Age

Household, Geography & Contextual Variables
Age
Both the Older and Young Men data sets include information on the respondent's age as of the initial survey year and date of birth. The initial survey year age variables were provided by the Census Bureau based on information collected during the 1966 household screening. As age inconsistencies were discovered, Census made date of birth information available in the late 1970s. Date of birth and age data were also collected in later surveys during fielding of the "Household Roster" (HHR) section of the questionnaire. Data for reported age and birth dates include a small number of inconsistencies; therefore, attempts to restrict the universe according to age-related variables may have an unwanted result. The cohort-specific User Notes at the end of this section discuss some of the idiosyncratic aspects of these variables.
In addition to the respondent-specific variables discussed in this section, the date of birth and/or age variables for other household members are also available; see the Household Composition section for more information.
Older Men
The Older Men data set contains a respondent age variable ('Age, 66') for the initial survey year and two date of birth variables, i.e., 'Day of R's Birth,' 'Month of R's Birth,' and 'Year of R's Birth' for 1966 and a month and year variable for the 1981 survey year. Age at death was calculated by Census at the time of the 1990 interview for 2,660 respondents; data were derived from Census records and month/day/year of death information collected from the widows of respondents. Table OM1 lists reference numbers and source information for these Older Men variables. Table OM2 provides the age of the respondents during the 1966-83 surveys, and Table OM3 presents information about the respondents' ages at death or the 1990 interview.
Table OM1. Age, Date of Birth & Date of Death Variables: Older Men
Variable | 1966 | 1981 | 1990 |
Date of Birth of R | R00022.01-R00022.03 (Census) |
R05051.-R05052. (HHR) |
-- |
Age of R | R00022. (Census) | -- | -- |
Age of R at Death | -- | -- | R07075.-R07077. (Census) |
Table OM2. Ages of Interviewed Respondents by Survey Year (Unweighted): Older Men
Age of R on June 30 | Survey Year | |||||||||||
1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1971 | 1973 | 1975 | 1976 | 1978 | 1980 | 1981 | 1983 | |
39 | 1 | |||||||||||
40 | 1 | |||||||||||
41 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
42 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
43 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
44 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
45 | 278 | 7 | 1 | |||||||||
46 | 386 | 266 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
47 | 374 | 364 | 260 | 6 | ||||||||
48 | 349 | 346 | 359 | 255 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
49 | 356 | 331 | 346 | 334 | 7 | |||||||
50 | 355 | 325 | 325 | 325 | 247 | 1 | 1 | |||||
51 | 355 | 338 | 315 | 310 | 328 | 7 | 1 | |||||
52 | 346 | 338 | 337 | 298 | 313 | 238 | 1 | |||||
53 | 346 | 324 | 336 | 322 | 298 | 316 | 6 | 1 | 1 | |||
54 | 316 | 334 | 322 | 319 | 289 | 304 | 232 | 5 | ||||
55 | 326 | 301 | 326 | 308 | 301 | 282 | 293 | 210 | 1 | 1 | ||
56 | 309 | 306 | 292 | 308 | 309 | 277 | 285 | 280 | 6 | 1 | ||
57 | 277 | 293 | 293 | 274 | 291 | 288 | 277 | 277 | 198 | 1 | ||
58 | 270 | 263 | 282 | 277 | 296 | 284 | 260 | 261 | 264 | 6 | 1 | 1 |
59 | 275 | 261 | 259 | 263 | 263 | 275 | 281 | 246 | 253 | 190 | 6 | |
60 | 65 | 259 | 254 | 236 | 253 | 278 | 266 | 260 | 245 | 250 | 185 | 1 |
61 | 7 | 61 | 248 | 239 | 247 | 246 | 262 | 247 | 232 | 239 | 231 | 6 |
62 | 2 | 7 | 60 | 227 | 231 | 241 | 262 | 246 | 240 | 237 | 237 | 174 |
63 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 57 | 218 | 231 | 235 | 241 | 229 | 219 | 227 | 223 |
64 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 208 | 212 | 229 | 221 | 223 | 225 | 204 | 233 | |
65 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 52 | 205 | 211 | 218 | 226 | 217 | 211 | 221 | |
66 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 196 | 199 | 190 | 203 | 203 | 205 | 188 | ||
67 | 2 | 2 | 48 | 193 | 181 | 202 | 209 | 189 | 199 | |||
68 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 176 | 181 | 172 | 188 | 193 | 182 | |||
69 | 1 | 2 | 46 | 162 | 165 | 190 | 175 | 180 | ||||
70 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 43 | 167 | 154 | 183 | 179 | ||||
71 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 144 | 149 | 140 | 160 | |||||
72 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 37 | 148 | 142 | 165 | |||||
73 | 2 | 5 | 128 | 138 | 127 | |||||||
74 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 35 | 120 | 132 | ||||||
