NLSY79

NLSY79 respondents answer questions about current and previously held jobs, with no limit to the number or types of jobs a respondent may report. These data are collected about every employer for whom the respondent worked since the last interview so that a complete picture of the respondent's employment can be constructed.

Work experience

This area provides a full work history of employment, including characteristics of the current or most recent employer and of any other employers for whom the respondent worked, military service, and any gaps in employment. From this information and other retrospective information, a longitudinal record spanning from the date of, and to some extent the time preceding, the first interview through the most current interview date can be constructed for each respondent. Most surveys also collect cross-sectional information about the respondent's activities during the full week preceding the week of the survey

Jobs & employers

The NLSY79 collects detailed information about individual employers for whom a respondent has worked. In the NLSY79, references to a "job" are essentially references to a given employer. The Jobs and Employers section describes the main questionnaire and employer-specific instruments that collect job-related information. It points out the importance of the designated current/most recent employer or "CPS job" in obtaining job characteristics. It also lists types of job characteristics gathered and any restrictions of data collected based on CPS-job status, weeks worked, or hours worked.

Beginning with the 2002 survey, the section on jobs serves two functions. First, as in previous survey rounds, the respondent reports all of his or her employers since the last interview, so that they can be included on the roster. Second, a set of questions is asked to ascertain whether the job has characteristics of self-employment, regular employment, or nontraditional employment.

Class of worker

Class of worker data have been collected during each interview. These variables indicate whether a respondent:

• works for a private company or individual for wages, salary, or commission
• is a government employee
• is self-employed in his or her own business, professional practice, or farm
• is working without pay in a family business or farm

Beginning in 2002 changes were made to better identify nontraditional occupations worked by respondents. This included a clarification of what defines self-employment.

Discrimination

Various employment-related discrimination questions have been asked throughout the survey years. Specific questions included whether the respondent believed that specific types of discrimination (race, nationality, sex, and age) had caused them problems in getting a good job or a promotion. Those in the military were asked whether race, sex, or rank discrimination was one of the reasons the respondent had left the military or would choose not to reenlist. Other questions concerned the demographic composition of coworkers and whether the respondent had received any equal opportunity or diversity sensitivity training. Ageism questions were added in 2018.

Fringe benefits

Availability of fringe benefits has been collected during each survey year except 1981. Fringe benefit information does not reflect actual coverage by a specific benefit but rather a respondent's reported knowledge of whether his or her employer made such a benefit available.

Industries

Industry information has been collected for each year of the survey, with two sets of variables available. The first set of NLSY79 variables is 'Type of Business or Industry of most Recent Job (CPS Item).' The second set of variables is 'Type of Business or Industry Job #1-5.' Respondents' descriptions of these industries and businesses are coded into various versions of the Census Bureau's industrial classification system.

Job Characteristics Index

This area includes a series of questions on characteristics of the respondents' current job, such as the amount of variety, amount of autonomy, opportunity to deal with people and develop friendships, opportunity to complete tasks, amount of significance they attributed to their job, and the amount of performance feedback received. It was limited to the 1979 and 1982 data collections.

Job satisfaction

Job satisfaction measures have been collected for employed respondents during each survey year. During select survey years respondents in a Federally funded employment and training program were asked to rate the program.

Job search

NLSY79 job search questions provide data that show what methods were used, how intensively respondents searched, and the outcome of these searches. Topics include:

• Who searches: Respondents, both working and non working, are asked if they are searching for work.
• Methods of job search: Respondents are asked the specific types of activities they used to find work.
• Duration of job search: Both employed and not employed job seekers are asked about job search activity over the past four weeks.
• Why was search started and stopped: The NLSY79 has extensive information on why respondents started searching and why they stopped.
• Hypothetical jobs: The NLSY79 from 1979 to 1982 included questions about hypothetical job offers.

Labor force status

The CPS sections of the NLSY79 instruments replicate the questions asked in the monthly Current Population Survey (CPS) of American households conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the U.S. Department of Labor. There was no CPS section in 2000-2004 and from 2008 on.

