Household Background and Income Characteristics

The Summer of Service participants were asked a number of questions about the characteristics of their permanent households. The responses indicate that:

• The size of the Summer of Service participants' households ranged from one person to seventeen persons. Both the mean and median household size for respondents was to be four persons.

The most typical household structure was the participant living with a parent or guardian, with almost 80 percent of respondents indicating this category best described their household situation (see Exhibit 3.8).

Only five percent lived with children of their own.

As shown in Exhibit 3.9, the Summer of Service participants also were overwhelmingly unmarried. Of respondents that indicated their marital status, 95 percent reported that they were single.

Chapter Three: Characteristics of Summer of Service Participants

In terms of household income, the Summer of Service participants were roughly evenly divided between individuals from households that made less than $25,000 per year and persons from households making more than $25,000 per year,' (see Exhibit 3.10). About a quarter of all participants reported household incomes above $50,000 and a quarter reported incomes below $10,000.

Among the different ethnic groups represented by the Summer of Service participants, however, household income patterns varied considerably, with more than 71 percent of white respondents reporting household income above $25,000, 63 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander respondents, 43 percent of Afro-American respondents, 32 percent of American Indian/Alaskan native respondents, and only 23 percent of Hispanic respondents.

Exhibit 3.11 indicates that almost 18 percent of participants reported that their household received some form of public assistance. The three most common forms of public assistance received were Food Stamps, SSI/SSDI, and AFDC, each of which were received by more than six percent of the participants' households. However, patterns regarding receipt of such assistance varied considerably by ethnic group and type of assistance.

The majority of respondents to the Participant Enrollment forms indicated that they needed assistance in the financing of their education, with 78 percent reporting that they would be seeking financial aid for the 93-94 academic year. When questioned specifically about Pell Grants, 39 percent indicated that they expected to receive a Pell Grant for the academic year 9394, with another 32 percent of respondents reporting that they were uncertain about whether or not they would receive such a grant.

7 Review of the Participant Enrollment Forms suggests that the income figures reported by some participants may not represent total "household income," because the individuals did not know of the exact incomes of their families. Therefore, these income figures should be viewed with caution.

Roughly half the Summer of Service participants (51 percent) reported that they had been employed immediately before their enrollment in the Summer of Service. Since the vast majority of participants had been in school prior to the start of the summer program, it is likely that for most participants this was probably part-time employment. This is consistent with the data on participants' employment during calendar year 1992, which indicates the average number of weeks worked was 26.7, and the average number of hours per week worked was 24.4. On average, the highest hourly wage received for this work during 1992 was $6.80 per hour.

8 Multiple responses were possible, so percentages do not total to 100%.

? This pattern was found to be consistent across all ethnic groups except for American Indians/Alaskan Natives, among whom only 18 percent of respondents reported that they were employed immediately before Summer of Service enrollment.