Table A-2-1. Percentage of 9-month-olds, 2-year-olds, and 4-year-olds read to, told stories, and sung to daily in a typical week by a family member, by child and family characteristics: 2001–02, 2003–04, and 2005

Preprimary Education

Table A-2-1. Percentage of 9-month-olds, 2-year-olds, and 4-year-olds read to, told stories, and sung to daily in a typical week by a family member, by child and family characteristics: 2001–02, 2003–04, and 2005–06

Characteristic	Read stories to						Told stories						Sung to
Characteristic	9-month- olds		2-year- olds		4-year- olds		9-month- olds		2-year- olds		4-year- olds		9-month- olds	2-year- olds	4-year- olds
Total	32.5		45.3		38.6		27.2		28.0		22.8		73.5	67.6	49.7
Sex
Male	32.0		43.2		37.5		27.4		26.8		21.6		72.6	64.6	44.5
Female	33.1		47.5		39.7		27.0		29.4		24.1		74.5	70.8	55.2

Race/ethnicity¹
White	40.7		59.3		50.5		31.0		32.3		25.6		74.9	69.9	50.7
Black	22.6		24.7		20.5		23.9		20.9		19.0		73.2	68.5	54.3
Hispanic	21.4		27.2		23.3		21.1		22.7		19.0		70.3	62.6	45.0
Asian	26.4		42.2		38.1		24.7		31.1		27.4		70.1	60.9	40.5
Pacific Islander	19.6	!	27.8	!	35.8	!	38.9	!	39.7	!	30.4	!	81.3	84.7	53.8
American Indian/Alaska
Native	18.5		29.8		25.3		22.9		22.7		17.5		63.7	55.5	45.2
More than one race	35.3		47.2		39.5		29.5		29.4		20.6		81.5	70.2	56.2

Birthweight²
Normal	32.8		45.6		38.8		27.2		28.1		22.7		73.4	67.4	49.6
Low	29.2		41.8		37.2		27.6		28.2		24.7		76.4	69.2	51.2
Very low	26.8		42.7		33.2		27.8		27.4		22.3		73.2	69.4	51.3

Prematurity³
Yes	31.4		42.9		37.3		28.0		28.6		23.1		73.0	67.9	52.6
No	32.8		45.7		38.8		27.1		28.0		22.7		73.7	67.8	49.5

Poverty status
In poverty	22.3		27.9		21.3		24.3		22.6		20.6		67.3	63.3	47.4
At or above poverty	35.8		50.7		44.3		28.2		29.8		23.6		75.6	68.9	50.5

Mother’s education
Less than high school	20.4		24.3		20.0		21.3		22.3		16.6		64.5	58.8	41.5
High school diploma or
equivalent	26.6		36.3		28.6		24.5		24.5		21.0		71.1	66.7	50.1
Some college	34.6		46.8		39.3		28.9		28.6		24.0		77.8	69.4	53.1
Bachelor’s degree or
higher	47.5		70.2		60.9		33.4		36.0		27.6		79.4	73.4	50.9
No mother in household	13.4	!	27.6	!	13.4	!	29.4	!	24.9	!	11.1	!	63.7	51.7	29.9

Family type⁴
Two parents, with other
siblings	31.4		47.4		41.8		24.9		28.2		22.6		71.4	66.1	48.8
Two parents, without other
siblings	38.3		52.2		44.2		31.9		30.4		27.0		77.5	70.5	51.7
One parent, with other
siblings	23.9		27.7		24.1		24.9		23.2		19.3		72.0	66.8	50.2
One parent, without other
siblings	29.3		36.1		31.3		26.5		26.2		25.1		73.5	69.1	56.0
Other	20.1	!	47.5		33.2		34.7		33.9		24.6		73.4	78.0	38.9

Primary language spoken in
the home
English	36.0		50.3		42.3		29.1		29.4		24.0		75.1	69.8	52.2
Other than English	17.6		23.9		22.5		18.8		22.5		17.8		66.8	58.1	39.1

Mother’s employment
35 hours or more	29.3		42.2		35.9		26.3		26.4		21.5		73.2	66.7	49.0
Less than 35 hours	36.4		51.5		43.2		27.0		28.1		24.5		75.5	69.1	52.7
Unemployed	26.7		34.0		24.4		25.9		25.3		19.3		74.8	69.3	51.7
Not in labor force	34.5		46.9		42.3		28.2		30.1		24.1		72.6	67.6	49.1
No mother in household	13.4	!	27.6	!	13.4	!	29.4	!	24.9	!	11.1	!	63.7	51.7	29.9
! Interpret data with caution (estimates are unstable).
¹ Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
² Normal birthweight is more than 5.5 pounds. Low birthweight is between 3.3 and 5.5 pounds. Very low birthweight is 3.3 pounds or less.
³ Prematurity is defined as less than 37 weeks’ gestation.
⁴ For family type, the categories for parent type were collapsed as follows: two parents (includes biological mother and biological father or biological mother and other father [step-, adoptive, foster] or biological father and other mother [step-, adoptive, foster] or two adoptive parents); single parent (includes biological mother only or biological father only or single adoptive parent or adoptive parent and stepparent); and other parent type (includes related guardian(s) or unrelated guardian(s)). For more information on ECLS-B family type, see supplemental note 3.
NOTE: The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) sampled children born in 2001. The row variables correspond with the year of the estimate. For example, “Mother’s education” for the 9-month estimates reflects mother’s highest level of education at the time of the 9-month data collection, whereas “Mother’s education” for the 2-year estimates reflects mother’s highest level of education at the time of the 2-year collection, and “Mother’s education” for the 4-year estimates reflects mother’s highest level of education at the time of the 4-year collection. Additionally, the 9-month estimates for “Read to” reflects the percentage of children whose parents read to them daily in a typical week at the time of the 9-month data collection. For more information on parents’ education, race/ethnicity, and poverty, see supplemental note 1; for more information on the ECLS-B, see supplemental note 3.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), Longitudinal 9-month–Preschool Restricted-Use Data File (NCES 2008-034).

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