Military

The NLSY79 is unique in that respondents were chosen from both the civilian and military populations. Although funding cutbacks reduced the size of the military sample in 1985, the questionnaires from 1979 to 1985 contain substantial information on military experience. Military questions continue to be a part of every round of the NLSY79. NLSY79 military members consist of two groups, a special oversample of members of the Armed Forces and NLSY79 respondents who joined the military while part of the sample. Areas of focus available in varying years include:

• Military occupation: Respondents in the military were asked to report their primary military occupation and their secondary occupation.
• Military training: Pre-1986 surveys asked military respondents about the number of weeks of formal training received in the military, the amount of on-the-job training, and the amount of formal schooling.
• Military pay and bonuses: The NLSY79 contains a large amount of information on military pay and bonuses.
• ASVAB administration: During the summer and fall of 1980, NLSY79 respondents participated in an effort of the U.S. Departments of Defense and Military Services to update the norms of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB).

Occupations

Regularly fielded sections of NLSY79 instruments have collected information on respondents' occupation. Data on occupations are also available for other family members, including the spouse and parents of the respondent.

Time and tenure with employers

This section provides information on time spent with and away from an employer and between-job gaps. Variables in this section focus on usual hours and shifts worked, periods of time working for an employer, tenure with an employer, and periods not working or in the military.

Wages

Data on respondents' usual earnings have been collected during every survey year for each employer for whom the respondent worked since the last interview date.

Work History data

The NLSY79 Work History data provides researchers with a week-by-week longitudinal work record of each NLSY79 respondent from January 1, 1978, through the current survey date.

Employer History roster

The Employer History roster includes information on virtually all employers reported by NLSY79 respondents, with many of the employer characteristics reported for each employer included in a single record.

Business ownership

Beginning n 2010 (round 24), NLSY79 respondents who were current or former business owners were asked a lengthy series of questions about each business owned since age 18.

Retirement

Starting in 2006, NLSY79 respondents answered questions about how they thought about and defined retirement.

The NLSY79 contains detailed information on respondents' educational and training histories. The survey also contains multiple cognitive tests from respondents' earlier years.

Education

Data on respondents' educational activities, attitudes, and status are obtained in questions on schooling are discussed in the Educational Attainment & Enrollment section. These grade-appropriate questions ask about the respondent's educational experience prior to high school, in high school, and in college. The School & Transcript Surveys gathered data about the schools in the NLSY79 sample areas and the academic records of NLSY79 respondents. Finally, the 1980 survey included several questions on School Discipline, including whether respondents had ever been suspended or expelled from school, and if so, the number of times, date of most recent disciplinary action, and when/if the youth had returned to school.

Training

Information has been collected during all survey years on the type of organization providing the training in which NLSY79 respondents participated. In addition to regularly fielded general training questions, special data collections focused on government training administered in the early years of the NLSY79, high school courses, degrees and certifications, and time use provide supplementary information on NLSY79 respondents' training investments. In later years, the study collects dates of training, hours, and includes a number of additional questions such as skill transferability of training, and information on informal training. Review the Training section for additional details.

Cognitive tests

The NLSY79 collected information about a variety of standardized achievement tests commonly taken by young adults in junior high school and high school (located in the in the Aptitude, Achievement & Intelligence Scores section). The Transcript Survey is a 1980-83 collection of high school transcript information, which included the gathering of math and verbal scores from such tests as the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT), the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), and the American College Test (ACT). The High School Survey is a 1980 survey of high schools, which used school records to collect scores from various aptitude/intelligence tests and college entrance examinations administered during the youth's high school career. Finally, during the summer and fall of 1980, NLSY79 respondents participated in an effort of the U.S. Departments of Defense and Military Services to update the norms of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB).

The Round 29 (2020) release includes data obtained from the National Death Index (NDI) for deceased respondents whose death certificates could be successfully matched. Each respondent's records were individually reviewed to confirm matches between NLSY79 respondents and the death certificate data retrieved from the NDI search. For further details on NDI data, refer to NLSY79 Attachment 8: Health Codes.

