226 (78.1) 6,416 (75.1) 6,852 (81.1) 81 (0.7) 87 (0.8) 85 (1.1) 77 (1.0) 84 (0.9) 81 (1.2) 86 (0.6) 94 (0.6) 88 (1.0) 71 (0.9) 81 (0.9) 91 (1.0) 41 (1.2) 38 (1.2) 37 (1.4)
None or one parent 2,353 (66.5) 2,135 (75.1) 1,834 (85.1) 71 (1.7) 76 (2.0) 78 (3.2) 71 (1.7) 82 (1.6) 70 (3.6) 86 (1.2) 93 (1.2) 83 (3.7) 61 (1.8) 74 (2.3) 84 (3.6) 30 (1.7) 30 (2.1) 29 (3.1)
                                                                         
Poverty status4                                                                        
Above poverty threshold 6,184 (60.9) 6,575 (60.3) 6,751 (71.6) 82 (0.7) 87 (0.8) 87 (1.1) 77 (0.9) 84 (0.9) 82 (1.2) 87 (0.5) 95 (0.5) 87 (1.2) 73 (0.9) 81 (0.9) 91 (1.1) 42 (1.2) 39 (1.3) 38 (1.5)
At or below poverty
   threshold
2,395 (54.5) 1,976 (59.6) 1,934 (72.9) 69 (1.6) 74 (2.1) 71 (3.4) 72 (1.8) 80 (1.7) 69 (3.4) 86 (1.4) 92 (1.6) 86 (3.1) 57 (2.1) 73 (2.3) 85 (3.2) 28 (1.8) 28 (2.1) 28 (2.8)
—Not available.                        
†Not applicable.
1 The respondent was the parent most knowledgeable about the child's care and education. Responding parents reported on their own activities and the activities of their spouse/other adults in the household.
2 In 1993, there were two versions of the survey question that asked how often the child was read to. Each respondent was asked one version of the question. Percentages represent all respondents who indicated a frequency of three or more times in the past week in response to either version of the question.
3 Excludes children living in households with no mother or female guardian present.                        
4 Poverty status was determined by household income and number of persons in household.                        
NOTE: Totals include other racial/ethnic groups not separately shown. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, School Readiness Survey, Early Childhood Program Participation Survey, and Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey of the National Household Education Surveys Program (SR-NHES:1993, ECPP-NHES:2001, and PFI-NHES:2007). (This table was prepared September 2009.)

2013 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest