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National Longitudinal Survey of Older and Young Men (NLSM)

Household Composition

This section describes variables related to household and family composition, household identification, linkages between members of multiple respondent households, and household residence. Some familiarity with the following survey instruments which gather information on households is necessary: the Original Cohort Household Record Cards, the Original Cohort "Household Roster," and the household screeners that were used to select respondents for the various cohorts. The "Survey Instruments and Other Documentation" section provides detailed descriptions of each of these instruments. This section does not delineate variables pertaining to characteristics or experiences of household members, the presence of partners within the household, or geographical areas of residence. Those interested in information collected specifically on household members should explore the individual topic of interest, e.g., age, sex, educational status, etc. The availability of information on partners is discussed in the Marriage & Fertility section. Finally, those interested in information detailing respondents' geographic residence, e.g., state, county, or SMSA, should reference the Geographic Residence & Environmental Characteristics topical discussion.

Household and family composition

During each survey year except the 1968 Older Men mail survey, a complete listing of family or household members is available from the "Household Roster" or household enumeration section of the questionnaire. This household section listed household/family members and, for each member, specified information such as that member's relationship to the respondent, his/her age, school enrollment status, and highest grade completed, and work experience information such as number of weeks worked, hours worked per week, and occupation. In general, household record items were transcribed from the Household Record Cards, documents that were completed before the interview began. As an exception, certain telephone interviews did not update all information on the Household Record Cards; new information was collected directly on the household roster.

User note: Household record

Information about family or household members collected in the roster section of the questionnaire can be identified by searching for "household record" using the any word search.

Older Men. Table 1 provides a list of the types of information collected in the household roster in each interview. In addition, it depicts whether the roster referred only to members related to the respondent or to all household members. During earlier survey years of the Older Men, only family members (i.e., related household members) were included on the household roster; in more recent years, all household members were listed. However, variable titles were not changed to reflect this difference. Thus, 'Household Record - Family Member # 5: Relationship to R,' may actually provide a relationship to the respondent of an unrelated household member. Users should examine the household roster section of the questionnaire to determine whether unrelated household members were listed in a given year.

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Table 1. Older Men Household Roster questions 1966-90
Key: F = Family members, H = Unrelated household members, and numbers indicate age restrictions.
Survey Year

Relationship to Respondent

Age/ Birth Date (DoB)

Enrollment Status

Highest Grade Attended

Highest Grade Completed

Enrolled in College/ University in Past Year?

Weeks Worked Last Year

Usual Hours/ Week Worked

Occupation (if worked in past year)

1966 Family members (F)   F 6-24       F (14 and up) F (14 and up) F (14 and up)
1967 Family members (F) F age F 6-24 F 6-24 F 6-24   F (14 and up) F (14 and up) F (14 and up)
1969 Family members (F) F age F 6-24 F 6-24 F 6-24   F (14 and up) F (14 and up) F (14 and up)
1971 Family members (F) F age F 6-24 F 6-24 F 6-24   F (14 and up) F (14 and up) F (14 and up)
1973 Family members (F) F age       F (14 and up) F (14 and up) F (14 and up) F (14 and up)
1975 Family members (F) F age       F (14 and up) F (14 and up) F (14 and up) F (14 and up)
1976 Family members (F) F age F 6-24 F 6-24 F 6-24   F (14 and up) F (14 and up) F (14 and up)
1978 Family members (F) F age       F (14 and up) F (14 and up) F (14 and up) F (14 and up)
1980 Family members (F) F age       F (14 and up) F (14 and up) F (14 and up) F (14 and up)
1981 Family members (F), Unrelated household member (H) F, H DoB F, H (3 and up) F, H (3 and up) F, H (3 and up)   F, H (14 and up) F, H (14 and up) F, H (14 and up)
1983 Family members (F), Unrelated household member (H) F, H both F, H (3 and up) F, H (3 and up) F, H (3 and up)   F, H (14 and up) F, H (14 and up) F, H (14 and up)
1990 Family members (F), Unrelated household member (H) F, H age   F, H (3 and up)     F, H (14 and up) F, H (14 and up) F, H (14 and up)

In addition to the information depicted in the table, the 1981 Older Men household roster included a question asking whether the respondent and each household member were living together in 1976. If not, a follow-up question asked why they decided to live together (e.g., marriage, health, financial help, share expenses, etc.). These questions were repeated in 1983 with a reference date of 1981.

