The NLSY79 Sample: An Introduction | National Longitudinal Surveys

Official title

National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79), part of the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) program

Age of cohort

Born between 1957 and 1964. At the time of first interview, respondents' ages ranged from 14 to 22. The respondents were 57 to 66 at the time of their 2022 interviews (the most recent survey year).

Number of respondents in survey

12,686 individuals initially interviewed in 1979.

Sex

6,403 (50%) males and 6,283 (50%) females in initial survey

Race/ethnicity (in initial survey)

Non-black/non-Hispanic: 7,510
Black: 3,174
Hispanic or Latino: 2,002

Subsample design

Three subsamples comprise the NLSY79 cohort (see variable denoted as R01736 in NLS Investigator). With a few exceptions, all members of the cross-sectional sample have been eligible for interview during each round of the NLSY79.

a cross-sectional sample of 6,111 respondents designed to represent the noninstitutionalized civilian segment of people living in the United States in 1979 and born between January 1, 1957, and December 31, 1964 (ages 14-21 as of December 31, 1978)
a supplemental sample of 5,295 civilian Hispanic or Latino, black, and economically disadvantaged nonblack/non-Hispanic respondents living in the United States in 1979 and born between January 1, 1957, and December 31, 1964
a sample of 1,280 respondents designed to represent the population serving in one of the four branches of the U.S. military as of September 30, 1978, and born between January 1, 1957, and December 31, 1961 (ages 17-21 as of December 31, 1978)

Following the 1984 interview, 1,079 members of the military sample were no longer eligible for interview; 201 respondents randomly selected from the military sample remained in the survey. Following the 1990 interview, none of the 1,643 members of the economically disadvantaged, nonblack/non-Hispanic sample were eligible for interview.

Important information

Although the entire economically disadvantaged, nonblack/non-Hispanic subsample was dropped following the 1990 survey, the 'Reason for Noninterview' variable has only 1,621 respondents listed as "supplemental poor white sample dropped." The remaining 22 respondents died prior to the dropping of the subsample. These individuals continue to be classified as "deceased." For further information, refer to the Reasons for Noninterview section.

Types of information gathered in survey

Labor market behavior
Educational experiences (high school, college, training)
Family background (including data collected from parent in round 1)
Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (measures knowledge and skills including reading and mathematics)
High school information received from respondents' schools and from respondents' school transcripts
Government program participation
Family life (marital status, fertility, and child care)
Health issues
Assets and income

Scroll right to view additional table columns.