The NDI_DECEASED_FLAG created variable is included on the public release data. The other NDI created variables are part of the restricted-use Geocode data. These confidential files are available for use only at the BLS National Office in Washington, DC, and at Federal Statistical Research Data Centers (FSRDCs) on statistical research projects approved by BLS. Access to data is subject to the availability of space and resources. Information about applying to use the zip code and Census tract data is available on the BLS Restricted Data Access page.

In nearly every NLSY79 survey round, respondents who were employed were asked whether their current or most recent job provided health insurance benefits. Table 1, drawn from the employee benefits series, illustrates an increase in the proportion of respondents working in jobs that offer health insurance. In 1979, only 39.3% of respondents were in jobs with access to health insurance coverage. By 2022, the percentage rose to 82.3%.

There are a number of problems with using the employee benefits question series in the CPS and Employment Supplement to understand and track health insurance coverage. First, respondents who are not working are excluded from these questions. Second, not all health insurance is employer provided. Some individuals pay directly for health insurance, while others are covered by their spouse's or partner's plans. Lastly, while an employer may offer this benefit, workers might not participate in the plan and therefore may not be aware of its availability. To overcome these limitations, the "Health" section of the NLSY79 was expanded beginning in 1989 to directly ask about sources of health insurance coverage.

The "Health" section of the questionnaire in 1989, 1990, and 1992-2022 asks respondents if they are covered by a health plan. If the respondent answers "yes," the interviewer asks who pays for the plan. Responses include current employer, previous employer, spouse's employer, purchased directly, and Medicaid or welfare source. If the respondent is married, the same set of questions on medical coverage are asked about the wife or husband (and beginning in 1994, about the nonmarital, opposite-sex partner—the term opposite-sex was excluded in 2002—if any). Additionally, if the respondent has any children, the same questions are asked about the children's health insurance coverage. Limited information on periods of non coverage for respondents has been collected in most survey years since 1994.

48+ Cognition Module

Beginning in 2006, the survey included a battery of exercises designed to capture cognitive capabilities. Similar to the 50-and-over Health Module, the Cognition Module was administered to two birth-year cohorts in the survey year during which they would turn at least age 48. In 2006, the module was administered to respondents born in 1957-1958; in 2008, the module was administered to those born in 1959-1960 and age-eligible respondents who skipped the 2006 interview, and so on. 

Respondents were first asked for their own assessment of the current quality of their memory. They were then given a word recall exercise using four randomly assigned sets of 10 words. The numbers of correctly and incorrectly recalled words were recorded. Respondents were next asked to count backwards from 20, then from 86. Following this, they were given the starting point of 100 and asked to subtract 7; the process was continued five times (e.g., until the final subtraction answer should have been 65). Finally, respondents were asked to recall the same list of 10 words that they were given at the beginning of the cognition battery.

The vast majority of respondents completed the Cognition Module by the 2012 interview. A relatively small but not insignificant number of respondents, who missed the interview at their first eligible year for the Cognition Module and missed multiple interviews after that, took the battery in the 2014 or 2016 interview.

The 48+ cognition data from round 22 through round 27 (2006-2016) has been compiled into a single set of variables. Variable names for this set of items begin with "COGNITION" and are contained in the COGNITION area of interest. These items are assigned to the XRND survey year and do not identify non-interviewed cases for specific survey years. The variable COGNITION_SOURCEYR (Reference #X00311.00) contains the survey year in which each respondent's data was collected.

The 2018 interview included an independent cognition question to test verbal fluency in which respondents were asked to name as many animals as they could in 60 seconds (COGNITION-C5). 

The 2020 interview administered the 48+ Cognition Module to the full sample. This survey also used a set of cognition questions from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), which asks the respondent for the full date and day of the week, names of the president and vice president, and words for two simple definitions (scissors and cactus).

