A few of these children were from families in economic distress. These cases were largely instances in which the father was dead or incapacitated and the mother was struggling to carry on with slender resources. But on the whole, as in earlier cases cited from the literature of gifted children, the socio-economic status was moderate.
The father's occupations are in 10 of the 12 cases in the professions. They may be classified as:
Engineer 1 Lawyer 1
Army officer 1 College teacher 2
Accountant 2 Electrician 1
Journalist 2 Jeweler 1
Insurance 1
The occupations of the mothers, either before or after marriage, when stated, were:
Advertising 1 Teacher 2
Housewife 3 Secretary 2
Statistician 1 Dressmaker 1
Scientist (M.D.) 1
All but 2 of the fathers are known to be high school graduates; 5 went beyond this point in business or trade school; 4 are college graduates.
As for the mothers, all but 2 are high school graduates, and 5 hold college degrees.
Ages of parent at time of birth of child, when given, are as follows:
Father Mother
Below 25 2 1
From 25-30 3 4
30-35 2 2
35-40[+] 3 1
Median age of fathers, 31; of mothers, 28.5.