NLSY79

Newest errata

NLSY79 Interviewer Mode 1996 variable

POSTED 1/28/25

Researchers can access the newly created 1996 Interviewer Mode (INTMODE) variable by downloading the Interview Mode 1996 Excel file. This variable will be included in the next public release.

Other errata

Respondent distance to non-resident child in R20 (2002)

POSTED 1/13/25

A coding error during the R30 release caused the R20 (2002) distance of the respondent to a child/parent of a child not living in the household (variables Q9-53 and Q9-50) to mistakenly be recoded as an invalid skip. These variables have been reverted to the original values in the current release.

Updates to CAL_YEAR_JOB and EMPLOYERS_ALL_WHYNOWK_2020 variables

POSTED 1/13/25

During the review of the data, an error was discovered in 4 CAL_YEAR_JOB variables (1 respondent in CAL_YEAR_JOB2_1996, 1 respondent in CAL_YEAR_JOB2_2002, 1 respondent in CAL_YEAR_JOB2_2014, 1 respondent in CAL_YEAR_JOB2_2016). These variables were updated to correctly reflect that no second job was reported (answer=0) in the current release. An additional update was made to correct the coding of the EMPLOYERS_ALL_WHYNOWK_2020.18.01 for 1 respondent.

The NLSY79 provides data for understanding the health trajectories, gathering information on various aspects of physical and mental health, cognition, health insurance coverage, and linkages to external data sources like the National Death Index (NDI). This introduction outlines key health-related topics available in the dataset.

Physical health

The NLSY79 collects data on physical health, including functional limitations and self-reported general health status. Topics such as body weight, height, and health behaviors like smoking, alcohol use, and exercise are also covered. The Physical Health section includes the 40-and-over Health Module, 50-and-over Health Module, and 60-and-over Health Module tracking physical and mental health conditions as the cohort progresses through age-related milestones.

Mental health

The mental health data encompasses self-reported measures outlined in the Mental Health section, including the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), some of which were collected through the 40+/50+/60+ Health Modules. These modules are further described in the Physical Health section. Furthermore, questions addressing loneliness were included in the 2022 survey.

Cognition

The NLSY79 administered the age-related 48+ Cognition Module beginning in 2006 as respondents became age-eligible. The module was repeated in subsequent rounds (2006-2016) as additional respondents reached age 48 and for those who skipped the 2006 interview. In 2018 a subset of the cognition questions were fielded, and in the 2020 survey, the 48+ Cognition Module was administered to the full sample with additional cognition questions from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS).

Health insurance

The Health Insurance section outlines data collected on health plans/insurance as part of the "Health" section of the survey and from fringe benefit questions in the Employer Supplement.

National Death Index (NDI)

The NLSY79 incorporates data from the NDI to track mortality and cause of death among respondents. The National Death Index section lists the available NDI variables. The public release data contains a variable for whether the respondent is deceased, while the remaining NDI variables are part of the restricted-use Geocode data file. Information about applying to use restricted-use Geocode data is available on the BLS Restricted Data Access page.

Official title

National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79), part of the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) program

Age of cohort

Born between 1957 and 1964. At the time of first interview, respondents' ages ranged from 14 to 22. The respondents were 57 to 66 at the time of their 2022 interviews (the most recent survey year).

Number of respondents in survey

12,686 individuals initially interviewed in 1979.

Sex

6,403 (50%) males and 6,283 (50%) females in initial survey

Race/ethnicity (in initial survey)

• Non-black/non-Hispanic: 7,510
• Black: 3,174
• Hispanic or Latino: 2,002

Subsample design

Three subsamples comprise the NLSY79 cohort (see variable denoted as R01736 in NLS Investigator). With a few exceptions, all members of the cross-sectional sample have been eligible for interview during each round of the NLSY79.

• a cross-sectional sample of 6,111 respondents designed to represent the noninstitutionalized civilian segment of people living in the United States in 1979 and born between January 1, 1957, and December 31, 1964 (ages 14-21 as of December 31, 1978)
• a supplemental sample of 5,295 civilian Hispanic or Latino, black, and economically disadvantaged nonblack/non-Hispanic respondents living in the United States in 1979 and born between January 1, 1957, and December 31, 1964
• a sample of 1,280 respondents designed to represent the population serving in one of the four branches of the U.S. military as of September 30, 1978, and born between January 1, 1957, and December 31, 1961 (ages 17-21 as of December 31, 1978)

Following the 1984 interview, 1,079 members of the military sample were no longer eligible for interview; 201 respondents randomly selected from the military sample remained in the survey. Following the 1990 interview, none of the 1,643 members of the economically disadvantaged, nonblack/non-Hispanic sample were eligible for interview.