The NLSY79 40-and-over Health, 50-and-over Health, and 60-and-over Health modules include mental health-related questions from the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and the SF-12 scale. Additionally, the 60-and-over Health module contains other attitudinal scales such as the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) and the General Anxiety Disorder (GAD) scale. See the Physical Health section for an overview of the age-related Health modules.

Depression Scale (CES-D)

The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) measures symptoms of depression, discriminates between clinically depressed individuals and others, and is highly correlated with other depression rating scales (see Radloff 1977; Ross and Mirowsky 1989). First administered to NLYS79 respondents in 1992 (R38949.- R38968), the CES-D is a 20-item instrument. Sixteen of the items ask about negative symptoms (e.g., feeling sad, depressed, poor appetite, etc.). Four items (R38952., R38956., R38960., & R38964.) ask about positive symptoms (e.g., feeling happy). Symptom severity is measured by asking the frequency of occurrence of each item over the preceding week. Responses range from 0 (rarely or none of the time/1 day) to 3 (most or all of the time/5-7 days). The four positive symptom items are reverse- scored, and responses to all items are then summed, resulting in a maximum score of 60. Most studies have used a cutoff of 16 as an indicator of depression.

Based on research by Ross and Mirowsky (1989) and others, the number of CES-D items included in the 1994 NLSY79 was reduced to seven (R49783. - R49789.). However, only 5 items of the 7-item Mirowsky and Ross scale were used and the item response choices in the NLSY79 were kept consistent with the 1992 NLSY79 (and original Radloff) responses to the full CES-D: 0 (rarely or none of the time/1 day) to 3 (most or all of the time/5-7 days). (Mirowsky and Ross used the following response set in their 7-item administration: # days in the past week, 0-7.) The CES-D scale was NOT administered in the 1996 NLSY79 survey round. Beginning in 1998 the CES-D was moved to the HEALTH section and is asked only of respondents once when they turn age 40 and again when they turn age 50.

Additional information about the CES-D variables are available in the NLSY79 Codebook Supplement. Appendix 25 outlines the created variables for CES-D scale scores and questions, while Appendix 27 provides the IRT item parameter estimates, along with scores and standard errors for the CES-D.

Additional mental health variables

Loneliness

In the 2022 survey, five questions about loneliness were administered to all respondents. The questions asked how much of the time does R:

• lack companionship
• feel left out
• feel isolated from others
• feel misunderstood
• feel there are people R can turn to

These variables can be accessed by searching the NLS Investigator for the question name root: Q11-LONE.

Job stress

In the 2018-2022 surveys, respondents were asked a series of job stress questions such as if they had serious on-going stress at work in the last 12 months and the effect their job had on their emotional or mental health. These variables can be accessed by searching the NLS Investigator for the question name root: QES-JSWD. (See the Jobs & Employers section for more details.)

Spouse/partner mental health status

In the 2018-2022 surveys, respondents were asked to rate their spouse's/partner's mental health and physical health. These variables can be accessed by searching the NLS Investigator for the question name root: Q2-SP. 

• Household Interview Section for NLSY79 Rnd 31 Questionnaire

• Migration History and Family Background Section for NLSY79 Rnd 31 Questionnaire

• Marital History Section for NLSY79 Rnd 31 Questionnaire

• Military Section for NLSY79 Rnd 31 Questionnaire

• On Jobs Section for NLSY79 Rnd 31 Questionnaire

• Employer Supplement Section for NLSY79 Rnd 31 Questionnaire

• Business Ownership Section for NLSY79 Rnd 31 Questionnaire

• Business Match Section for NLSY79 Rnd 31 Questionnaire

• Gaps Section for NLSY79 Rnd 31 Questionnaire

• Perceived Discrimination Section for NLSY79 Rnd 31 Questionnaire

• Training Section for NLSY79 Rnd 31 Questionnaire

• Spouse Labor Information Section for NLSY79 Rnd 31 Questionnaire

• Fertility Section for NLSY79 Rnd 31 Questionnaire

• Health Section for NLSY79 Rnd 31 Questionnaire

• Income and Recipiency Section for NLSY79 Rnd 31 Questionnaire

• Wills Section for NLSY79 Rnd 31 Questionnaire

• Interview End Section for NLSY79 Rnd 31 Questionnaire

• Locator Section for NLSY79 Rnd 31 Questionnaire

• Interviewer Remarks Section for NLSY79 Rnd 31 Questionnaire

Download the NLSY79 High School Survey and Transcript (PDF) for additional documentation about these data.

