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INCOME AND EARNINGS
EARLY HEAD START EVALUATION AND TRACKING PRE-K
Measure: Selected “household composition” and “Head Start, preschool, and child care” items from the Parent Interview (Tracking Pre-K sample)
Source
The birth-to-3 phase of the Early Head Start (EHS) evaluation (1996–2001) was funded by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The contractor for the evaluation is Mathematica Policy Research (MPR); the subcontractor is the Center for Children and Families at Columbia University, Teachers College. The Tracking Pre-K (TPK) follow-up phase (2001–2004) is also funded by the ACF, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. MPR is the contractor. In 1997, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development provided funds (through ACYF) to add a major study of the fathers of EHS children.
Population Assessed
The EHS and TPK follow-up was implemented in 17 EHS programs in all regions of the country. Programs offered center-based, home-based, and mixed-approach services. The families and children who participated in the evaluation were diverse. Many of the families were single-parent, were ethnically diverse (including Hispanic, African American, and White), did not speak English as their primary language, had relatively low educational attainment, and were receiving public assistance of some kind (e.g., Medicaid, WIC, food stamps, AFDC or TANF, and SSI benefits). A total of 3,001 families participated in the evaluation, with 1,513 in the treatment group and 1,488 in the control group. Table 1 contains specifics of the families and children participating in the EHS evaluation.
| Sample in All Sites | ||
|---|---|---|
| Characteristic | Sample Size | Percent of Families |
| Parent and Family Characteristics | ||
| Mother's Education | ||
| Less than grade 12 | 1,375 | 48 |
| Grade 12 or attained a GED | 822 | 29 |
| Greater than grade 12 | 682 | 24 |
| Missing | 122 | |
| Race and Ethnicity | ||
| White Non-Hispanic | 1,091 | 37 |
| Black Non-Hispanic | 1,014 | 35 |
| Hispanic | 693 | 24 |
| Missing | 68 | |
| Welfare Receipt | ||
| Received welfare | 842 | 35 |
| Did not receive welfare | 1,554 | 65 |
| Missing | 41 | |
| Primary Language | ||
| English | 2,265 | 79 |
| Other | 615 | 21 |
| Missing | 121 | |
| Living Arrangements | ||
| With spouse | 752 | 25 |
| With other adults | 1,157 | 39 |
| Alone | 1,080 | 36 |
| Missing | 12 | |
| Focus Child Characteristics | ||
| Age | ||
| Unborn | 761 | 25 |
| Less than 5 months | 1,063 | 35 |
| 5 months or older | 1,177 | 39 |
| Missing | 0 | |
| Gender | ||
| Male | 1,510 | 51 |
| Female | 1,448 | 49 |
| Missing | 43 | |
| Sample Size | 3,001 | |
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2001, June).
Periodicity
The parent interview was administered when the children were 14-, 24-, and 36-months old.
Components
The majority of questions about income and earnings come from two sections within the parent interview: (1) household composition and (2) Head Start, preschool, and child care. The section on household composition asks a number of questions that assess income and earnings, including the number of different jobs that a parent currently has, the hourly wage for each job, the weekly earnings before taxes and other deductions, the amount of money all members of the family receive before taxes and deductions in a typical month (not including in-kind resources such as food stamps or material goods), and the kinds of income and support that all family members get (e.g., income from TANF, SSI, and unemployment insurance benefits). The section on Head Start, preschool, and child care includes a single item about the reception of subsidies for paying for preschool or child care. Expenditures and other reductions, such as taxes, are not addressed.
Procedures for Administration
The parent of the focus child completes the interview in a one-on-one setting where the interviewer asks questions and writes the respondent’s answers. In addition to the interview, the interviewer conducts a child assessment by asking the parent to talk with the child about something exciting that’s happened recently and videotaping the parent and child playing together. The time needed for the sequence, including the interview, is 1.5 hours.
Psychometrics/Data Quality
Item level response rates for key income and earnings items are as follows:
| Outcome Measure | First 15 months | First 26 months | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| % of parents ever employed or in an education or job training | 99.7 | 99.5 | 99.9 | 99.4 |
| % of parents ever employed | 99.6 | 99.5 | 99.9 | 99.7 |
| % of parents who received any welfare benefits | 98.4 | 98.0 | 97.8 | 97.2 |
| % of parents who received AFDC or TANF benefits | 97.7 | 97.6 | 96.9 | 96.9 |
| % of parents who received food stamp benefit | NA | NA | 98.2 | 97.8 |
| % of families with income above poverty line at 3(rd) follow up | NA | NA | 93.8 | 93.8 |
Sources: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2002, June and 2001, June).
For the parent interview, primary sources of nonresponse were refusals to participate and inability to locate the families. “For the 24-month PI, 51 percent of the families who did not respond refused to participate, and 44 percent moved or could not be located (the remaining 5 percent included families for whom the interview window closed before the interview was completed). For the 36-month PI, 46 percent of the families who did not respond refused to participate, and 51 percent moved or could not be located (the remaining 3 percent included families for whom the interview window closed before the interview was completed)” (http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/ehs/ehs_resrch/reports/impacts_vol2/impacts_vol2.pdf). Nonresponse was also because of death of the child (12 children in the control group and 9 in the Early Head Start group) and adoption (3 children were adopted after random assignment). Center-based sites were more successful in completing interviews with EHS families than with control group families.