Types of information gathered in survey

• Labor market behavior
• Educational experiences (high school, college, training)
• Family background (including data collected from parent in round 1)
• Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (measures knowledge and skills including reading and mathematics)
• High school information received from respondents' schools and from respondents' school transcripts
• Government program participation
• Family life (marital status, fertility, and child care)
• Health issues
• Assets and income

Funding sources for the NLSY79

Funding to collect data on labor market experiences, human capital investments such as education and training, and information that affects or is affected by labor market behaviors is through the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Throughout the survey, various agencies have funded special sets of questions. Funding has been provided by several agencies of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Education, and the U.S. Department of Justice. Examples of other topical areas include:

1. Military participation-Support from the Department of Defense made possible the 1979-84 interviews of 1,280 youth enlisted in the military.
2. Vocational aptitude-The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), a study which was jointly sponsored by the Departments of Defense and Labor, was administered to the civilian and military youth samples in 1980.
3. High school performance-Beginning in 1979, a five-year cooperative effort of the National Center for Research in Vocational Education and The Ohio State University's Center for Human Resource Research (CHRR) resulted in a survey of the high schools of civilian NLSY79 respondents and the collection of detailed transcript information on potential high school graduates.
4. Time use-In 1981, the National Institute of Education sponsored a set of time-use questions.
5. Alcohol and substance use-Funding from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the National Institute on Drug Abuse has made possible expanded sets of alcohol and substance use questions.
6. Department of Justice-A self-report supplement to the 1980 survey collected data on the respondent's participation in and income from various delinquent and criminal activities.

NLSY79 Children

The child sample includes children born to female NLSY79 respondents. The child sample began in 1986, and the expanded mother-child data collection occurred biennially through 2014. Beginning in 1994, data collection was expanded to include a separate survey for children 15 and older, called the Young Adults, and data collection occurred biennially through 2020.

• The number of children known to have been born to NLSY79 mothers has increased from 8,336 in 1986 to 11,551 in 2020.
• Interviews were completed during 2020 (the most recent data collection year) with 4,354 young adult children, over 76% percent of the young adult children fielded in that round.
• 10,494, or 91% of, children ever born have at least one Child interview point, with 3,884, or 37% of, ever assessed children having data for all possible rounds between birth and age 14.
• Of the 9,167 children ever fielded as Young Adults, 8,673 (95%) have completed at least one YA interview, and 5208 (58%) of those ever interviewed have completed every round in which they were fielded.

Information has been gathered on NLSY79 respondents' attitudes and expectations of the future. Various non-cognitive tests have been administered as well.

Attitudes

Women's roles

One of the major sets of attitude questions in the NLSY79 relates to respondents' assessments of women's roles. While a variety of surveys have examined women's roles over time, the NLSY79 is unique because it tracks how an individual's view of women's roles changes, enabling researchers to understand how attitudes toward women's activity in the labor force evolve over the life cycle.

The NLSY79 has asked a series of eight questions about women's roles in four interviews (1979, 1982, 1987, and 2004). Respondents were asked a statement and answered if they strongly agreed, agreed, disagreed, or strongly disagreed with the statement. Table 1 illustrates the eight questions and shows the change in responses from 1979 to 2004 for individuals who answered both series of questions.

For researchers who are interested in tracking these issues across generations, the NLS has included similar attitudinal measures in surveys of other cohorts. A subsample of the NLSY79 Young Adults were asked these questions in 2002 and all were asked them in 2006. Those who hadn't answered the questions in 2006 were asked them in 2008. Mature Women were asked about their attitudes toward working roles in 1972, 1977, 1982, and 1987, while Young Women were surveyed in 1972, 1978, 1983, and 1988. This set of additional questions enables researchers to not only track changes over time within a cohort but also to understand how attitudes toward work change between cohorts for individuals in a similar age range.

