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National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97)

The NLSY97 Sample: An Introduction

Official title

National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), part of the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) program.

Age of cohort

Born between 1980 and 1984. At the time of first interview, respondents' ages ranged from 12 to 18. The respondents were 36 to 42 at the time of their round 20 interviews. (Round 20 is the most recent data release, fielded in 2021-2022.)

Number of respondents in survey

8,984 individuals initially interviewed in round 1. About 75 percent (6,713) of the round 1 sample were interviewed in round 20. Click below for an overview of sample sizes by round.

Scroll right to view additional table columns.

  Cross-sectional Supplemental
Round/
Gender		 Total Sample Cross-sectional Total Non-black, non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic Hispanic or Latino Mixed Race Supple-mental Total Black, non-Hispanic Hispanic or Latino Mixed Race

R1

Male

 4599 3459 2413 537 469 40 1140 632 508 --

Female

 4385 3289 2252 544 452 41 1096 622 472 2

Total

 8984 6748 4665 1081 921 81 2236 1254 980 2

R2

Male

 4283 3213 2238 504 433 38 1070 599 471 --

Female

 4103 3066 2095 517 417 37 1037 584 451 2

Total

 8386 6279 4333 1021 850 75 2107 1183 922 2

R3

Male

 4169 3143 2193 490 421 39 1026 572 454 --

Female

 4039 3029 2076 503 412 38 1010 568 441 1

Total

 8208 6172 4269 993 8330 77 2036 1140 895 1

R4

Male

 4116 3097 2153 485 422 37 1019 580 439 --

Female

 3964 2957 2027 489 402 39 1007 570 435 2

Total

 8080 6054 4180 974 824 76 2026 1150 874 2

R5

Male

 3988 3011 2110 455 410 36 977 541 436 --

Female

 3894 2907 1991 478 401 37 987 558 427 2

Total

 7882 5918 4101 933 811 73 1964 1099 863 2

R6

Male

 3997 2995 2083 466 410 36 1002 567 435 --

Female

 3899 2903 1973 486 408 36 996 568 426 2

Total

 7896 5898 4056 952 818 72 1998 1135 861 2

R7

Male

 3928 2951 2060 460 395 36 977 555 422 --

Female

 3826 2831 1916 482 396 37 995 564 429 2

Total

 7754 5782 3976 942 791 73 1972 1119 851 2

R8

Male

 3732 2816 1966 433 383 34 916 506 410 --

Female

 3770 2784 1866 491 390 37 986 563 421 2

Total

 7502 5600 3832 924 773 71 1902 1069 831 2

R9

Male

 3663 2731 1907 424 367 33 932 523 409 --

Female

 3675 2706 1823 473 376 34 969 561 406 2

Total

 7338 5437 3730 897 743 67 1901 1084 815 2

R10

Male

 3803 2850 1988 445 385 32 953 535 418 --

Female

 3756 2774 1867 490 380 37 982 567 413 2

Total

 7559 5624 3855 935 765 69 1935 1102 831 2

R11

Male

 3735 2803 1954 441 374 34 932 519 413 --

Female

 3683 2718 1826 483 376 33 965 552 411 2

Total

 7418 5521 3780 924 750 67 1897 1071 824 2

R12

Male

 3767 2819 1963 443 379 34 948 533 415 --

Female

 3723 2741 1834 486 385 36 982 564 416 2

Total

 7490 5560 3797 929 764 70 1930 1097 831 2

R13

Male

 3785 2835 1957 454 388 36 950 519 431 --

Female

 3774 2781 1859 495 391 36 993 569 422 2

Total

 7559 5616 3816 949 779 72 1943 1088 853 2

R14

Male

 3765 2816 1941 458 382 35 949 527 422 --

Female

 3714 2728 1819 490 384 35 986 568 416 2

Total

 7479 5544 3760 948 766 70 1935 1095 838 2

R15

Male

 3743 2792 1910 461 387 34 951 532 419 --

Female

 3680 2709 1802 486 386 35 971 557 412 2

Total

 7423 5501 3712 947 773 69 1922 1089 831 2

R16

Male

 3545 2647 1814 431 368 34 898 509 389 --

Female

 3596 2638 1756 480 370 32 958 553 404 1

Total

 7141 5285 3570 911 738 66 1856 1062 793 1

R17

Male

 3524 2630 1792 438 367 33 894 506 388 --

Female

 3579 2641 1751 486 371 33 938 542 394 2

Total

 7103 5271 3543 924 738 66 1832 1048 782 2

R18

Male

 3267 2458 1701 391 335 31 809 469 340 --

Female

 3467 2560 1713 460 353 34 907 520 387 --

Total

 6734 5018 3414 851 688 65 1716 989 727 --

R19

Male

 3416 2565 1780 411 341 33 851 487 364 --

Female

 3531 2603 1747 464 363 29 928 530 398 --

Total

 6947 5168 3527 875 704 62 1779 1017 762 --

R20

Male

 3288 2456 1700 405 325 26 832 480 352 --

Female

 3425 2511 1675 454 352 30 914 524 390 --

Total

 6713 4967 3375 859 677 56 1746 1004 742 --

Note: This table was created using the following variables: CV_SAMPLE_TYPE (R12358.), KEY!RACE_ETHNICITY (R14826.), KEY!SEX (R05363.), and RNI (R25102., R38297., etc).

Gender

4,599 (51%) males and 4,385 (49%) females in initial survey.

Race/ethnicity (in initial survey):

  • Non-black/non-Hispanic: 4,665 (51.9%)
  • Black non-Hispanic: 2,335 (26%)
  • Hispanic or Latino: 1,901 (21.2%)
  • Mixed: 83 (0.9%)

Subsample design

Two subsamples comprise the NLSY97 cohort (See variable denoted as CV_SAMPLE_TYPE in Investigator.):

  • A cross-sectional sample of 6,748 respondents designed to be representative of people living in the United States during the initial survey round and born between January 1, 1980, and December 31, 1984. For more information on representativeness of sample, see NLSY97 Technical Sampling Report (2000).
  • A supplemental sample of 2,236 respondents designed to oversample Hispanic/Latino and black people living in the United States during the initial survey round and born during the same period as the cross-sectional sample.

Number of survey rounds available to the public thus far

20 rounds. (Access data at www.nlsinfo.org/investigator.) In 2021, respondents also received the NLSY97 COVID-19 Supplement, which queried them on how the pandemic affected their health and employment.

Types of information gathered in survey

Funding sources for the NLSY97

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provides funding to collect data on youth labor force experiences, investments in education, training, government program participation, and many other topics influenced by labor market behavior.

Other special sets of questions have been funded as indicated:

  1. Various questions in the self-administered portion of the Youth Questionnaire, including questions on health, fertility, and social relationships, have been funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
  2. The 1996 and 2000 school surveys, which collected information from all high schools with a 12th grade in the 147 NLSY97 primary sampling units, as well as the collection and coding of high school transcripts, were funded by the Department of Education. See School & Transcript Surveys for details and availability information.
  3. Questions on crime and criminal activities found in the self-administered portion of the Youth Questionnaire were sponsored by the Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. These questions are described in Crime, Delinquency & Arrest.
  4. The round 1 administration of the CAT-ASVAB (Computer Adaptive Test-Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery), a military enlistment test that was given to NLSY97 respondents, was jointly sponsored by the Department of Defense and the Department of Labor. See Administration of the CAT-ASVAB for further details.