The 1990 survey design includes more than one household roster. In the sample person questionnaire, Older Men respondents living at home responded to roster questions as in past surveys. In addition to the data in Table 1, this roster asked whether the respondent and each household member were living together at the date of the last interview and, if not, why they decided to live together. If the Older Men respondent was living in a long-term care institution, a similar but separate roster asked him to report characteristics of the members of his household just before he entered the institution. An additional question inquired whether each member was still living in that household at the interview date. Finally, the respondent reported whether he had lived with each member at the date of his last interview, but the follow-up question was not asked of institutionalized respondents.

The same pattern was repeated in the widow questionnaire, addressed to widows of Older Men respondents. Widows living at home were asked about their current household, including the questions on whether they had lived with each member at their husbands' last interview date. Widows living in long-term care institutions answered the same questions about their former household that appeared in the sample person questionnaire.

Young Men. Table 2 lists the information gathered in the various Young Men household roster in each interview. In all surveys of the Young Men, the actual household roster included only family members. However, in later surveys, some information about unrelated household members was collected on a separate but similar roster. These data are included in the table below and can be located in the data set by searching for the phrase "household members not related to R" in variable titles.

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Table 2. Young Men Household Roster questions 1966-81
Key: F = Family members, H = Unrelated household members, and numbers indicate age restrictions.
Survey Year

Relationship to Respondent

Age/ Birth Date (DoB)

Enrollment Status

Highest Grade Attended

Highest Grade Completed

Enrolled in College/ University in Past Year?

Weeks Worked Last Year

Usual Hours/ Week Worked

Occupation (if worked in past year)

1966 Family members (F) F age F 6-24 F F   F (14 and up) F (14 and up) F (14 and up)
1967 Family members (F) F age F 6-24 F 6-24 F 6-24   F (14 and up) F (14 and up) F (14 and up)
1968 Family members (F) F age F 6-24 F 6-24 F 6-24   F (14 and up) F (14 and up) F (14 and up)
1969 Family members (F) F age F 6-24 F 6-24 F 6-24   F (14 and up) F (14 and up) F (14 and up)
1970 Family members (F) F age F 6-24 F 6-24 F 6-24   F (14 and up) F (14 and up) F (14 and up)
1971 Family members (F) F age F 6-24 F 6-24 F 6-24   F (14 and up) F (14 and up) F (14 and up)
1973 Family members (F) F age       F (14 and up) F (14 and up) F (14 and up) F (14 and up)
1975 F F age       F (14 and up) F (14 and up) F (14 and up) F (14 and up)
1976 Family members (F) F DoB F (3 and up) F (3 and up) F (3 and up)   F (14 and up) F (14 and up) F (14 and up)
1978 Note 2.1 Family members (F), Unrelated household member (H) F, H both F (3 and up) F (3 and up) F (3 and up)   F (14 and up) F (14 and up) F (14 and up)
1980 Note 2.1 Family members (F), Unrelated household member (H) F, H both F (3 and up) F (3 and up) F (3 and up)   F (14 and up) F (14 and up) F (14 and up)
1981 Note 2.1 Family members (F), Unrelated household member (H) F DoB
H age
F (3 and up) F (3 and up) F (3 and up)   F (14 and up) F (14 and up) F (14 and up)

Note 2.1: Information for unrelated household members was collected on a separate roster rather than being combined with the regular household roster.

User note: Household codes and gender

Although gender was generally not collected, it can sometimes be inferred from the relationship codes assigned to family and household members. For example, the code for sister identifies a given household member as female. However, some members were assigned a generic code such as "parent--sex not specified"; in these cases, gender cannot be determined.

Users should be aware that relationship codes for family and household members varied across survey years. Figure 1 below provides information about the relationship codes used in different surveys to classify relationships between the respondent and members of his household.