School satisfaction

Another set of attitude questions, fielded in 1979, examines how in-school respondents feel about their education. These questions (SCHOOL-3A_1 to SCHOOL-3B) ask students to state their attitudes on issues such as how satisfied they are with their school and how safe they feel in school. Overall, the unweighted data show that most students expressed a positive attitude toward their school and schooling.

Political questions 2008

Political attitude questions were included in the NLSY79 2008 survey for the first time. These questions are similar to questions that have been a staple in the American National Election Survey for years and are particularly timely information on a unique presidential election year.

Self-perceptions

In selected survey years, the NLSY79 has collected information from respondents on their perceived self-esteem, their feelings of control over their own lives, their sociability, and their perceptions of influential people in their lives.

Rotter Locus of Control Scale

The Rotter Internal-External Locus of Control Scale (ROTTER-1A to ROTTER-4B) was collected as part of the initial (1979) round of the NLSY79 and then again during the Round 26 (2014) data collection (or in the 2016 data collection if respondents weren't interviewed in 2014). The scale is a four-item abbreviated version of a 23-item forced choice questionnaire adapted from the 60-item Rotter Adult I-E scale developed by Rotter (1966). The scale was designed to measure the extent to which individuals believe they have control over their lives through self-motivation or self-determination (internal control) as opposed to the extent that the environment (that is, chance, fate, luck) controls their lives (external control). The scale is scored in the external direction-the higher the score, the more external the individual. In order to score the Rotter scale in the NLSY79, one has to generate a four-point scale for each of the paired items and then sum the scores. For example, the first pair has the following two statements:

1. What happens to me is my own doing. (internal control item)
2. Sometimes I feel that I don't have enough control over the direction my life is taking. (external control item)

Each of the four paired items is constructed in the same manner as the above example. The values for each item are then summed. The maximum possible score is 16, indicating high external control, while the minimum possible score is four, indicating high internal control. The summed score on the NLSY79 abbreviated version correlates well with self-esteem, education, and social class, but the internal consistency of the scale is quite low for the whole cohort (alpha: .36). Separate estimates by race and sex do not yield significantly higher reliability estimates.

Additional information on the Rotter Scale can be found in Appendix 21 in the NLSY79 Codebook Supplement.

Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale

The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale was administered during the 1980, 1987, and 2006 interviews. This 10-item scale, designed for adolescents and adults, measures the self-evaluation that an individual makes and customarily maintains. It describes a degree of approval or disapproval toward oneself (Rosenberg, 1965). The scale is short, widely used, and has accumulated evidence of validity and reliability. It contains 10 statements of self-approval and disapproval with which respondents are asked to strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree. Items A, B, D, F, and G need to be reversed prior to scoring in order for a higher score to designate higher self-esteem. Users should consult the relevant survey year questionnaire for specific wording. Typically, the raw items are summed or the standardized items are averaged to create a summary score. The scale has proven highly internally consistent, with reliability coefficients that range from .87 (Menaghan, 1990) to .94 (Strocchia-Rivera, 1988), depending on the nature of the NLSY79 sample selected. Additional information on this scale can be found in Appendix 21 and Appendix 27 in the NLSY79 Codebook Supplement.

Influence of significant others

The "On Significant Other" section of the 1979 NLSY79 questionnaire is the source of the discrete set of nine variables (OTHER-2 to OTHER-3H) dealing with the attitude of the most influential person in each respondent's life toward certain key career, occupational, residence, and childbearing decisions. These variables are available for respondents who were between the ages of 14 and 17 in 1979.

Sociability

In 1985, two questions were asked of the respondent about the degree to which he or she was shy or outgoing. The first question (HEALTH-SOC_1) inquired about the respondent's perception of how shy or outgoing they were at age 6 and the second question (HEALTH-SOC_2) asked them to consider how shy or outgoing they are as an adult.

