Cohort Comparisons of Experiences by Demographic Differences

Differences between 1990 and 2005 were apparent across youth demographic characteristics, such as gender, age, household income, and race/ethnicity, for some post-high school outcomes but not for others.

Cohort comparisons by gender included:

• Both males and females had significantly higher rates of enrollment across types of postsecondary school in 2005 compared with 1990. For example, males experienced a 20 percentage-point (44 percent vs. 25 percent), and females a 19 percentage-point (49 percent vs. 31 percent), difference between cohorts in enrollment in any postsecondary school.
• Females were more likely to have reported full-time employment in 1990 than 2005 (54 percent vs. 21 percent, 33 percentage-point difference).
• Males were more likely to report receipt of employer provided health insurance (57 percent vs. 33 percent, 24 percentage point difference) and vacation or sick leave (63 percent vs. 39 percent, 24 percentage-point difference) in 1990 than 2005.
• Both males and females experienced higher rates of engagement in 2005 than in 1990; males evidenced an 18 percentage-point difference (89 percent vs. 72 percent), and females a 27 percentage-point difference (79 percent vs. 52 percent).
• Rates of having a checking account were higher between 2005 and 1990 for males, a 23 percentage-point difference (48 percent vs. 25 percent).
• The likelihood of youth with disabilities either belonging to an extracurricular community group or volunteering was higher in 2005 than 1990 for males (46 percent vs. 29 percent, 17 percentage points).
• Females demonstrated a higher voter registration rate in 2005 than in 1990 (67 percent vs. 45 percent, 22 percentage points).
• Higher rates of ever having been arrested were reported for males with disabilities in 2005 than in 1990 (32 percent vs. 20 percent, 13 percentage points).

Some post-high school outcomes significantly differed between 1990 and 2005 by the economic status of the households in which youth with disabilities grew up, including:

• Youth with disabilities in the highest (72 percent vs. 45 percent, 28 percentage-point difference) as well as the lowest parent household income categories (35 percent vs. 19 percent, 16 percentage-point difference) were more likely to be enrolled in a postsecondary school in 2005 than in 1990.
• Despite the significantly higher enrollment rates experienced by youth with disabilities in the lowest income category in 2005 compared with 1990, those from the highest income households experienced a larger difference, thereby continuing the gap in postsecondary enrollment rates between those from the highest and lowest income households (72 percent vs. 35 percent).
• Youth with disabilities from families with the highest incomes were more likely to receive health insurance benefits from their jobs in 1990 than in 2005 (53 percent vs. 20 percent, 33 percentage-point difference).
• Youth with disabilities from families in the middle income category evidenced a significant difference in their rate of engagement in school and/or work between 1990 and 2005 (22 percentage-point difference, 90 percent vs. 69 percent), lessening the gap between their rate of engagement and that of youth with disabilities from higher income households.
• Youth with disabilities in the lowest and middle income categories were more likely to have a checking account in 2005 than in 1990 (18 percentage-point, 33 percent vs. 15 percent, and 23 percentage-point differences, 57 percent vs. 34 percent, respectively).
• Youth with disabilities in the highest income category were more likely to have credit card in 2005 than in 1990 (55 percent vs. 30 percent, 25 percentage-point difference).
• The likelihood of youth either belonging to an extracurricular community group or volunteering was higher in 2005 than 1990 for youth with disabilities from families in the highest income group (65 percent vs. 29 percent, 36 percentage points).

Several post-high school outcomes that differed between 1990 and 2005 by race/ethnicity also were apparent:

• White youth with disabilities experienced significantly higher enrollment rates in 2005 compared with 1990 across the various types of postsecondary programs: 20 percentage points in any postsecondary program (47 percent vs. 27 percent), 19 percentage points in 2-year colleges (33 percent vs. 15 percent), 11 percentage points in 4-year colleges (16 percent vs. 5 percent), and 11 percentage points in vocational, business, or technical schools (21 percent vs. 10 percent).
• African American youth with disabilities experienced higher enrollment rates in 2005 compared with 1990 in 2-year colleges: 22 percentage points (35 percent vs. 13 percent).
• White youth were more likely to receive health insurance benefits from their jobs in 1990 than in 2005 (52 percent vs. 28 percent, 24 percentage-point difference).
• White youth with disabilities were more likely to be engaged in postsecondary education and employment in 2005 than in 1990 (90 percent vs. 73 percent, 17 percentage-point difference).
• Rates of having a checking account were higher between 2005 and 1990 for youth with disabilities who were White (56 percent vs. 32 percent, 24 percentage-point difference).
• White youth with disabilities demonstrated a higher voter registration rate in 2005 than in 1990 (67 percent vs. 52 percent, 15 percentage points).

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