Wages

Wages

 

Young Women Wage Variables

This section overviews the rate of pay information collected for one or more jobs held by the respondent since the last interview (e.g., the current or last job, a second or dual job, or various intervening jobs). Data are also available for some survey years on reservation wages (i.e., the minimum wage required to accept a job by those not in the labor force) and on rates of pay associated with hypothetical job offers; these questions are described in the Job Search section of this guide. Related variables not discussed here include whether and under what conditions extra pay was received, how such overtime work was compensated, whether wages were set by a collective bargaining agreement, the hours or shift usually worked, and the respondent's preference for working different hours for different pay.

Rate of Pay: Earnings, periodicity, and usual hours worked per week data were collected during each survey year for those respondents whose current or past job was in the private or governmental sector. From this information, a set of variables was created for all survey years except 1975 and 1977 based on a common hourly time unit, 'Hourly Rate of Pay at Current Job *KEY*' or 'Hourly Rate of Pay at Current or Past Job *KEY*.'  Excluded from the 1968-88 universes of these variables were those respondents reporting earnings by "day" or "(an)other" time unit, self-employed respondents, and those working without pay in the family business or farm. In addition, the 1988 and 1991 surveys gathered information on the number of hours a respondent worked at home for her current/last employer. This "at home" series was expanded beginning in 1993 to include (1) confirmation that the hours worked at home had been included in the already-reported usual number of hours worked per week, (2) the number of hours worked at home for not only the current/last job but also for a dual job (and intervening jobs in 1995-2003), and (3) the number of hours worked at home by those who owned their own business or who were working without pay during the survey week. In 1991 and 1993, modifications were made to the program generating these *KEY* variables; respondents reporting daily earnings are included and the separate time period information collected for those respondents working as teachers was factored in. In addition to earnings data for respondents' current or last job, rates of pay were collected for multiple intervening jobs during post-1969 personal surveys and for dual jobs during post-1971 personal interviews.

Survey Instruments & Documentation: Rate of pay information was collected in the "Current Labor Force Status," "Current Labor Force Status and Work History," "Work Experience and Attitudes," "Employment," "Work Attitudes," "Retrospective Work History," or "Respondent's Employer Supplement" sections of the questionnaires. Derivations for most created hourly rate of pay variables are presented within the Young Women's Codebook Supplement.

User Notes

Derivations for select hourly rate of pay variables contain statements that set values above and below designated extreme values to "missing." This truncation is not consistently applied across survey years; for example, the *KEY* pay variables for the Young Women are truncated for only the 1968-73 and 1978 survey years. Derivations for certain created rate of pay variables do not appear within the public codebook or Codebook Supplement; users needing this information should contact NLS User Services. "At home" work hours are incorporated within the creation procedures for the hourly rate of pay *KEY* variables beginning with post-1991 releases.

References

Bureau of Labor Statistics. Work & Family: Changes in Wages and Benefits Among Young Adults. Report No. 849. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor, July 1993.

Olsen, Randall J. "Labor Market Behavior of Women 30-44 in 1967 and Women 14-24 in 1968: The National Longitudinal Surveys."Columbus, OH: CHRR, The Ohio State University, 1987.

 

Mature Women Wage Variables

This section overviews the rate of pay information collected for one or more jobs held by the respondent since the last interview (e.g., the current or last job, a second or dual job, or various intervening jobs). Data are also available for some survey years on reservation wages (i.e., the minimum wage required to accept a job by those not in the labor force) and on rates of pay associated with hypothetical job offers; these questions are described in the Job Search section of this guide. Related variables include whether and under what conditions extra pay was received, how such overtime work was compensated, whether wages were set by a collective bargaining agreement, the hours or shift usually worked, and the respondent's preference for working different hours for different pay.

Rate of Pay: All interviews except the 1968 mail survey collected earnings, periodicity, and usual hours worked per week data for those respondents whose current or past job was in the private or governmental sector. From this information, a set of variables was created for each survey year based on a common hourly time unit, 'Hourly Rate of Pay at Current or Last Job *KEY*.' Rate of pay data for dual and/or intervening jobs are available for each post-1971 personal survey. The longest-job-held-since-June 1972 series fielded in 1977 included a rate of pay for that job. Follow-up questions for those respondents providing any time unit other than "per hour" were included in post-1987 surveys that asked whether wages were compensated by the hour on that job and, if so, an hourly wage rate was collected. In addition, post-1987 surveys gathered information on the number of hours a respondent worked at home for her current/last employer. This "at home" series was expanded beginning in 1992 to include (1) confirmation that the hours worked at home had been included in the already-reported usual number of hours worked per week, (2) the number of hours worked at home for not only the current/last job but also for a dual job (and intervening jobs in 1995-2003), and (3) the number of hours worked at home by those who owned their own business or who were working without pay during the survey week. Total pay along with an applicable time period for those respondents employed within the teaching profession is specified beginning with the 1992 survey. A special hourly pay rate variable (R03064.00) created for 1974 provides values for those who reported earnings in that year from a current/last job and for an additional 556 respondents reporting hourly wage information at an earlier interview.

Survey Instruments & Documentation: Rate of pay information was collected in the "Current Labor Force Status," "Current Labor Force Status and Work History," "Work Experience and Attitudes," "Employment," "Work Attitudes," "Retrospective Work History," or "Respondent's Employer Supplement" sections of the questionnaires. Derivations for most created hourly rate of pay variables are presented in the codebook; Appendix 19 (PDF) in the Codebook Supplement includes additional derivations.

User Notes

Derivations for select hourly rate of pay variables contain statements that set values above and below designated extreme values to "missing." This truncation is not consistently applied across survey years. Derivations for certain created rate of pay variables do not appear within the public codebook or Codebook Supplement; users needing this information should contact NLS User Services. "At home" work hours are incorporated within the creation procedures for the hourly rate of pay *KEY* variables beginning with post-1991 releases.

References

Bureau of Labor Statistics. Work & Family: Changes in Wages and Benefits Among Young Adults. Report No. 849. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor, July 1993.

Olsen, Randall J. "Labor Market Behavior of Women 30-44 in 1967 and Women 14-24 in 1968: The National Longitudinal Surveys." Columbus, OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1987.