Pearlin Mastery Scale

The Pearlin Mastery Scale is a measure of self-concept and references the extent to which individuals perceive themselves in control of forces that significantly impact their lives. It consists of a 7-item scale developed by Pearlin, et al. (1981). Each item (PEARLIN-1 to PEARLIN-7) is a statement regarding the respondent's perception of self, and respondents are asked how strongly they agree or disagree with each statement. Four response categories are allowed: (1) strongly disagree; (2) disagree; (3) agree; and (4) strongly agree. The scale is constructed by adding together the responses from each item; thus, a range of 4 to 16 is possible. To obtain a positively oriented scale (that is, a higher score represents the perception of greater mastery over one's environment), negatively phrased questions (PEARLIN_1 to PEARLIN_3, PEARLIN_5, PEARLIN_7) should have their response sets reverse coded. Additional information on this scale can be found in Appendix 21 and Appendix 27.

Ten Item Personality Measure (TIPI)

Respondents received this personality measure in the 2014 round. Developed by Gosling et al (2003), the TIPI is a brief, 10-item measure of the Big Five (or Five-Factor Model) dimensions of personality. Respondents rate (on a 7-point scale from "disagree strongly" to "agree strongly") how well 10 pairs of personality traits apply to them.

Life satisfaction

Starting in 2014, respondents have been answering a stand-alone question about life satisfaction, rating on a 7-point scale how satisfied or dissatisfied they are with life overall.

Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS)

Respondents are answering these questions as part of the 60-and-over Health Module that each cohort is answering successively as they reach 60. Respondents rate agreement with five statements regarding general satisfaction with life.

General Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD)

These questions are being administered as part of the 60-and-over Health Module. Respondents report how often they experience various feelings associated with worry and anxiety.

Note: Information on the CES-D depression scale, previously discussed in this section of the User's Guide, has been moved to the Health section.

Health related attitudes: AIDS knowledge

In 1988, a series of questions was administered to ascertain respondents' familiarity with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). This information allows researchers to examine the impact of such information on subsequent health-related behaviors.

The series begins with a question to determine if the respondent has ever heard of AIDS (AIDS-1). If the answer is "yes," he or she is read a set of nine statements (AIDS-2 to AIDS-10) about AIDS. For each of these statements, the respondent is asked "--to tell if you think it is very likely, somewhat likely, somewhat unlikely, very unlikely, definitely not possible, or if you don't know how likely it is that a person will get AIDS or the AIDS virus infection that way. How likely do you think it is that a person will get AIDS or the AIDS virus infection from--"

• eating in a restaurant where the cook has AIDS?
• sharing plates, forks, or glasses with someone who has AIDS?
• using public toilets?
• sharing needles for drug use with someone who has AIDS?
• kissing on the cheek a person who has AIDS?
• being coughed or sneezed on by someone who has AIDS?
• attending school with a child who has AIDS?
• mosquitoes or other insects?
• having sex with a person who has AIDS?

The series concludes with questions on whether an employer ever provided any information about AIDS to the respondent (AIDS-11) and, for individuals with school-age children, questions on whether the respondent has ever discussed AIDS with any of his or her children (AIDS-13) and whether the (oldest) child has had instruction at school about AIDS (AIDS-14).

Lastly, each year the interviewer notes the respondent's attitude during the interview.

Expectations

The NLSY79 has collected information on respondents' perceptions or expectations about the future. Questions were asked in the early years about respondents' expectations for their educational, occupational, and marital futures. Fertility expectation questions have been asked in most survey years. Military expectation questions were asked each year from 1979-1985. Finally, retirement expectation questions were added in 2006. Expectation questions are outlined in Table 2.

The NLSY97 Youth Questionnaire collects information about the respondents' perceptions of the justice system in each round. The round 1 NLSY97 survey attempted to ascertain the impact that school has had on the feelings of well-being experienced by various youths. Respondents who were enrolled at the time of the survey were asked to agree or disagree with statements regarding their school's environment and their teachers. In round 1 respondents were also asked about their perception of their peers' activities and behaviors.

The Mature Women and Young Women were asked about their attitudes toward working roles. The NLSY97 respondents, the Young Women, and Young Men have all answered questions about their educational and employment expectations for the future; however, the specific questions and reference periods have varied widely. For more precise details about the content of each survey, consult the appropriate cohort's User's Guide using the tabs above for more information.

References

Menaghan, Elizabeth G. "The Impact of Occupational and Economic Pressures on Young Mothers' Self-Esteem: Evidence from the NLSY." Presented: Annual Meetings of the Society for the Sociological Study of Social Problems, Washington, D.C., August 9, 1990.

