Factors related to level of living for residents in an East Tennessee County

Data from 531 married couples residing in Hamblen County, Tennessee, surveyed in 1968, were examined to delineate socioeconomic factors related to standard of living. Stepwise regression analysis was used to determine the relationship between 13 socioeconomic characteristics and a 16 item level of living index. Because of the use of dummy variables to measure several socioeconomic characteristics, a total of 2k items were coded. The model containing 2k socioeconomic items was reduced to nine items assessing six characteristics. The results indicated that total income of family, educational attainment of wife, age of husband and professional occupation of husband had significant and positive relationships with level of living. Age of husband at time of first marriage and number of living children had significant and negative relationships. Regression analyses of the nine socioeconomic items, based on area where husband was reared, were also made. The results of the analyses for the three subgroups, native couples, couples from adjacent counties, and couples from other areas, showed total income of family and educational attainment of wife to have significant and positive relationships with level of living. Total income of family had the highest relationship for couples from other areas. The R² values between the nine items and level of living index were .43, .44 and .54, respectively, for native couples, couples from adjacent counties, and couples from other areas. The R² value for all 531 couples was .45.