A Technical Sampling Report and addendum with standard errors and DEFT factors for 1982-1994 are provided in PDF format.

• NLSY79: Technical Sampling Report (PDF)
• NLSY Technical Sampling Report Addendum: Standard Errors and DEFT Factors for Round IV through XVI (PDF)

Additional standard errors and DEFT factors for 1996 through the most recent round are provided in the Standard Errors & Design Effects section.

Documentation error

Breastfeeding, 1998-2000

The codebook for the 1998 and 2000 "months of age of child when breastfeeding ended" variables indicate the data have 1 implied decimal place. The data for these variables have 2 implied decimal places. The affected codebook pages are:

• R6284100 ENTER # OF MOS OF CHILD? L1 1998
• R6284200 ENTER # OF MOS OF CHILD? L2 1998
• R6284300 ENTER # OF MOS OF CHILD? L3 1998
• R6284400 ENTER # OF MOS OF CHILD? L4 1998
• R6284500 ENTER # OF MOS OF CHILD? L5 1998
• R6284600 ENTER # OF MOS OF CHILD? L6 1998
• R6284700 ENTER # OF MOS OF CHILD? L7 1998
• R6284800 ENTER # OF MOS OF CHILD? L9 1998
   
• R6827100 ENTER # OF MOS OF CHILD? L1 2000
• R6827200 ENTER # OF MOS OF CHILD? L2 2000
• R6827300 ENTER # OF MOS OF CHILD? L3 2000
• R6827400 ENTER # OF MOS OF CHILD? L4 2000
• R6827500 ENTER # OF MOS OF CHILD? L5 2000
• R6827600 ENTER # OF MOS OF CHILD? L6 2000
• R6827700 ENTER # OF MOS OF CHILD? L7 2000
• R6827800 ENTER # OF MOS OF CHILD? L10 2000

Data errors

2000 Relationship History variables

A programming error in the creation of the Relationship History variables for the 1998 to 2000 period for number of spouses or partners reported and the relationship code of the current spouse/partner has led to some respondents being inaccurately coded as having no spouse or partner when one was present and vice versa. Preliminary analyses suggest that a similar problem may be present in 1998 as well for female respondents only. Evaluation of these data is underway, and corrected versions of any affected variable will be made available to users as soon as possible.

The variables known to be affected are:

• R70172.01 NUMBER OF SPOUSE/PARTNERS REPORTED, 2000
• R70172.02 RELATIONSHIP CODE OF CURRENT SPOUSE/PARTNER, 2000
• R64894.01 NUMBER OF SPOUSE/PARTNERS REPORTED, 1998
• R64894.02 RELATIONSHIP CODE OF CURRENT SPOUSE/PARTNER, 1998

Problems with Recipiency Event History variables

Users should be aware of several problems that have been discovered in the calculation of the created Recipiency Event History variables (areas of interest RECIPIENT MONTH and RECIPIENT YEAR). These problems will also affect the Total Net Family Income and possibly the Poverty Status variables in previous survey years for some cases. Survey staff are currently reviewing all recipiency event history data, investigating the problems and making necessary corrections. Users should check this site for status updates concerning data corrections. CHRR anticipates that data corrections will be completed by March 2004. Any corrections completed by the time of the 2002 (round 20) data release will be included and documented on that release. The problems are described below.