Pearlin, Leonard I.; Lieberman, Morton A.; Menaghan, Elizabeth G.; and Mullan, Joseph T. "The Stress Process." Journal of Health and Social Behavior. 22 (December):  337-353, 1981.

Rosenberg, Morris. Society and the Adolescent Self-Image. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1965.

Rotter, Julian B. "Generalized Expectancies for Internal Versus External Control of Reinforcement." Psychological Monographs General and Applied, 80 (1, Whole No. 609), 1966.

Strocchia-Rivera, Lenore. Self-Esteem and Educational Aspirations as Antecedents of Adolescent Unmarried Motherhood. Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Texas at Austin, 1988.

Questions concerning crime and substance use have appeared throughout the years the NLSY79 has been administered.

Alcohol use

Some form of use of alcohol question is found in most rounds of the survey. In particular are questions concerning general alcohol consumption and use of alcohol during pregnancies.

Cigarette use

The NLSY79 questions concerning cigarette use cover age at first use, frequency, amount, and use before and during pregnancy.

Crime, delinquency & arrest records

The study includes questions on criminal and delinquent activities and up-to-date spells of incarceration.

Drug use

An extensive set of questions on substance use was included in the 1984 survey. A special Drug Use Supplement was administered during subsequent surveys. Additionally, during most years questions concerning drug use during pregnancy were asked.

The NLSY79 cohort is a unique source of income and asset information. Family poverty status variables are available for NLSY79 respondents. In addition, detailed information is provided on public assistance income sources, and a series of environmental variables describe the extent of family and individual poverty within the respondent's geographical area of residence. Note: By their nature, financial questions may elicit a higher number of "refusal" or don't know" responses than other questions. Starting in 2002, respondents were asked to estimate financial values when they gave an initial "refusal" or "don't know" response. For more information about these estimate variables, see Appendix 26: Non-Response to Financial Questions and Entry Points.

Assets

In many survey years, NLSY79 respondents have been asked about their savings, debt, home, and vehicle ownership. These data allow users to calculate net wealth.

Income

Respondents are asked about income from a variety of sources and mostly these questions refer to the previous calendar year. Questions also concern transfers from both governmental and nongovernmental sources.

Pension benefits & pension plans

Information on whether income was received by the respondent or spouse from other (unspecified) sources such as Social Security, pensions, or annuities was collected during the administration of each survey.

Poverty status & public assistance support sources

Family poverty status variables are available for NLSY79 respondents and have been created for each survey year. The Public Assistance Support Sources section looks at poverty characteristics, the value of food stamps, and in 1998 examined effects of welfare reform.

The NLSY79 survey provides data on respondents' experiences with dating and sexual activity, marriage or marriage-like relationships, pregnancy, and children. Most years of the survey ask some respondents about this information. Every NLSY79 survey has included a section on fertility and both men and women are asked if they have had children. Data on child care have been collected within various topical sections of the NLSY79 questionnaires.

Marital status, marital transitions, and attitudes

Information on the marital status of respondents, or if not married, the presence of an opposite sex partner is available for every round of the survey.

Marital history/transitions

A series of edited Supplemental Fertility File variables that reflects the beginning and ending dates of marriages was constructed for 1982 through the present. These variables include the month and year the respondent began a first, second, or, between 1988-2010, a third marriage and the month and year a first or second marriage ended. Starting with the 2012 release, the constructed marital transition data was expanded to the month and year the seventh marriage began.

A series of relationship satisfaction questions were asked during the 1988, 1992, and 1994-and-beyond interviews of those mothers living with a spouse or opposite-sex partner.

Cohabitation

Information concerning cohabitation is available from the 1990, 1992 and forward surveys and includes month and year of cohabitation. Beginning in 2002, respondents were asked detailed questions about their cohabitation experiences during any unmarried spell lasting three months or longer.

Sexual activity and contraception

Respondents were asked about their sexual activity during limited survey years. Questions included whether they had ever had sexual intercourse. Once the respondent answered the questions, he or she was not asked the series in subsequent surveys. Since 1982, NLSY79 respondents have regularly been asked about their use of contraception. In 1984 respondents were asked if they had ever had a sex education course and whether that course included information on contraception, menstrual cycle and sexual diseases.

