Family Planning Perspectives
Volume 33, Number 2, March/April 2001

 

Manifestations of Poverty and Birthrates Among Young
Teenagers in California Zip Code Areas

TABLES


Table 1. Mean value (and standard deviation) of selected characteristics, and bivariate analysis of relationship between these characteristics and birthrate among females aged 15-17, all within selected California zip codes.
Characteristic Mean (SD) Bivariate relationships
r b p
Birthrate
Per 1,000 females aged 15-17 43.4 (26.4) na na na
Income/poverty
% of population living below poverty level 13.4 (8.9) .802 2.38 .000
Median household income (in $000s) 36.2 (12.7) -.718 -1.49 .000
% of households receiving public assistance 10.9 (7.1) .754 2.80 .000
% of households with family income >$150,000 2.3 (4.1) -.469 -3.03 .000
Educational level*
% with college degree 27.5 (13.8) -.749 -1.44 .000
% with high school diploma but no college 22.8 (5.2) .049 0.25 .092
Employment†
% of males employed 69.4 (9.6) -.377 -1.04 .000
% of females employed 52.4 (8.8) -.576 -1.74 .000
% of males unemployed 5.5 (2.5) .752 7.81 .000
% of females unemployed 4.2 (2.0) .686 8.96 .000
% of females in armed forces 0.2 (1.0) -.066 -1.78 .023
Ethnicity
% black 8.0 (13.4) .360 0.71 .000
% Hispanic 28.6 (22.6) .664 0.78 .000
% non-Hispanic white 53.2 (27.6) -.676 -0.65 .000
Female marital status
% never married‡ 24.3 (6.8) .401 1.56 .000
% never married§ 64.9 (10.0) -.072 -0.19 .013
% divorced‡ 9.4 (3.0) .138 1.23 .000
Housing
% of households owned with >1 person/room 7.7 (7.0) .607 2.29 .000
% of households rented with >1 person/room 16.3 (9.8) .714 1.93 .000
*Among those aged >=25. †Among those aged >=16. ‡Among those aged >=15. §Among those aged 15-25. Notes: Statistics are provided for zip codes with at least 200 females aged 15-17 during the 1991-1996 period. The mean, standard deviation and bivariate correlations are weighted proportional to the number of 15-17-year-old females living in the zip code during the time period. na=not applicable. SD=standard deviation. r=bivariate correlation. b=unstandardized regression coefficient. p=probability value.

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Table 2. Results from stepwise regression analyses predicting young-teenage birthrates with selected zip code characteristics (N=1,192)
Characteristic R2 change* b SE p
of population living below poverty level .644 1.54 .086 .000
% with college degree .077 -0.80 .051 .000
% of females employed .013 0.22 .090 .016
% of males employed .002 0.19 .066 .005
% of females aged 15-25 who were never married .005 -0.18 .046 .000
% black .002 0.13 .036 .000
% Hispanic .002 0.09 .029 .001
*Based upon entry into the model using stepwise regression. Notes: All analyses are weighted by the number of females aged 15-17 in each zip code during the period 1991-1996, such that the total N remained 1,192. R2=multiple correlation coefficient. b=unstandardized regression coefficient. SE=standard error. p=probability value.

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Table 3. Results from stepwise regression analyses predicting young-teenage birthrates with selected zip code characteristics for each racial and ethnic group, by racial and ethnic group
Characteristic b SE p
Black (N=300)
% living below poverty level 1.06 0.21 .000
% with college degree -1.12 0.36 .002
% of males employed 0.16 0.42 .705
% of males unemployed -0.98 1.50 .514
% of females unemployed 4.08 1.61 .012
% black -0.16 0.05 .003
Hispanic (N=780)
% living below poverty level 1.36 0.12 .000
% with college degree -2.98 0.30 .000
% of males employed 1.53 0.22 .000
% of males unemployed 1.33 1.08 .219
% of females unemployed -1.93 1.10 .078
% Hispanic -0.36 0.04 .000
Non-Hispanic white (N=1,042)
% living below poverty level 0.82 0.11 .000
% with college degree -0.53 0.04 .000
% of males employed -0.31 0.10 .001
% of males unemployed 2.42 0.79 .002
% of females unemployed 2.96 0.93 .001
% non-Hispanic white -0.16 0.18 .000
Notes: All analyses are weighted by the number of females aged 15-17 in each zip code during the 1991-1996 time period, such that the total N remained the same. b=unstandardized regression coefficient. SE=standard error. p=probability value.

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© copyright 2001, The Alan Guttmacher Institute.