1. Dollar values for unemployment compensation: For calendar years 1978-2000, many of the dollar values for yearly and monthly unemployment compensation (UC) for both the respondent and spouse/partner are inaccurate. These dollar values were improperly edited to be substantially lower than they should actually be. From the 1993 interview until the 2000 interview, approximately 50% of those reporting UC receipt for themselves or their spouse/partners are affected. A much smaller proportion (around 10%) of UC recipients from the 1979-1992 interviews are affected. Until data corrections are available, users should edit the dollar values for cases that have an edit flag code (UNEMPR-EDIT-[YEAR] or UNEMPSP-EDIT-[YEAR]) of "3" or "5" and use the original value provided by the respondent to calculate correct monthly and yearly amounts.

   In addition, MONTHLY dollar values of UC are slightly off for data collected between the 1993 and 2000 interviews (inclusive). For data collected before 2002, MONTHLY values were calculated by multiplying the original WEEKLY values by "4" instead of "4.3". MONTHLY values may be corrected by dividing by "4" and remultiplying by "4.3".

2. Edit flags for all recipiency programs: In general, for all survey years, cases which received a code "3" on the "[PROGRAM]-EDIT-[YEAR]" flags for variables other than UC receipt should be checked carefully. The dollar amounts reported by respondents in these cases were incorrectly edited (affecting both the resulting monthly and yearly dollar amounts). Those with a code "3" on the [PROGRAM]-EDIT-[YEAR] flags were edited under the incorrect assumption that a reported MONTHLY amount higher than an arbitrarily set maximum was actually a YEARLY amount. The values reported by respondents should be used, and researchers should make their own decisions about whether the value is "too high" or "too low" based on the benefit structure of the program in question.
3. Seam problem for AFDC/TANF receipt: Monthly AFDC/TANF receipt information created from survey year 2000 (round 19) data contains a small seam problem. For data created from this year ONLY, some respondents were coded as "-4" in the interview month (or a month immediately before or after the interview month) when they should have received a value indicating the dollar amount of receipt. This problem affects only respondents who reported continuous receipt up until the interview month in that survey year, or who reported the interview month as their receipt stop month. This error results in deflated values for yearly AFDC/TANF dollar amounts and combined welfare dollar amounts. It also might cause users to overestimate the number of receipt spells for a given respondent, since it erroneously appears that respondents ended receipt and began another spell.
4. Coding of non-receipt: In survey year 2000 (round 19), the conventions used for assigning "0" or "-4" on some of the recipiency created variables are not consistent with prior rounds. This is unlikely to affect many users since these codes both indicate non-receipt.
5. Erroneous data for some June receipt: Respondents who reported during the 2000 interview that they had received program benefits during 1998 or earlier incorrectly may have been assigned a "-4" during the month of June. This problem is particularly prevalent for June 1998, because respondents interviewed in May 1998 or earlier reported June 1998 receipt in the 2000 interview. (For example, about 60 respondents out of over 200 who received AFDC have "-4" incorrectly assigned during June 1998.) The missing June data is far less prevalent for calendar years prior to 1998, but users should check receipt information for pre-1998 years carefully if it was reported in the 2000 (round 19) interview. Yearly receipt amounts are affected, with cases missing June data having a one-month undercount in the yearly total dollar receipt amount. An exception to this is a small number of respondents who did not know the dates for their receipt-their yearly totals may be correct.
6. Recipiency stop month not counted: For data reported in survey year 2000, the stop month of receipt was not counted as a receipt month as it has been in recipiency event histories for other years. This leads to a truncated receipt spell and a slight downward bias in the yearly receipt totals.

7. Total Net Family Income and Poverty Status variables: The problems described above may affect 1998 and 2000 Total Net Family Income values for some respondents. Those reporting UC or AFDC/TANF receipt in June 1998 and continuous AFDC/TANF receipt at the 2000 interview will be most likely to require adjustments to the Total Net Family Income values. In addition, the Poverty Status released for the 1998 and 2000 survey years may require adjustment for a subset of those cases.

   Last Modified Date: May 22, 2008 - 06:15 PM