Fertility and children

Topics covered and data collected include Age at First Birth, Fertility, Expectations and Desires, and Fertility and Relationship History. NLSY79 surveys are designed so that it is possible to construct a detailed history of each respondent's fertility. The first three NLSY79 surveys (1979, 1980, 1981) have very short fertility sections. In 1982, the fertility data collection was greatly expanded due to additional funding provided by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). Beginning in 1983, an even longer fertility section was fielded and since 1986, the even-year Fertility sections have collected detailed information in conjunction with the child assessments and interviews. A vast collection of information on NLSY79 respondents' children is available on the NLSY79 Child and Young Adult file. 

Childcare

Data on types and locations of child-care arrangements are available for most years of the survey.

Family background is a key element of the NLS because parent and sibling attributes have a significant impact on a respondent's future life experiences. Data are available on the NLSY79 respondents' parents and siblings as well as on the respondents' early characteristics. 

Parent information

The majority of parental information was collected in the 1979 survey (see R00061.-R00088.). Users are cautioned that a significant amount of data are legitimately missing in this section. For example, 28 respondents stated that they never knew their mother and 230 stated they never knew their father. These individuals were skipped over all parent questions in 1979. Data are also missing for 121 additional respondents who did not know in what State or country their mother was born and 269 who did not know their father's birthplace. Respondents able to answer questions about their parents were asked:

• Mother's and Father's Birthplace. The raw data show 11,310 mothers and 11,161 fathers were born in the United States, while 1,328 mothers and 1,223 fathers were born in another country. The survey also requested information on the specific State or foreign country in which the parent was born.
• Highest Grade Completed. Almost half of mothers (46 percent) and fathers (49 percent) either have less than a high school diploma or have "don't knows" or "invalid skips" reported.
• Mother and Father Living or Dead. In 1979, only 324 respondents stated their mother had died but 1,006 respondents stated their father was no longer living.
• How Much of the 1978 Calendar Year Did Mother and Father Work for Pay? Respondents reported that 59 percent of the mothers and 81 percent of the fathers worked for pay during all or part of 1978. An additional question asked if the parent worked more or less than 35 hours a week.
• Mother's and Father's 3-Digit Occupation. The most often cited occupations for a mother were Clerical and Kindred worker (1,760) while for a father they were Craftsman, Foreman, and Kindred worker (2,310).
• Does Respondent Live With Parents? There are two separate variables that asked with whom the respondent lived. The one-third of respondents who did not live with their mother and three-eighths not living with their father were asked the distance they lived from that parent.
• Do Parents Live Together? If the respondent was not living with either parent, the interviewer asked if their mother and father lived in the same household

Parental age

Many researchers are interested in knowing how old a parent is when a child is born. This subsection explains how to calculate the age of a respondent's parent at the respondent's birth by subtracting the respondent's age in 1979 from their parent's age in 1979. Much of the age information comes from questions asked in 1987 and 1988 that determined when most parents were born. In 1987, respondents were asked for the day, month, and year that their natural parents were born. If they did not know, respondents were asked for that parent's age in years. In 1988, the questions were repeated, but only respondents who did not answer the 1987 series were asked to provide this information. The program in Table 1, which calculates the father's age in 1979, provides three separate models for creating a variable to calculate parents' ages. The computer code is listed in the second column, with an explanation in the third column. This program, and the similar one for mothers, results in an age for almost 77 percent of fathers and almost 87 percent of mothers.

Other parent information

Researchers can find additional information about parents in the household record if the parents lived with the respondent during any of the survey years. Parents can be found in the household record by searching the relationship fields. The relationship code for fathers in the household is "4," while mothers are coded "5." The household record in each year contains information on the person's age, highest grade completed, sex, and work history in the past calendar year. Beginning in 1998, major health problems and causes of death (if applicable) for the biological parents of respondents was collected in the 40-and-over, 50-and-over and 60-and-over Health Modules. More information is contained in the Health section and NLSY79 Attachment 8: Health Codes.

Siblings

The majority of sibling information was collected in two phases: One set of questions was asked in 1979, while a second set of questions was asked in 1993. In 2006 respondents were asked to confirm (from the 1993 data) whether their siblings share the same biological mother and father. 

