Income

Income, Assets & Program Participation
Income, Assets & Program Participation: An Introduction
The NLSY97 survey collects a large amount of detailed information on the income of youth respondents, including income from participation in government transfer programs for low-income individuals and families. At particular ages, or after achieving independence status in earlier rounds, youths also answer questions on their assets and debts. In addition, information is available for other members of the household (see Household Composition and Parent Characteristics.)
Table 1 summarizes the NLSY97 User's Guide topics available in this section and any global universe restrictions.
Table 1. Income, Program Participation & Assets Topics and Universe Restrictions
NLSY97 User's Guide Topics | Rounds 1-3 Universe | Rounds 4-8 Universe | Round 9 and up Universe |
Assets & Debts Details on respondent's asset holdings (real estate, businesses, vehicles, etc.) and amount of debt owed; net worth. | all ages; independent | independent or turned 18 or 20 years old since last interview | Assets 20 section asked of those who turned 20 since last interview; Assets 25 section administered to respondents in their first interview during or after calendar year in which they reached age 25; Assets 30 section administered to those respondents in their first interview during or after year they reached age 30; Assets 35 section administrated in first interview during or after year respondents reach age 35. |
Income Gross wage/salary data for respondent, along with data on other income sources (rental property, inheritance, child support, annuities, etc.) | all ages | all ages | all ages |
Program Participation Provides details on respondent's enrollment/participation in government programs such as TANF, food stamps, unemployment, WIC, Worker's Compensation. etc. | all ages; independent | all ages; independent | all ages |
Note: See independence criteria. |
Important Information About Using Income and Asset Data
1. Income and asset questions can be cognitively difficult or feel intrusive to respondents. To reduce the proportion of missing ("don't know" or "refused") data, respondents who do not provide exact dollar answers to questions are asked follow-up questions designed to elicit approximate information. For many income categories, these respondents are asked to select the applicable category from a predefined list of ranges. The approach for asset questions is slightly different: The initial question asks the respondent to provide an exact value, but if s/he is unable or unwilling to do so, interviewers are instructed to ask the respondent to define a range for the value using whatever values s/he feels are appropriate. If the respondent doesn't know or refuses to provide either an exact value or a range, a follow-up question asks him or her to select the appropriate range from a predefined list. This will provide researchers with some information on income, asset, and debt amounts when the respondent is reluctant or unable to furnish an exact figure.
2. Topcoding: To protect the confidentiality of respondents, the survey "topcodes" the highest income and asset values. In each survey round, income and asset variables that include high values are identified for topcoding. (For example, the wage and salary income variable is usually topcoded, but variables indicating the amount received from public assistance programs are not.) For income variables, the top 2 percent of reported values are topcoded and replaced with the mean of the high values. Asset variables have predefined cut-off points for topcoding depending on the variable type. Calculating topcode values in this way allows statistics such as means to accurately reflect the status of the population under examination without violating respondent privacy. Notes in the codeblocks (variable-specific information accessed through NLS Investigator) for topcoded income and asset variables provide more information about the exact calculations used to topcode each variable.
Independence criteria. Historically, NLSY97 youths were considered independent if they have had a child, were enrolled in a 4-year college, were no longer enrolled in school, were not living with any parents or parent-figures, or had ever been married or were in a marriage-like relationship (defined in rounds 1-8 as a sexual relationship in which partners of the opposite sex live together) at the time of the survey. Reaching the age of 18 was another criteria for independence, but the reference date for that age varied between surveys and questionnaire sections. Figure 1 contains more details. All NLSY97 respondents are now considered independent.
Figure 1. NLSY97 Independence Criteria
Age Criteria by Survey Round | ||
Survey | Income and Program Participation | Assets |
Round 1 | No youths age 18 | No youths age 18 |
Round 2 | No youths age 18 | No youths age 18 |
Round 3 | 1980 birth cohort eligible (age 18 as of 12/31/1998) | 1980 birth cohort eligible (age 18 as of 12/31/1998) |
Round 4 | 1981 birth cohort eligible (age 18 as of 12/31/1999) | Eligible if age 18 as of interview date |
Round 5 | 1982 birth cohort eligible (age 18 as of 12/31/2000) | Eligible if age 18 as of interview date |
Round 6 | 1983 birth cohort eligible (age 18 as of 12/31/2001) | Eligible if age 18 as of interview date |
Round 7 | All cohorts eligible | Eligible if age 18 as of interview date |
Round 8 and up | All cohorts eligible | All cohorts eligible |
Other Criteria | ||
All rounds, regardless of age: The youth is independent if he or she has had a child, is enrolled in a 4-year college, is no longer enrolled in school, is not living with any parents or parent-figures, or has ever been married or is in a marriage-like relationship at the time of the survey. A "marriage-like relationship" is defined in rounds 1-8 as a sexual relationship where partners of the opposite sex live together. | ||
Note: Starting with round 5, the assets questions were administered to respondents during the first interview after they turned 18 and the first interview after they turned 20. Assets questions were also administered in the survey year where all members of that birth cohort would turn 25 and again when they would turn 30 and 35. |
Cohorts
- NLSY97
- Topical Guide to the Data
- Intro to the Sample
- Using & Understanding the Data
- Other Documentation
- Get Data
- NLSY79
- Topical Guide to the Data
- Asterisk Tables
- Education
- Employment
- Employment: An Introduction
- Work Experience
- Jobs & Employers
- Class of Worker
- Discrimination
- Fringe Benefits
- Industries
- Job Characteristics Index
- Job Satisfaction
- Job Search
- Labor Force Status
- Military
- Occupations
- Time & Tenure with Employers
- Wages
- Work History Data
- Employer History Roster
- Business Ownership
- Retirement
- Household, Geography & Contextual Variables
- Family Background
- Marital History, Childcare & Fertility
- Income
- Health
- Attitudes
- Crime & Substance Use
- 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
- Topical Guide to the 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