Pension Benefits & Pension Plans

Income, Assets & Program Participation
Pension Benefits & Pension Plans
Pension Benefits and Social Security Payments
Information on whether income was received by the respondent or spouse from other (unspecified) sources such as Social Security, pensions, or annuities was collected during the administration of each survey's "Income and Assets" section. Follow-up questions asked whether:
- An opposite-sex adult/partner (1979-84, 1990-2016) had received Social Security/Railroad Retirement or pension income in the past calendar year
- Household income was received by those respondents living in their parental home or by any other household member related to these respondents from:
- Governmental or private pensions or annuities
- Social Security/Railroad Retirement benefits was collected during the 1979-86 household interviews.
Disability Payments: Fielded during the 1980-2016 surveys was a set of questions that asked whether the respondent or his or her spouse (and since 1994, "or partner," if applicable) had received any income during the past year from veteran's benefits, Worker's Compensation, or other disability. If such income was received, an amount was recorded.
1994 Changes: Beginning in 1994, the Employer Supplements section on benefits was expanded to include a large amount of pension information. The pension questions are asked for each job that a respondent works at 20 hours a week or more. The pension section elicits information from the respondent on the following 11 subjects:
- If eligible for a plan
- How many participating in
- How many plans eligible for with each employer
- Knowledge of each plan
- Number of years enrolled in a plan
- Type of plan
- Employer contributions
- Employee contributions
- Whether choice in investment strategy
- How much the plan is worth
- Investment strategy
In addition, in 1994-2004 and 2008-2016, a series of four questions added to the "Asset" section of the questionnaire began to track retirement savings. Prior to 1994 this information was asked for as part of the answers to other asset questions, while in 1994 pension questions were separated out. The first question asks if the respondent/spouse has any IRA accounts. If the answer is yes, respondents are queried about how much money is held in their IRA. Then the respondent is asked if they or their spouse or partner hold any 401k or 403b accounts. If the answer is yes, they are questioned how much money is held in these accounts.
In 2004, questions were added for younger workers about hypothetical changes to the Social Security program and the introduction of personal retirement accounts.
In 2010 a series of questions concerning stock options were added. In 2012 and in 2014 these questions were asked only of respondents who weren't asked them in 2010.
Comparison to Other NLS Cohorts: Questions on NLSY97 retirement benefits, including very limited information on savings in pension/retirement plans, are only asked of respondents who report an employee job lasting at least 13 weeks that ended after the date of their 16th birthday, or who are age 16 and over and report an on-going employee job at which they have worked at least 13 weeks. Independent youth provide information about participation in government programs. For each government assistance program, the surveys ask whether the respondent or his or her spouse had participated in the program since the last interview (for respondents who had answered these questions in a previous interview) or had ever participated (for respondents going through this section for the first time). Also, the survey collects information on the duration of each spell of receipt (e.g., stop and start dates) and the amount of aid the respondent or his or her spouse/partner received for each spell. For certain programs (e.g., AFDC or ADC, WIC, food stamps), the survey asks the respondent to state the members of the household covered by the program.
For the Mature Women, information on income from governmental and private pension plans was collected during all surveys except the 1968 mail survey; for the Young Women, the 1991, 1995, and 1997 interviews included the collection of extensive information on employer pension plans for which the respondent and her spouse were eligible; for the Older men, in general, most surveys asked about income from a government pension and income from other sources, such as a private employer pension. No information on eligibility for or income from pensions and Social Security was collected from the Young Men. 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 and Documentation | Income source questions are located within the "Income and Assets" sections of each questionnaire: Section 21 (1979), Section 17 (1980), Section 12 (1981, 1987, 1989, and 1992), Section 14 (1982 and 1985), Section 13 (1983, 1986, 1990, 1994-2016), Section 15 (1984 and 1988), and Section 11 (1991 and 1993). The household income questions can be found on Version A of the Household Interview Form. The Household Composition, Poverty Status & Public Assistance Support Sources, and Survey Instruments sections of this guide present additional information on the collection of household and income data. |
Areas of Interest | Pension source variables are found in the "Pensions," "Income," and "Misc. xxxx" areas of interest. |
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
- Appendix 13: Cross-Cohort NLSY79/97 Overview
- 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
- 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 TOTAL Net Wealth Variables
- NLSY79 Appendix 24: Reanalysis of the 1980 AFQT Data from the NLSY79
- NLSY79 Appendix 25: Attitudinal Scale Scoring
- 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
- NLSY79 Appendix 29: Date of Interview Current Status Variables
- NLSY79/97 Cross-Cohort Data
- 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
- Errata for 1979-2016 Data Release
- Errata for 1979-2014 Data Release
- Errata for 1979-2012 Data Release
- Errata for 1979-2010 Data Release
- Errata for 1979-2008 Data Release
- Errata for 1979-2006 Data Release
- Errata for 1979-2004 Data Release
- Errata for 1979-2002 Data Release
- Errata for 1979-2000 Data Release
- Technical Sampling Report
- School & Transcript Surveys Documentation
- Codebook Supplement
- Get 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 2016 Child/Young Adult Release
- 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
- Research/Technical Reports
- Codebook Supplement
- Get Data
- NLS Mature and Young Women
- NLS Older and Young Men