To be included in the impact analyses, measures had to have adequate psychometric properties (e.g., adequate reliability and validity for children from low-income families and for many racial and ethnic groups). In general, measures were chosen that had an internal consistency reliability (coefficient alpha) or .70 or higher and that had consistent reliability across major race/ethnicity subgroups. Constructed variables also had to have sufficient data at the item level (e.g., not missing more than 25 percent of items), adequate distribution of scores (e.g., check mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis were checked to determine that variables had a normal distribution that was similar to those in other studies using the same measure).
Languages Available
The interview developers do not expressly state availability of the interview in languages other than English.
Items Included
The interviews can be requested by contacting the EHS and TPK Project Director (Dr.
John Love, jlove@mathematica-mpr.com) or the ACF Project Officer (Dr. Rachel Cohen, rccohen@acf.hhs.gov).
Household Composition Items
Are you currently working, in school, in a training program, or doing something else?
PROBE: If respondent is not working, ask: Are you looking for work?
Working
Unemployed
Looking for work
Laid off
In school/training
Keeping house/parenting
In military
On disability leave
On family care leave
Don’t know
Refused
How many different jobs do you currently have? Include odd jobs, paid babysitting jobs, work in
your own business, or other types of jobs you currently have.
PROBE: Count babysitting, housekeeping, or odd jobs for different families together as
one job.
[INTERVIEWER: IF THE RESPONDENT CURRENTLY WORKS AT MORE THAN 3 JOBS,
ASK THE NEXT QUESTIONS FOR THE 3 JOBS WHERE THE RESPONDENT WORKS
THE MOST HOURS IN A TYPICAL WEEK]
| Current Job with most Hours | Current Job with second most Hours | Current Job with third most Hours | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3. Please tell me where you currently work starting with the job where you work the most number of hours. PROBE: for don't know or refused: We don't need to know the name of the place we just need some way to refer to it. Should I use "Job#1" or some other name? | |||
| 4. About how many hours per week do you usually work at EMPLOYER? Please include regular overtime hours. | |||
| 5. What is your hourly wage at this job? | |||
| 6. How much are your weekly earnings before taxes and other deductions? Please include tips, commissions, and regular overtime pay you may have received. |
During the past six months what was the amount of money all the members of your family received before taxes and deductions during a typical month? Please include your own income and that of all members of your family that lived with you. Include money you received from jobs, welfare or any other source. Do not include in-kind resources such as FOOD STAMPS or material goods. Also do not include income from other families that may live in your (house/apartment).
Now I would like to ask you about kinds of income and support you and members of your family who live with you are currently receiving. Do you or any other family members who live with you currently receive…
| Type of Income/Support | Currently Receiving? | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | No | Don't Know | Refused | |
| A check of income from TANF (formerly AFDC) for welfare for families with children? | ||||
| A check or income from General Assistance or General Relief ? | ||||
| A check or income from Supplemental Security Income (SSI)? | ||||
| A check or income from Social Security Retirement, Disability (SSDI), Survivor's Benefits (SSA)? | ||||
| Unemployment insurance benefits? | ||||
| Food stamps? | ||||
| WIC vouchers? | ||||
| Child support payments? | ||||
| Medicaid or medical assistance? | ||||
| Other (specify) | ||||
Head Start, Preschool, and Child Care Item
Did you receive a subsidy for any of the preschool or child care for (CHILD) since (his/her third birthday/DATE OF LAST TRACKING INTERVIEW)? That is, did someone else, like a government agency or community program, help pay for (CHILD)’s preschool or child care when payment was required?
Yes
No
No, no payment required
Don’t know
Refused
References and Source Documents
The interviews can be requested by contacting the EHS and TPK Project Director (Dr. John Love, jlove@mathematica-mpr.com) or the ACF Project Officer (Dr. Rachel Cohen, rccohen@acf.hhs.gov).
A number of reports are available on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/ehs/ehs_resrch/index.html
The reports include the following:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2002, December). Pathways to quality and full implementation in Early Head Start Programs. Washington, DC: Author.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2002, June). Making a difference in the lives of infants and toddlers and their families: The impacts of Early Head Start. Executive summary. Washington, DC: Author.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2002, June). Making a difference in the lives of infants and toddlers and their families: The impacts of Early Head Start. Volume I: Final technical report. Washington, DC: Author.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2002, June). Making a difference in the lives of infants and toddlers and their families: The impacts of Early Head Start. Volume II: Final technical report appendixes. Washington, DC: Author.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2002, June). Making a difference in the lives of infants and toddlers and their families: The impacts of Early Head Start. Volume III: Local contributions to understanding programs and their impacts. Washington, DC:
Author.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2001, June). Building their futures: How Early Head Start programs are enhancing the lives of infants and toddlers in low-income families. Volume I: Technical report. Washington, DC: Author.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2001, June). Building their futures: How Early Head Start Programs are enhancing the lives of infants and toddlers in low-income families. Volume II: Technical report, appendixes. Washington, DC: Author.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2001, June). Building their futures: How Early Head Start programs are enhancing the lives of infants and toddlers in low-income families. Summary report. Washington, DC: Author.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (1999, December). Leading the way:
Characteristics and early experience of selected Early Head Start programs. Volume I: Cross-site perspectives. Washington, DC: Author.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2000, December). Leading the way:
Characteristics and early experience of selected Early Head Start programs. Volume II: Program profiles. Washington, DC: Author.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2000, December). Leading the way:
Characteristics and early experience of selected Early Head Start programs. Volume III: Program implementation. Washington, DC: Author.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2000, December). Leading the way: Characteristics and early experience of selected Early Head Start programs. Executive summary, Volumes I, II, and III. Washington, DC: Author.
For other papers, please refer to the Early Head Start Collection of Consortium-Written Research Articles and Reports available at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/ehs/ehs_resrch/index.html
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