Table 1. NLSY79 sample sizes by subsample, race/ethnicity and sex
Survey Year	Sex	Total Sample	Cross-Sectional Sample				Supplemental Sample				Military Sample
Survey Year	Sex	Total Sample	Total	Nonblack/ non-Hispanic	Black	Hispanic or Latino	Total	Poor nonblack/ non-Hispanic	Black	Hispanic or Latino	Total	Nonblack/ non-Hispanic	Black	Hispanic or Latino
1979	Male	6403	3003	2439	346	218	2576	742	1105	729	824	609	162	53
	Female	6283	3108	2477	405	226	2719	901	1067	751	456	342	89	25
	Total	12686	6111	4916	751	444	5295	1643	2172	1480	1280	951	251	78
1984	Male	6055	2839	2303	329	207	2442	699	1055	688	774	575	151	48
	Female	6014	2975	2365	393	217	2598	851	1034	713	441	331	86	24
	Total	12069	5814	4668	722	424	5040	1550	2089	1401	1215	906	237	72
1990	Male	5112	2664	2157	318	189	2280	664	979	637	168	70	68	30
	Female	5324	2834	2271	365	198	2475	819	984	672	15	7	5	3
	Total	10436	5498	4428	683	387	4755	1483	1963	1309	183	77	73	33
1994	Male	4411	2648	2150	310	188	1599		973	626	164	68	62	34
	Female	4480	2809	2243	363	203	1657		987	670	14	7	5	2
	Total	8891	5457	4393	673	391	3256		1960	1296	178	75	67	36
1998	Male	4100	2459	2007	289	163	1480		883	597	161	66	63	32
	Female	4299	2700	2161	346	193	1585		951	634	14	6	5	3
	Total	8399	5159	4168	635	356	3065		1834	1231	175	72	68	35
2000	Male	3920	2356	1926	272	158	1412		847	565	152	64	61	27
	Female	4113	2593	2065	343	185	1509		912	597	11	6	3	2
	Total	8033	4949	3991	615	343	2921		1759	1162	163	70	64	29
2002	Male	3769	2270	1852	268	150	1353		828	524	147	61	60	26
	Female	3955	2505	1999	328	178	1440		879	561	10	6	3	1
	Total	7724	4775	3851	596	328	2792		1707	1085	157	67	63	27
2004	Male	3738	2201	1800	249	152	1330		808	522	146	63	58	25
	Female	3984	2485	1982	326	177	1488		901	587	11	7	3	1
	Total	7661	4686	3862	575	329	2818		1709	1109	157	70	61	26
2006	Male	3737	2185	1763	273	149	1401		839	562	151	63	62	26
	Female	3916	2444	1950	320	174	1461		883	578	11	6	4	1
	Total	7653	4629	3713	593	323	2862		1722	1140	162	69	66	27
2008	Male	3782	2230	1809	272	149	1401		850	551	151	63	60	28
	Female	3975	2458	1963	323	172	1507		912	595	10	5	4	1
	Total	7757	4688	3772	595	321	2908		1762	1146	161	68	64	29
2010	Male	3669	2179	1766	271	142	1346		817	529	144	62	57	25
	Female	3896	2423	1929	323	171	1462		886	576	11	5	4	2
	Total	7565	4602	3695	594	313	2808		1703	1105	155	67	61	27
2012	Male	3524	2091	1689	259	143	1296		791	505	137	60	51	26
	Female	3776	2331	1851	317	163	1435		867	568	10	4	4	2
	Total	7300	4422	3540	576	306	2731		1658	1073	147	64	55	28
2014	Male	3405	2010	1624	251	135	1258		768	490	137	59	53	25
	Female	3665	2253	1783	311	159	1402		861	541	10	4	4	2
	Total	7070	4263	3407	562	294	2660		1629	1031	147	63	57	27
2016	Male	3326	1974	1592	248	134	1223		747	476	129	57	52	20
	Female	3586	2218	1754	305	159	1358		835	523	10	4	4	2
	Total	6912	4192	3346	553	293	2581		1582	999	139	61	56	22
2018	Male	3306	1952	1567	245	140	1222		743	479	132	59	52	21
	Female	3572	2195	1736	296	163	1365		829	536	12	5	4	3
	Total	6878	4147	3303	541	303	2587		1572	1015	144	64	56	24
2020	Male	3076	1822	1476	221	125	1131		690	441	123	53	49	21
	Female	3459	2120	1683	283	154	1327		803	524	12	5	4	3
	Total	6535	3942	3159	504	279	2458		1493	965	135	58	53	24
2022	Male	3014	1798	1455	220	123	1096		673	423	120	51	48	21
	Female	3399	2094	1664	278	152	1294		772	522	11	5	3	3
	Total	6413	3892	3119	498	275	2390		1445	945	131	56	51	24

Funding sources for the NLSY79

Funding to collect data on labor market experiences, human capital investments such as education and training, and information that affects or is affected by labor market behaviors is through the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Throughout the survey, various agencies have funded special sets of questions. Funding has been provided by several agencies of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Education, and the U.S. Department of Justice. Examples of other topical areas include:

Military participation-Support from the Department of Defense made possible the 1979-84 interviews of 1,280 youth enlisted in the military.
Vocational aptitude-The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), a study which was jointly sponsored by the Departments of Defense and Labor, was administered to the civilian and military youth samples in 1980.
High school performance-Beginning in 1979, a five-year cooperative effort of the National Center for Research in Vocational Education and The Ohio State University's Center for Human Resource Research (CHRR) resulted in a survey of the high schools of civilian NLSY79 respondents and the collection of detailed transcript information on potential high school graduates.
Time use-In 1981, the National Institute of Education sponsored a set of time-use questions.
Alcohol and substance use-Funding from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the National Institute on Drug Abuse has made possible expanded sets of alcohol and substance use questions.
Department of Justice-A self-report supplement to the 1980 survey collected data on the respondent's participation in and income from various delinquent and criminal activities.

NLSY79 Children

The child sample includes children born to female NLSY79 respondents. The child sample began in 1986, and the expanded mother-child data collection occurred biennially through 2014. Beginning in 1994, data collection was expanded to include a separate survey for children 15 and older, called the Young Adults, and data collection occurred biennially through 2020.

The number of children known to have been born to NLSY79 mothers has increased from 8,336 in 1986 to 11,551 in 2020.
Interviews were completed during 2020 (the most recent data collection year) with 4,354 young adult children, over 76% percent of the young adult children fielded in that round.
10,494, or 91% of, children ever born have at least one Child interview point, with 3,884, or 37% of, ever assessed children having data for all possible rounds between birth and age 14.
Of the 9,167 children ever fielded as Young Adults, 8,673 (95%) have completed at least one YA interview, and 5208 (58%) of those ever interviewed have completed every round in which they were fielded.