75 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 32 | 123 | |||||||
76 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 98 | ||||||||
77 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 30 | ||||||||
78 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |||||||||
79 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
80 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||||
82 | 2 | |||||||||||
Total Interviewed | 5020 | 4744 | 4648 | 4381 | 4175 | 3951 | 3732 | 3487 | 3219 | 3001 | 2832 | 2633 |
Not Interviewed | -- | 276 | 372 | 639 | 845 | 1069 | 1288 | 1533 | 1801 | 2019 | 2188 | 2387 |
Not Available1 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Note: This table is based on R00022.01-R00022.03, R05051., and R05052.; the 1981 date of birth variables were used when available. June was imputed for missing months of birth; respondents with missing birth years are in the "not available" category. | ||||||||||||
1 Includes one extreme outlier (age 20 in 1966) who was interviewed in every survey year. |
Table OM3. Ages at Death & at Interview by Race (Unweighted): 1990 Older Men
Age | Age at Death | Age at 1990 Interview | |||||||
Total | Percent | Non-black | Black | Total | Percent | Non-black | Black | ||
47 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
48 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 6 | |||||
49 | 19 | 1 | 10 | 9 | |||||
50 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 4 | |||||
51 | 24 | 1 | 14 | 10 | |||||
52 | 30 | 1.1 | 21 | 9 | |||||
53 | 30 | 1.1 | 23 | 7 | |||||
54 | 44 | 1.6 | 29 | 15 | |||||
55 | 45 | 1.7 | 27 | 18 | |||||
56 | 64 | 2.4 | 44 | 20 | |||||
57 | 65 | 2.4 | 45 | 20 | |||||
58 | 73 | 2.7 | 46 | 27 | |||||
59 | 78 | 2.9 | 48 | 30 | |||||
60 | 92 | 3.4 | 59 | 33 | |||||
61 | 89 | 3.3 | 61 | 28 | |||||
62 | 104 | 3.9 | 71 | 33 | |||||
63 | 91 | 3.4 | 57 | 34 | |||||
64 | 109 | 4.0 | 75 | 34 | |||||
65 | 100 | 3.7 | 75 | 25 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -- | |
66 | 114 | 4.2 | 69 | 45 | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
67 | 116 | 4.3 | 76 | 40 | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
68 | 130 | 4.8 | 86 | 44 | 3 | 1 | 3 | -- | |
69 | 133 | 4.9 | 76 | 57 | 94 | 4.5 | 73 | 21 | |
70 | 119 | 4.4 | 82 | 37 | 212 | 10.1 | 166 | 46 | |
71 | 136 | 5.1 | 87 | 49 | 193 | 9.2 | 144 | 49 | |
72 | 114 | 4.2 | 77 | 37 | 201 | 9.6 | 151 | 50 | |
73 | 117 | 4.3 | 80 | 37 | 167 | 8.0 | 126 | 41 | |
74 | 92 | 3.4 | 69 | 23 | 177 | 8.5 | 138 | 39 | |
75 | 85 | 3.2 | 57 | 28 | 136 | 6.5 | 99 | 37 | |
76 | 99 | 3.7 | 67 | 32 | 155 | 7.4 | 117 | 38 | |
77 | 80 | 3.0 | 57 | 23 | 137 | 6.6 | 115 | 22 | |
78 | 64 | 2.4 | 47 | 17 | 135 | 6.5 | 99 | 36 | |
79 | 57 | 2.1 | 44 | 13 | 111 | 5.3 | 85 | 26 | |
80 | 42 | 1.6 | 34 | 8 | 99 | 4.7 | 72 | 27 | |
81 | 41 | 1.5 | 32 | 9 | 82 | 3.9 | 65 | 17 | |
82 | 21 | 1 | 16 | 5 | 75 | 3.6 | 57 | 18 | |
83 | 20 | 1 | 15 | 5 | 68 | 3.3 | 59 | 9 | |
84 | 2 | 1 | -- | 2 | 33 | 1.6 | 25 | 8 | |
85 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -- | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
86 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | 1 | -- | |
87 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | -- | 1 | |
89 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | -- | 1 | |
Missing | 33 | 1.2 | -- | -- | 8 | 1 | 6 | 2 | |
Total | 2693 | 100 | 1786 | 874 | 2092 | 100 | 1603 | 489 | |
Note: Age at death based on R07075. Age at 1990 interview date based on R00022.01-R00022.03, R05051. and R05052., and R06010.-R06012. The 1981 date of birth variables were used when available; missing birth months were imputed to June and missing birth days were imputed to 15. Missing 1990 interview dates were not imputed. | |||||||||
1 Less than one percent. |
User Notes
The user is encouraged to carefully examine all age and birth date variables when performing any age-related analysis. Birth data collected at the time of screening may have been provided by a family member, giving rise to possible inconsistencies when comparing a respondent's reported age with age calculated from date of birth. In cases where age was unknown, interviewers were directed to obtain a "best estimate" of a respondent's "exact age" at the time of screening and to make corrections later if possible. Furthermore, a respondent may be inconsistent in different interviews in reporting his age. The date of birth inconsistencies are documented in the codebook. Birth date corrections were made in 1981. The birth date corrections should be used carefully and the user is advised to make any additional corrections on a case-by-case basis.