Users are cautioned that some sibling data is missing. The first sibling question in 1979 (R00090.) asked if respondents were certain or uncertain about who their brothers and sisters are. This question shows that 1,814 out of the 12,686 respondents were uncertain of the identities of their siblings. Respondents who were unsure were instructed to "think of whomever you consider as your brothers and sisters" as the valid set of siblings. Hence, half-brothers and sisters for some, but not all, respondents will be included in the 1979 set of questions. The 1979 questions (R00090.-R00095.) capture the following information:

• Number of Siblings. The raw data show that the modal number of siblings is two. Respondents' answers to this question range from zero siblings to 29.
• Number of Siblings Attending School. The raw data show that the modal number of siblings in regular school is one. Respondents' answers to this question range from no siblings in school to 16.
• Number of Siblings Older Than R. Most respondents had 1 sibling older than themselves.
• Age of Oldest Sibling. The age of a respondent's oldest sibling (older than the respondent) ranges from 14, just above the minimum age for inclusion in the survey, to 52 years old.
• Highest Grade Completed By Oldest Sibling. As had the parents, the typical (modal) oldest sibling completed 12 years of schooling.

Understanding siblings is important because brothers and sisters often provide influential behavioral examples for younger siblings. Beyond the 1979 data, a special sibling supplement is available. This module was funded in 1993 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in an effort to assess the general representativeness of the siblings contained in the  multiple respondent records of the original NLSY79 sample. The module, which is located on the data set as reference numbers R41251. to R41345., contains information on up to 13 siblings for each respondent. For each of 12 siblings, the interview gathered:

• Number of years younger or older than respondent
• Sex
• Highest grade completed
• Number of children
• Age of sibling at birth of first child

For the 140 respondents who have more than 12 siblings, an additional set of questions gathered data on the characteristics of each respondent's youngest sibling. Researchers using this data set should read a special report on the supplement's data quality, available from NLS User Services. The report, entitled The Collection of Sibling Attributes: Some Data Quality Issues, shows that "response rates are highest for items which are easier to recall and which do not change in 'value' over time as siblings leave the parental household and reduce daily contact" (Haurin 1994). Additionally, the report finds that response levels drop substantially when a respondent has more than four brothers or sisters.

In 1994 a special 14-question module was added to the "Marital History" section of the questionnaire. This module confirmed information on respondents who, during the 1993 sibling supplement, stated that they were either a twin or triplet. Questions in this module also provide additional information on the respondent's twin (triplet) sibling(s). These items are contained in variables R45215.-R45228.

Respondent background

The NLSY79 contains a variety of information on a respondent's background characteristics. Researchers interested in the race and ethnicity of a respondent are encouraged to read the Race, Ethnicity & Immigration section. Researchers interested in a respondent's education should refer to the Educational Attainment & School Enrollment section. The current topic focuses on three sets of background information: religion, home life at age 14, and residence history.

Religion

Questions about religious affiliation were asked of NLSY79 respondents in 1979, 1982, 2000, and 2012-2016. The 1979 questions asked the respondents in what religion they were raised and their present religion. In addition to religious affiliation questions, the survey also asked the frequency with which a respondent attended religious services. Respondents were asked if they never attend, attend several times a year, about once a month, three times a month, about once a week, or more than once a week. Many respondents who were classified as "other" religions in 1979 were reclassified in 1982 as "general Protestant."

The sequence of questions on religion was also asked about the respondent's spouse in 1982, and 2000-2016. Additionally, in 1988, and 1992-2016, female respondents were asked how often they argue about religious matters with their husband/partner (see, for example, R27085., R38831., and R49587.).

Home life at age 14

The 1979 round of the NLSY79 contained a section asking respondents to describe aspects of their life at age 14. The first questions determined whether the respondent lived in the United States or outside its borders at age 14. Respondents living in the United States were asked whether they lived in a rural or urban area. If they lived outside the United States, they were asked in what country. After establishing the respondent's location, the survey then asked about the adults the respondent lived with during this time. These data provide information on the household structure during the respondent's teenage years. The survey additionally asks about the work characteristics and occupations of adults in the household.

