Parent Questionnaire (round 1). In the youth history section, the responding parent first reported the NLSY97 respondent's housing situation since his or her birth. If the youth lived with anyone else before the responding parent, the survey collected a history of living situations. This history recorded the relationship of each adult with whom the youth lived and in what month and year the situation changed. All round 1 responding parents were asked whether the youth had ever lived apart from them for three months or more (since the youth first lived with them). For each spell apart, the parent stated the place where or the person with whom the youth lived, whether the arrangement was still in effect, and the year the arrangement changed.

The survey also considered residential moves (not necessarily related to a change in living situation). These questions recorded the total number of different places the youth lived prior to his or her 12th birthday and since his or her 12th birthday.

For each NLSY97 youth not living with both biological parents, the survey asked whether the responding parent held legal responsibility or legal custody for the youth. If only the youth's biological mother was listed on the birth certificate, follow-up questions asked whether the biological father had ever been legally identified (e.g., blood test, court ruling, signed legal document). For adopted youths, data were collected on whether the youth ever lived with his or her biological mother or father.

Screener, Household Roster, and Nonresident Roster Questionnaire (round 1). Information included the distance the youth lived from his or her biological parents (if they were alive) or the date that the youth's biological parents died.

Youth Questionnaire. In rounds 2 and up, the respondent answered questions about residential moves to a different city, county, or state since the date of last interview. These data were used to update the "total number of residences" variable described below. These surveys also collected the periods the youth lived with each parent between interviews.

In round 6, the childhood retrospective section was introduced to gather residence information from respondents who did not have a parent interview. It gathered information pertaining to the age of the respondents when they moved to their childhood homes, how many places they lived when they were young, and languages used in the home. For respondents who were not adopted, the questionnaire asked about the biological mother and father. Adopted participants were asked about the educational attainment of their adoptive parents, and if they knew, the educational attainment of their biological parents. Finally, for the time period prior to the first interview, respondents were asked if they ever repeated or skipped a grade in school. In rounds 7 and 8, this section included questions about living arrangement changes between birth and the time of first interview.

In round 15, respondents provided the number of biological and adopted siblings they had and the current age of the oldest sibling.