There are varying numbers of out-of-scope cases in the Original Cohorts for two reasons: (1) the birth date variables in a handful of cases are inconsistent with the stated age of the respondent, and (2) some borderline cases that may actually be in scope for the calendar year of the survey are not necessarily in scope at the time the interview took place. CHRR has investigated causes of birth date inconsistencies and has discovered that they arise from birth data originally provided by Census. Unfortunately, these data are generally not recoverable since many of the affected respondents have since attrited. An additional difficulty is that the date of birth for some cases is not reported.
It may be to the user's advantage to calculate his or her own variable for age based on the reported date of birth. When birth date variables are either unavailable or out of scope, the user may wish to investigate other age-related variables in order to establish age.
There are several cases in the Older Men database that are more than one year out of scope when age is calculated from date of birth. Although date of birth was asked again during the 1981 survey, those particular out of scope cases were not surveyed in that year. The user should consult the codebook for case identification codes; other age-related variables may be investigated in order to decide whether to include a particular case in an analysis. In addition, there are 12 cases in the initial survey year with missing birth dates so that an attempt to create an age based on date of birth will result, depending on the algorithm used, in missing or possibly even erroneous ages.
Survey Instruments: Ages and birth dates of respondents were derived from the 1966 household screener. Respondent's date of birth was collected during select years in the "Household Roster" section of the survey.
Cohorts
- NLSY97
- Topical Guide to the Data
- Asterisk Tables
- I. Employment, Unemployment, and Job Search (age restrictions as of interview date)
- II. Schooling (age restrictions as of 12/31/96)
- III. Training (age restrictions as of interview date)
- IV. Income, Assets, and Program Participation
- V. Family Formation (age restrictions as of end of previous calendar year--12/31/96 in rd 1, 12/31/97 in rd 2, and so on)
- VI. Family Background (age restrictions as of 12/31/1996)
- VII. Expectations
- VIII. Attitudes, Behaviors, and Time Use
- IX. Health (age restrictions as of 12/31/96)
- X. Political Participation
- XI. Environmental Variables (in main data set)
- Education
- Employment
- Household, Geography & Contextual Variables
- Family Background
- Marital History, Childcare & Fertility
- Income
- Health
- Attitudes
- Crime & Substance Use
- Asterisk Tables
- Intro to the Sample
- Using & Understanding the Data
- Other Documentation
- Codebook Supplement
- Introduction to the NLSY97 Created Variable Appendices
- Appendix 1: Education Variable Creation
- Enrollment Status and Highest Grade/Degree - Appendix 1
- Date Received Diploma or Degree - Appendix 1
- Number of Grades Repeated or Skipped - Appendix 1
- Number of Schools Attended - Appendix 1
- Credits Earned toward Bachelor's/Associate's Degree - Appendix 1
- Date Left High School and Highest High School Grade - Appendix 1
- Private or Parochial School - Appendix 1
- SAT/ACT Scores - Appendix 1
- Training: Receipt of Certificate or Vocational License - Appendix 1
- Appendix 2: Employment Variable Creation
- Appendix 3: Family Background and Formation
- Household Size as of Survey Date - Appendix 3
- Marital Status and Marital/Cohabitation History - Appendix 3
- Fertility and Child Status - Appendix 3
- Number of Residences since Age 12 - Appendix 3
- Current Citizenship Status - Appendix 3
- Mother's Age at First Birth/Respondent's Birth
- Relationship to Household Parent Figures (Round 1 Parent Interview) - Appendix 3
- Relationship to Household Parent Figures (Rounds 7-9 Childhood Retrospective) - Appendix 3
- Relationship to Household Parent Figures (Interview Date) - Appendix 3