Finally, the family background at age 14 section included three general literacy questions. The first question asked if the respondent or anyone else in his or her family regularly received magazines during the time period in question, while the second asked about the receipt of newspapers. Fifty-six percent of NLSY79 respondents stated they or a family member received magazines; more than 76 percent received newspapers. The third question asked about library cards. Seventy percent of all respondents reported that either they or someone in their household held a library card.

Residence history

Respondents' family backgrounds were also addressed in 1979 and 1988 through questions about childhood residence. The 1979 question asked, "With whom were you living when you were 14 years old?" In 1988, a much broader set of questions was funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to supplement the 1979 data. This supplement, the Childhood Residence Calendar, enlarged the 1979 question's focus by creating a retrospective year-by-year history of each respondent's childhood from birth to age 18. The supplement focused on long-term changes by asking respondents to report living arrangements that lasted at least four months.

The key 1988 residence question is R27379. This question asked each respondent if they lived with both biological parents from birth to age 18. Respondents who stated yes were skipped over the residence section while respondents stating no were asked to fill out the residence history. In 1988, every interviewed respondent completed this question; there are no missing responses.

Information was obtained on ages at which a respondent lived with either a biological, step, or adopted mother or father. For those individuals not residing with any parent-type adult at a given age, follow-up questions detailed other multiple forms of living arrangements such as residence with grandparents, other relatives, foster care, and group or institutional arrangements. Auxiliary questions documented the age at which the respondent stopped living with a parent, which parent-type this happened to be, the reason for the change, and the frequency of visitation with the absent parent within one year after the change. The 1988 responses also provide detailed information on the reason and length of time respondents spent in alternative living arrangements. This enables a researcher to identify how often a respondent changed residence due to divorce or parental death. Users should note that if a respondent lived with at least one parent, the survey prevented them from reporting that they also lived in an alternative arrangement. For example, if a respondent lived with both her mother and grandmother, she would be marked as living with one parent even though potentially up to three adults are present in the household. 

A report providing a description and evaluating the quality of this data is available from CHRR (Haurin, 1991). Haurin (1991) compared the 1979 responses with the retrospective survey and found similar answers (see Table 4 in the Haurin study). The data show that, in 1988, about 1.6 percent more of the sample indicated they lived with two parents when they were 14 years old than had reported this arrangement in 1979. The difference was larger among minorities than nonblack/non-Hispanics.

References

Haurin, R. Jean. Childhood Residence Patterns: Evidence From The National Longitudinal Surveys of Work Experience of Youth. Report to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Columbus, OH: CHRR, The Ohio State University, 1991.

Haurin, R. Jean. "The Collection of Sibling Attributes: Some Data Quality Issues." Columbus, OH: CHRR, The Ohio State University, 1994.

A variety of demographic, family, and neighborhood factors can potentially affect a person's labor market attachment and educational attainment. Data supplied by the household informant and the NLSY79 respondent provide researchers with a wealth of background information about the respondent's family members and household environment. 

Age

Date of birth information was collected from each NLSY79 respondent during the 1979 and 1981 interviews. The variable 'Age of R,' gathered during the 1979-83 surveys, is the self-reported age of the respondent as of the interview date. The NLSY79 main data files also contain a yearly created variable, 'Age of R at Interview Date.'  

Sex

Information on the sex of the respondent can be found in a single 1979 variable, 'Sex of R,' and a set of yearly interviewer remarks variables, 'Int Remarks - Sex of R.' 

Geographic residence and neighborhood composition

The respondent's region of residence and geographic mobility is available to all users on the main public data file. More detailed information including state and county of residence is available on the restricted-use Geocode CD.

Household composition

Information on the respondent's household includes the age, sex, relationship to the respondent, and educational attainment of all occupants, the enrollment status of those of school age, and the occupation and weeks worked of residents age 14 and older.

Race, ethnicity and immigration

Race and ethnic origin information is available for each household member identified during the 1978 household screening. A 1979 variable indicated whether a foreign language was spoken in the house during the respondent's childhood. In 2002, respondents were asked to identify their race/ethnicity using questions that conformed to Federal government definitions. The racial/ethnic identification for current and past spouse/partners is also included. Country of origin of the respondent's parents and the respondent's country of birth is available on the restricted Geocode release.

A series of immigration questions, fielded in 1990, included immigration history, immigration status, citizenship status, and the country of citizenship at the time that foreign-born respondents entered the U.S.