• Child
• Young Adult

Child

Work for Pay

Beginning with the 1988 survey, children age 10-14 were asked if they do any work for pay, not counting jobs around the house. The question posed is phrased as follows:

"Not counting jobs around the house, do you ever do any work for pay (including babysitting, paper route, or yard work for neighbors)?"

Children indicated (1) whether they work for pay outside the house, (2) how often they usually work, (3) how many hours they worked per week in the last three months, and (4) the amount they usually earn in a week. Starting in 1994, they were asked to describe their work duties, choosing from a list of the following seven categories:

1. Babysitting
2. Cleaning house; housework
3. Yard work; mow lawns
4. Fast food worker
5. Waiting tables
6. Clerk, bag person, cashier
7. Salesperson

In 1998, the clerk and salesperson categories were combined and two more categories added:

• Newspaper carrier or paper delivery
• Pet care, plant care, or house care for neighbors who are away

In 2000, the list of duties was expanded to include 11 categories. Children could choose as many that applied from the following:

1. Babysitting  
2. Cleaning house; housework  
3. Yard work; mow lawns  
4. Fast food worker  
5. Waiting tables
6. Clerk, bag person, cashier, sales person  
7. Newspaper carrier or paper delivery  
8. Plant care, pet care, or house care for neighbors who are away  
9. Farm work, field work, agricultural  
10. Construction, painting, carpentry, wiring  
11. Office work, typing, filing, answer phones

These work for pay questions appeared initially in the Child Self-Administered Supplement, for self-report by the child, until 2002 when they were moved into the Child Supplement for administration by the interviewer. Table 1 lists the lead question for the Work for Pay series in each survey year.

Table 1. Lead question for work for pay series by survey year

Work after School

Children in the 10-14 age range also reported whether they worked after school. From 1988-2004, questions about work for pay after school were included in the Child Self-Administered supplement, for self-report by the child. From 2006-2014, these items were moved to the regular schooling section of the Child Supplement for administration by the interviewer. Table 2 lists the question name and title for the question about work for pay after school by survey year.

Table 2. Question name and title for question about work after school by survey year

Work in the Summer

Starting in 1992, children age 10-14 are also asked about work during the summer:

"Think about how you spend your time on a usual day during the summer. During the summer... ...how often do you work for pay?"

From 1992-2000, questions about usual summer activities were included in the Child Self-Administered Supplement, for self-report by the child. From 2006 to 2014, these items were moved to the regular schooling section of the Child Supplement for administration by the interviewer.

Table 3. Question name and title for summer work question by survey year

YearQuestion NameQuestion Title1992CS926723CHILD SELF-ADMIN: ON USUAL SUMMER DAY CHILD WORKS FOR PAY1994CS942435CHILD SELF-ADMIN: ON USUAL SUMMER DAY CHILD WORKS FOR PAY1996CS960733CHILD SELF-ADMIN: ON USUAL SUMMER DAY CHILD WORKS FOR PAY1998CS98031DCHILD SELF-ADMIN: ON USUAL SUMMER DAY CHILD WORKS FOR PAY2000CSAS031DCHILD SELF-ADMIN: ON USUAL SUMMER DAY CHILD WORKS FOR PAY2002CSAS031DCHILD SELF-ADMIN: ON USUAL SUMMER DAY CHILD WORKS FOR PAY2004CSAS031DCHILD SELF-ADMIN: ON USUAL SUMMER DAY CHILD WORKS FOR PAY2006-2014SCHL-40DSCHOOL: ON USUAL SUMMER DAY CHILD WORKS FOR PAY

Young Adult

Prior to 2000, employment questions asked of Young Adults were in two distinct sections: On Jobs and Employer Supplements. These two sections were very similar to the corresponding sections in the NLS79 survey, but with key differences. For example, the Young Adult On Jobs section did not bring forward employers from past rounds, and the reference date for each survey round was set at January 1 of the year prior to the year of fielding with the reference date for the 1994 fielding being set to January 1, 1993. Additionally, Young Adults were not asked about severance pay, pensions, and job search methods in the Employer Supplements section as their mothers were. They were, however, asked a short series of additional questions in the first employer supplement to assess certain aspects of their primary job. These questions were developed from similar questions asked of their mothers in the original 1979 survey. 

For the 2000 survey, the jobs and employer supplements sections of the Young Adult questionnaire were extensively redesigned and integrated into one looped section. This enabled all questions concerning a particular employer to be asked before any information about another employer was gathered. Interviewers were instructed to begin with the current or most recent job held by the respondent and to proceed backwards in time. If multiple jobs were currently or most recently held, the interviewer was instructed to probe for the job with the greatest number of hours worked per week to determine which job they should enter first. This looped structure has been maintained in subsequent surveys.

Under this changed interview structure, information is collected on all jobs held since the date of the last interview. The greatest detail is asked of the current or most recent primary job, with a smaller set of questions for all preceding jobs. For jobs lasting less than 10 weeks or jobs where the respondent worked less than ten hours a week, respondents are asked only for employer name, start and stop dates, and hours worked. Beginning in 2000, the number of questions asked about jobs, even about the current or most recent job, was greatly curtailed in order to administer this section over the telephone and ease respondent burden. However, the streamlined questions still allow users to develop a clear employment history with critical job characteristics such as industry, occupation and wages. 

Beginning in 2002, added questions have made it easier to report the kinds of jobs some teenagers have, such as baby-sitting or lawn-mowing. At the beginning of the section, Young Adults under age 19 are asked clarifying questions to determine whether they have worked only these kinds of jobs, only more regular jobs, both kinds, or neither. They are then routed to appropriate questions according to their answers.

In 2004, the basic question identifying the usual shift the respondent worked was reintroduced. In 2008, a series of questions about supervisory responsibilities was added. Since 2010, the names and occupational descriptions for current employers at the most recent interview (limited to those from 2008 onward) are carried forward, and YAs are asked a series of follow-up questions on these jobs.

In 2020, the questionnaire included specific questions about the effect of the Coronavirus pandemic on each job held in March 2020 or more recently. 

Since 1994 the Young Adult survey has included a short series of questions designed to collect a small amount of employment information from respondents who are not on active duty in the military and who do not report working at any jobs since their employment reference date. For respondents who are not initially skipped out of this series, the survey ascertains whether they have ever had a job for pay lasting two or more weeks. If so, basic details about this job such as tenure, industry, occupation and wages are asked. These data can be found in the YA Last Job Area of Interest.

Another question series identifies the first job a respondent had after leaving high school if this job is not identifiable from other survey questions. Only first-time Young Adult respondents who have left school prior to the date of last interview (usually defined as the mother's date of last interview) are branched into this series. A respondent had to have held a job for at least 2 months and worked at least 20 hours a week in order to be eligible for detailed questions in this series. A limited number of questions pertaining to job characteristics are asked including: start date, stop date, kind of business or industry, kind of work the respondent did, hours per week, and usual earnings. These data can be found in the YA First Job After High School Area of Interest.

Prior to the NLSY79 Child & Young Adult 1986-2020 public release, job history rosters were created for all Young Adult survey rounds, with unique IDs assigned to each job that allows users to track jobs held by YA respondents over time. More detail is available under Work Experience.

Comparison to Other NLS Surveys:  Information on employment histories and job characteristics has been collected for each cohort. For more information, refer to the appropriate cohort's User's Guide.