- Appendix 4: Geographic Variable Creation
- Appendix 5: Income and Assets Variable Creation
- Appendix 6: Event History Creation and Documentation
- Appendix 7: Continuous Month Scheme and Crosswalk
- Appendix 8: Instrument Rosters
- Appendix 9: Family Process and Adolescent Outcome Measures
- Appendix 10: CAT-ASVAB Scores
- Appendix 11: Collection of the Transcript Data (High School)
- Appendix 12: Post-Secondary Transcript Study
- Attachment 1: Census Industrial & Occupational Classification Codes
- Geocode Codebook Supplement
- Introduction to NLSY97 Geocode Data
- Attachment 100: Census Bureau State and County Codes
- Attachment 101: Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)/Core-Based Statistical Area (CBSA) Codes
- Attachment 102: IPEDS Data and College Identification Codes
- Attachment 103: Migration Distance Variables for Respondent Locations
- Attachment 104: Codebook Pages for Geocode and Zipcode Variables
- Questionnaires
- Errata
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 17 Release
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 16 Release
- Addendum: Additional NLSY97 Speech & Post-Secondary Variables Available
- Addendum: NLSY97 Post-Secondary Data and Transcript Data Files Now Available
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 15 Release
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 14 Release
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 13 Release
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 12 Release
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 11 Release
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 10 Release
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 9 Release
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 8 Release
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 7 Release
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 6 Release
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 5 Release
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 4 Release
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 3 Release
- Tutorials
- Technical Sampling Report
- Codebook Supplement
- Get Data
- Topical Guide to the Data
- NLSY79
- Topical Guide to the Data
- Asterisk Tables
- Education
- Employment
- Employment: An Introduction
- Work Experience
- Jobs & Employers
- Class of Worker
- Discrimination
- Fringe Benefits
- Industries
- Job Characteristics Index
- Job Satisfaction
- Job Search
- Labor Force Status
- Military
- Occupations
- Time & Tenure with Employers
- Wages
- Work History Data
- Employer History Roster
- Business Ownership
- Retirement
- Household, Geography & Contextual Variables
- Family Background
- Marital History, Childcare & Fertility
- Income
- Health
- Attitudes
- Crime & Substance Use
- Intro to the Sample
- Using & Understanding the Data
- Other Documentation
- Codebook Supplement
- NLSY79 Attachment 3: Industrial and Occupational Classification Codes
- NLSY79 Attachment 4: Fields of Study in College
- NLSY79 Attachment 5: Index of Labor Unions and Employee Associations
- NLSY79 Attachment 6: Other Kinds of Training Codes
- NLSY79 Attachment 7: Other Certificate Codes
- NLSY79 Attachment 8: Health Codes
- NLSY79 Attachment 100: Geographic Regions
- NLSY79 Attachment 101: Country Codes
- NLSY79 Attachment 102: Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS)
- NLSY79 Attachment 103: Religion Codes
- NLSY79 Attachment 106: Profiles of American Youth (ASVAB Data/AFQT Scores)
- NLSY79 Appendix 1: Employment Status Recode Variables (1979-1998 and 2006)
- NLSY79 Appendix 2: Total Net Family Income Variable Creation (1979-2014)
- NLSY79 Appendix 3: Job Satisfaction Measures
- NLSY79 Appendix 4: Job Characteristics Index 1979-1982
- NLSY79 Appendix 5: Supplemental Fertility and Relationship Variables
- NLSY79 Appendix 6: Urban-Rural and SMSA-Central City Variables
- NLSY79 Appendix 7: Unemployment Rate
- NLSY79 Appendix 8: Highest Grade Completed & Enrollment Status Variable Creation
- NLSY79 Appendix 9: Linking Employers Through Survey Years
