• Older Men cohort
• Young Men cohort

Older Men cohort

This section overviews the rate of pay information that has been collected for one or more jobs held by the Older Men respondents since the last interview, e.g., the current or last job, a second or dual job, or various intervening jobs. Related variables, not discussed here, include whether and under what conditions extra pay was received, how such overtime work was compensated, whether wages were set by a collective bargaining agreement, the hours or shift usually worked, and the respondent's preference for working different hours for different pay. Data are also available for most survey years of each cohort on reservation wages (the minimum wage required to accept a job by those not in the labor force) and on rates of pay associated with hypothetical job offers.

Rate of pay

All surveys of this cohort except those conducted in 1968, 1973, and 1975 collected information on the amount of money that respondents employed in the private or governmental sectors usually earned at their current or last job. The open-ended question, "How much do you usually earn at this job before deductions?" typically elicited an hourly dollar and cents amount or a dollar amount only plus a time unit, e.g., week, month, year, etc., to which the wage applied. From this information coupled with that on usual hours worked per week, CHRR calculated a set of variables entitled 'Hourly Rate of Pay at Current or Last Job *KEY*.' Excluded from the universe of these variables are those respondents reporting time units of day, piece work, or other, as well as those who were self-employed or working without pay in a family business or farm. During the 1971, 1976, 1981, and 1990 surveys, rate of pay information was also collected about jobs other than the current/last job--for example, the job held for the longest time in the past 12 months or the job held longest in the past five years.

Hypothetical job offers

In every survey except 1968, 1973, and 1975, respondents were asked about their reactions to hypothetical job offers. Most frequently, these questions were set in the context of a job offer in the same geographical area in which the respondent currently lived, but occasionally the questions referred to a different geographical area. The hypothetical job offer series was asked separately for different groups of respondents depending on their current labor force status (e.g., employed, unemployed, or out of the labor force). Component questions in this series asked about the rate of pay required to accept the job offer, hours per week the respondent would be willing to work on the job (beginning in 1971), and the occupation required to accept the position. Users should consult the questionnaires for minor variations in text wording or universes. Researchers can find these questions in NLS Investigator by searching under the word "Hypothetical."

Young Men cohort

This section overviews the rate of pay information that has been collected for one or more jobs held by the Young Men respondents since the last interview, e.g., the current or last job, a second or dual job, or various intervening jobs. Related variables, not discussed here, include whether and under what conditions extra pay was received, how such overtime work was compensated, whether wages were set by a collective bargaining agreement, the hours or shift usually worked, and the respondent's preference for working different hours for different pay. Data are also available for most survey years of each cohort on reservation wages (the minimum wage required to accept a job by those not in the labor force) and on rates of pay associated with hypothetical job offers.

Rate of pay

Information on the usual earnings of respondents working in the private and government sectors was collected during each survey year. A series of 'Hourly Rate of Pay for Current or Last Job *KEY*' variables has been created for each survey year except 1973 and 1975. Universe restrictions are similar to those described for the Older Men. Rate of pay information is also available for intervening jobs reported during the 1970, 1971, 1976, and 1981 surveys and for a second (or dual) job in which a respondent was employed at the time of the 1971, 1976, and 1981 interviews.

Hypothetical job offers

Young Men were administered the same series of hypothetical job offer questions as Older Men. These questions were included in all surveys except 1973 and 1975.

References

Bureau of Labor Statistics. Work & Family: Changes in Wages and Benefits Among Young Adults. Report No. 849. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor, July 1993.

Parsons, Donald O. "Summary Tables: The National Longitudinal Surveys of Older Males 1966-1983." Columbus, OH: CHRR, The Ohio State University, 1987.

Parsons, Donald O. "Summary Tables: The National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Males 1966-1981." Columbus, OH: CHRR, The Ohio State University, 1987.