Tenure | National Longitudinal Surveys

Since 2000, information has been collected on all jobs held since either the date of the last interview or January 1, 1994, whichever is more recent. From 1994 through 1998, the reference date for collecting job information was set to January 1 of the year preceding the fielding year. For respondents aging up as first-time young adults, their mother's date of last interview is used. Respondents are asked for the start and stop dates for all employers. These questions allow users to develop a clear employment tenure history since 2000. If researchers want to explore tenure back to 1994, they need to be aware of possible gaps due to the reference dates used.

Comparison to Other NLS Cohorts: The NLSY79 has collected detailed information about start and stop dates for all employers, as well as for military service. NLSY97 respondents provide the start and stop dates of each employee and freelance job, as well as military service. Tenure at current or last job is available for the Older Men for 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, and 1971, and for the Young Men for 1967, 1969, and 1971. For the Mature and Young Women, users may be able to create tenure variables for the later survey years by combining start and stop dates and data on within-job gaps. For more precise details about the content of each survey, consult the appropriate cohort's User's Guide using the tabs above for more information.

Survey Instruments	Employment-related questions are found in the Young Adult Instrument, Section 7, Jobs & Employers Supplements. Some are also found in Section 9, Last Job Lasting Two Weeks or More, and Section 10, First Significant Job after Leaving School.
Areas of Interest	Employment-related variables are found in YA Job Information, YA Jobs, YA First Job After High School, YA Last Job, YA Last Significant Job. Note: For the 1994 through 1998 surveys, data from Section 7 are found in YA Jobs, while data from the Employer Supplements are found in the YA Job Information. For the 2000 on, data from the integrated looped section are found in YA Job Information, allowing users to follow the question flow from the CAPI questionnaire.

Survey Instruments

Employment-related questions are found in the Young Adult Instrument, Section 7, Jobs & Employers Supplements. Some are also found in Section 9, Last Job Lasting Two Weeks or More, and Section 10, First Significant Job after Leaving School.

Areas of Interest

Employment-related variables are found in YA Job Information, YA Jobs, YA First Job After High School, YA Last Job, YA Last Significant Job. Note: For the 1994 through 1998 surveys, data from Section 7 are found in YA Jobs, while data from the Employer Supplements are found in the YA Job Information. For the 2000 on, data from the integrated looped section are found in YA Job Information, allowing users to follow the question flow from the CAPI questionnaire.