- NLSY79 Appendix 11: Round 12 (1990) Survey Administration Methods
- NLSY79 Appendix 12: Most Important Job Learning Activities (1993-94)
- NLSY79 Appendix 13: Intro to CAPI Questionnaires and Codebooks
- NLSY79 Appendix 14: Instrument Rosters
- NLSY79 Appendix 15: Recipiency Event Histories
- NLSY79 Appendix 16: 1994 Recall Experiment
- NLSY79 Appendix 17: Interviewer Characteristics Data
- NLSY79 Appendix 18: Work History Data
- NLSY79 Appendix 19: SF-12 Health Scale Scoring
- NLSY79 Appendix 20: Round 20 (2002) Early Bird and Income Recall Experiments
- NLSY79 Appendix 21: Attitudinal Scales
- NLSY79 Appendix 22: Migration Distance Variables for Respondent Locations
- NLSY79 Appendix 23: Revised Asset and Debt Variables and Computed Net Worth Variables
- NLSY79 Appendix 24: Reanalysis of the 1980 AFQT Data from the NLSY79
- NLSY79 Appendix 25: Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale
- NLSY79 Appendix 26: Non-Response to Financial Questions and Entry Points
- NLSY79 Appendix 27: IRT Item Parameter Estimates, Scores and Standard Errors
- NLSY79 Appendix 28: NLSY79 Employer History Roster
- Geocode Codebook Supplement
- Appendix 7: Unemployment Rates
- Appendix 10: Geocode Documentation
- Attachment 100: Geographic Regions
- Attachment 101: Country Codes
- Attachment 102: State FIPS Codes
- Attachment 104, Part A: 1981 Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (SMSAs)
- Attachment 104, Part B: 1983 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs)
- Attachment 104, Part C: 1983 Consolidated MSAs and Associated Primary MSAs (CMSAs and PMSAs)
- Attachment 104, Part D: 1983 PMSAs and Associated CMSAs
- Attachment 104, Part E: 1988 MSAs, CMSAs, and Associated PMSAs
- Attachment 104, Part F: 2004 MSAs, CMSAs, and Associated PMSAs
- Attachment 104, Part G: 2006 Core-Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs)
- Attachment 105: Addendum to FICE Codes
- Attachment 106: Codebook Pages for Geocode and Zipcode Variables
- Questionnaires
- Tutorials
- Errata
- Technical Sampling Report
- School & Transcript Surveys Documentation
- Codebook Supplement
- Get Data
- Topical Guide to the Data
- NLSY79 Child/YA
- Topical Guide to the Data
- Intro to the Sample
- Using & Understanding the Data
- Other Documentation
- Codebook Supplement
- Appendix A: HOME-SF Scales (NLSY79 Child)
- Appendix B: Composition of the Temperament Scales (NLSY79 Child)
- Appendix C: Motor & Social Development (NLSY79 Child)
- Appendix D: Behavior Problems Index (NLSY79 Child)
- Appendix D, Part 1: Composition of the BPI subscales
- Appendix D, Part 2a: BPI Anxious/Depressed Subscale
- Appendix D, Part 2b: BPI Antisocial Subscale
- Appendix D, Part 2c: BPI Dependent Subscale
- Appendix D, Part 2d: BPI Headstrong Subscale
- Appendix D, Part 2e: BPI Hyperactive Subscale
- Appendix D, Part 2f: BPI Peer Conflicts/Withdrawn Subscale
- Appendix D, Part 2g: BPI Full Scale
- Appendix D, Part 3a: BPI Internalizing Subscale
- Appendix D, Part 3b: BPI Externalizing Subscale
- Appendix D, Part 3c: BPI Total Scores
- Appendix E: Sample SPSSx Program for Merging NLSY79 Child/YA & Mother Files
- Appendix F: Sample SAS Program for Merging NLSY79 Child/YA & Mother Files
- Appendix G: NLSY79 Child Assessment Scores, Reference Numbers (2010-2014)
- Appendix H: Identification Codes in the Child and Young Adult Database
- Attachment 100: Codebook Pages for Young Adult Geocode Data
- Questionnaires
- Errata
- Errata for 2014 Child/Young Adult Release
- Data Addition: New Work and School Status Variables Created
- Errata for 2012 Child/Young Adult Release
- Errata for 2010 Child/Young Adult Release
- Errata for 2008 Child/Young Adult Release
- Errata for 2006 Child/Young Adult Release
- Errata for 2004 Child/Young Adult Release
- Errata for 2002 Child/Young Adult Release
- Errata for 2000 Child/Young Adult Release
- Errata for NLSY79 Child Interview Dates 1986-1992
- Research/Technical Reports
- Codebook Supplement
- Get Data
- NLS Mature and Young Women
- NLS Older and Young Men