Figure 1. Relationship codes by survey year: Older and Young Men
Cohorts/Years Code Relationship
Older Men 1966-78
Young Men 1966-76
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 Spouse Child (sex not specified) Son Daughter Parent (sex not specified) Father Mother Parent-in-law Sibling (sex not specified) Sister Brother Grandchild Other relative
Older Men 1980-90
Young Men 1978-81
14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 Codes 1-13 as before, plus: Father-in-law Mother-in-law Grandmother or grandparent Grandfather Adopted son or son by marriage Adopted daughter or daughter by marriage Other blood relative-male Other blood relative-female Other in-law relative-male Other in-law relative-female Partner-male Partner-female Boarder-male Boarder-female Other nonrelative-male Other nonrelative-female Other nonrelative (sex not specified)

The sampling design used to select respondents often generated more than one NLS respondent from the same household. More than three-quarters of the respondents from the Young Men cohort and one-third of the respondents from the Older Men cohort shared the same household with at least one other respondent from the same or another cohort at the time the screening was performed (see Tables 3 and 4). To facilitate use of this unique aspect of NLS data, constructed variables link respondents sharing the same household at the time of the 1966 screening.

Table 3. Distribution of respondents living within single and multiple respondent households: The Original Cohorts

Household Type
Note 3.1

Older Men Mature Women Young Men Young Women
Single Respondent 3353 66.6% 2509 49.4% 1031 19.7% 1018 19.7%
Multiple Respondents 1681 33.4 2574 50.6 4194 80.3 4141 80.3
2 Respondent Households 871 17.3 1347 26.5 1997 38.2 1887 36.6
3 Respondent Households 481 9.6 775 15.2 1206 23.1 1216 23.6
4 Respondent Households 234 4.6 311 6.1 650 12.4 637 12.3
5 Respondent Households 71 1.4 115 2.3 264 5.1 300 5.8
6 Respondent Households 17 0.3 21 0.4 49 0.9 75 1.5
7 Respondent Households 5 0.1 3 0.1 21 0.4 20 0.4
8 Respondent Households 1 <0.05% 1 <0.05% 1 <0.05% 5 0.1
9 Respondent Households 1 <0.05% 1 <0.05% 6 0.1 1 <0.05%
Total Respondents 5034
Note 3.2
100% 5083 100% 5225 100% 5159 100%

Note 3.1: Household types for all cohorts are based on data gathered during the household screening. Reference numbers are R00003.-R00021. (Older Men, Mature Women, and Young Men) and R00003.-R00021.55 (Young Women).

Note 3.2: Includes 14 cases later dropped from the public data file.

Table 4. Distribution of respondents by intra- and inter-cohort households
Household Type / Cohorts
Note 4.1
Older Men
Note 4.2
Mature Women Young Men Young Women Households
Total Respondents 5034 5083 5229 5159 12,382
Single Respondent 3353 -- -- -- 3353
-- 2509 -- -- 2509
-- -- 1031 -- 1031
-- -- -- 1018 1018
Multiple Respondents:
Intra-Cohort Respondents
Note 4.3
Note 4.4
105 -- -- -- 50
-- 74 -- -- 36
-- -- 1697 -- 785
-- -- -- 1645 743
Multiple Respondents:
Inter-Cohort Respondents
Note 4.3
Note 4.5
Older Men, Mature Women 574 572 -- -- 567
Older Men, Young Men 936 -- 1167 -- 931
Older Men, Young Women 843 -- -- 1069 839
Mature Women, Young Men -- 1415 1792 -- 1406
Mature Women, Young Women -- 1508 -- 1957 1502
Young Men, Young Women -- -- 2253 2260 1880
Older Men, Mature Women, Young Men 240 239 306 -- 238
Older Men, Young Men, Young Women 402 -- 513 519 401
Older Men, Mature Women, Young Women 232 231 -- 301 231
Mature Women, Young Men, Young Women -- 618 786 799 614
Older Men, Mature Women, Young Men, Young Women 123 122 159 160 122

Note 4.1: All information on respondents residing in the same household is based on the 1966 screenings. Reference numbers are R00003.-R00021. (Older Men, Mature Women, and Young Men) and R00003.-R00021.55 (Young Women).

Note 4.2: Includes 14 records later dropped from the public data file.

Note 4.3: Categories are not mutually exclusive. For example, a household containing three Young Men and one Mature Woman would be included as an intra-cohort Young Men household as well as an inter-cohort Mature Women-Young Men household.

Note 4.4: The number of respondents from households in which at least two respondents from the same cohort resided together at the time of the 1966 screenings.

Note 4.5: The number of respondents from two or more cohorts who resided in the same household at the time of the 1966 screenings.

Variables specifying common relationships are available within each Original Cohort data set. These variables provide the identification codes of other respondents originating from the same household by relationship and cohort, e.g., 'Identification Code of 1st Sister.' The following relationship linkages are available for the applicable cohorts: spouses, mothers/fathers and children, and siblings. Table 5 depicts the numbers and types of pairs among Original Cohort members during the initial survey years.

Table 5. Number and types of dominant pairs identified during the initial survey years

Cohort

Pair Type

Young Women Young Men Mature Women
Older Men Spouse Pairs -- -- 492
Parent-Child Pairs 988 1098 --
Mature Women Parent-Child Pairs 1848 1671 --
Young Men Spouse Pairs 584 -- --
Sibling Pairs 1814 902 --
Young Women Sibling Pairs 949 -- --
Table 5 is based on R00003.50 (Older Men and Mature Women), R00003.01-R00003.52 (Young Men), and R00003.50-R00003.52 and R00021.01-R00021.55 (Young Women).

CHRR staff developed relationship codes based on a Census tape that included the identification numbers of all individuals who shared a household during the screening procedure. The following logic was used in assigning relationship codes: if a 47-year-old man from the Older Men cohort said he had a 38-year-old wife and a 38-year-old woman from the Mature Women cohort with the same household ID said she had a 47-year-old husband, husband-wife relationships were assigned. A one-year difference was allowed between the reported ages; three years of interview information were checked.

Although other types of relationships may have existed, only spouse, sibling, or parent/child relationship codes were assigned. However, identification of other relationship types is possible through use of created variables (R00003. to R00021.) that provide, by cohort, both the ID numbers of other respondents in the household (e.g., 'Identification Code of 1st Older Male in R's Household') and of the household ('Identification Code of R's Household'). To determine the nature of other relationships, users can match characteristics of household members from the first respondent's information (e.g., the age he claims for a cousin) with characteristics of household members on the second respondent's household roster (e.g., the age reported for a cousin), as was done for the development of the relationships described above.

Note that phrases such as "Younger Female," "Older Male," etc., within the variable titles refer to the cohort--not to the relative age to the respondent. For example, a 14-year-old male has a 17-year-old sister; both are respondents. On his record, she would be called a "Younger Female" because she is in the Young Women cohort.

User note: Relationship data

The relationship data were inferred from data on the public data files. CHRR did not have access to detailed information from the Census Bureau (names, etc.) to confirm these linkages. Only "dominant" relationships were considered, as discussed above. While these pairings are believed to be fairly accurate, they and the matching algorithms may have been affected by, for example, misreporting of age in the "Household Roster."

Although these matches represent unique samples for a number of research topics, users should be aware that they typically include demographically non-representative matches. For example, father-son matches from the Older and Young Men cohorts include fathers who were at least 45 years of age in 1966 and sons who were no older than 24 in 1968.

Once a family relationship was assigned, it was generally considered binding even if the household members lived separately. For instance, if the son of a father/son pair left for college between the screening and the first interview, but their relationship could still be established based on information collected on the father's "Household Roster" (for anyone away at college), a father/son relationship was assigned. Similarly, if a husband/wife pair was divorced after the initial interview, they would still be linked as spouses. Data from the marital status variables must be used to update the relationship.

The data files for all four Original Cohorts include identification numbers for all other respondents in the household, which can be accessed by searching for the word "Identification." However, the relationship of the other respondent is not always identified. While identification numbers of spouses in other cohorts are given for all four cohorts, only the Young Men and Young Women files include identification numbers for parent-child pairs. Therefore, for example, a father-son relationship cannot be identified by looking at the Older Men data file; users can only discover that a respondent in the Young Men's cohort lives in the same household. They must use the Young Men data files to discern whether that pair is a father-son relationship.

Survey Instruments & Documentation Information on the "Household Roster" is generally transcribed from the Household Record Cards. The "Household Roster" is located within the "Family Members," "Family Background," or "Household Members" sections of the questionnaires; information on unrelated household residents was gathered in the "Unrelated Household Member" sections of the Young Men questionnaires.