NLSY79 Child and Young Adult

• Child
• Young Adult

Child

Sexual Activity

Through 2000 children age 13 and older were asked about age at first intercourse. (Once children reach the Young Adult survey they are asked questions about sexual activity; see below.) A CSAS confidential report form was used from 1988 to 2000 to collect information on early sexual activity for children 13 and older. In 2000 the questions on the CSAS confidential card about live births were eliminated since this information began to be collected as the children become young adults. Starting in 2002, questions about early sexual activity were no longer administered to children under age 15.

The following questions, which were asked in the 1988-2000 surveys of children ages 13 and 14, were deleted from subsequent survey rounds:

CSASCC2A       Have you ever had sexual intercourse? ("had sex", "made it", etc.)
CSASCC2A       What grade were you in when you first had sexual intercourse?
CSASCC2B       How old were you when you first had sexual intercourse?

Sex Education

Starting in 1988, children age 10 and older report in the Child Self-Administered Supplement, on whether they ever had a sex education class at school and the timing of the class. For the survey years 1988 to 2000, data users will find the following four items:

1. HAS CHILD EVER HAD A SEX EDUCATION CLASS AT SCHOOL
2. GRADE IN WHICH CHILD HAD SEX EDUCATION CLASS
3. MONTH CHILD HAD SEX EDUCATION CLASS IN SCHOOL
4. YEAR CHILD HAD SEX EDUCATION CLASS IN SCHOOL

From 2002 to 2014, the child sex education questions were limited to the following two items:

1. HAS CHILD EVER HAD A SEX EDUCATION CLASS AT SCHOOL
2. GRADE IN WHICH CHILD HAD SEX EDUCATION CLASS

This latter series of two items has also been asked in the NLSY79 Young Adults, but unlike in the Child, where children were asked each survey round, young adults who had previously reported this information were not asked in subsequent survey rounds (see below).

Discussions about Sex

Beginning in 1998, the Child Self-Administered Supplement included a question about who in the family the child usually talked to about sex. From 1988 to 2000, the question asked the child to select any family members they talked to about sex. From 2002 to 2014, the child was asked to select a single family member that they usually talked to about sex (CSAS094A). They were then asked whether the child usually talked to someone else in the family about sex (CSAS094B). From 2002 to 2014, children were also asked who outside of the family they usually talked to about sex (CSAS094C).

Young Adult

Sexual Activity

All rounds of the Young Adult survey have contained a core set of questions about sexual activity and contraceptive use. Questions that have been asked in all rounds include:

• Whether the respondent has ever had sex
• Age when they first had sex
•  The number of sexual partners in the last 12 months
• How long ago the respondent last had sex
• Whether the respondent or the partner used birth control and if so then
• What kind of birth control was used (Note: In 2000, the question about type of contraception used was split into two questions: one about what the respondent used and one about what the partner used. These two questions continue to be asked. Data concerning contraceptive use prior to each pregnancy resulting in a live birth are also available in all survey rounds).

In 1998 these were expanded to include:

• Whether the respondent was living with the last person they had sex with
• What that person's relationship to the respondent was
• How old that person was

Since 2004, a series of questions has been asked of respondents who do not report a partner on the household record but indicate that the most recent time they had sexual intercourse was within the last month and their relationship to their sexual partner is either engaged, living together, or going steady. They are asked:

• Whether they spend the night at one or the other's place and if so
• How many nights a week they spend the entire night together
• Whether they share household expenses such as rent, groceries or utilities

In 1994 to 1998, Young Adults were asked the month and year they first had sexual intercourse, but this question was dropped in 2000.

Sex Education

Between 1994 and 1998, respondents were asked if they had ever had a sex education class and, if so, in what grade. From 2000 to 2012, these questions were only asked of Young Adults aged 18 and under who have not previously reported having had a sex education class, either in the Child Self-Administered Supplement or a previous Young Adult survey. Questions about sex education were dropped as part of the 2014 redesign.

In 2002, a question was added about when in the menstrual cycle pregnancy is most likely to occur. From 2002 through 2010, this was asked of all respondents. Since 2012, it has been asked only of Young Adults who are aged 18 and younger.

Discussions about Sex

From 1994 to 1998 Young Adults were asked who in their family they talked to about sex, with respondents instructed to code all possible answers that applied. This question was omitted in 2000 but reintroduced in 2002 for respondents aged 18 and under. At that time a comparably structured question about who outside their family they talk to about sex was added. Both questions have been asked continuously since 2002.

Comparison to Other NLS Cohorts: Information on sexual activity was gathered from NLSY79 respondents in the 1983-85 surveys; data on contraception have been regularly collected since 1982. NLSY79 Children age 13 and older reported on their sexual activity in the 1988-2000 Child Self-Administered Supplement. 

In NLSY97 rounds 1 and 2, questions on sexual activity were asked of respondents who were at least 14 years old; all respondents were eligible in later rounds. These respondents were first asked if they had ever had sexual intercourse and if they had intercourse since the last interview (later rounds). If a respondent reported ever having sexual intercourse, questions were asked about the first occurrence, such as the respondent's age and whether the respondent and the partner used birth control. 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.

Marital status and transitions

The Young Adult instrument collects detailed marriage and cohabitation histories. In the 1994 through 1998 surveys, respondents were asked if they had ever been either married or in a cohabiting relationship. Since 2000, respondents have been asked these questions either as of the last interview date or ever, depending on whether or not they have ever been interviewed as Young Adults, or only as children. Researchers using data collected prior to 2000 should be aware that a given relationship could potentially be reported in more than one survey year. However, because we collect beginning and ending dates of relationships, such relationships should be identifiable.

Beginning in 2000, how a respondent progresses through this section is determined initially by whether he or she has been interviewed as a Young Adult before and, if so, whether he or she was married or cohabiting at the last survey point. 

Respondents who have never been interviewed as Young Adults before are asked a series of questions to ascertain their current marital/cohabitation status and to determine if they have ever had any additional marriages or cohabitations.

Young adults who reported being unmarried and not cohabiting at their prior interview are asked about the occurrence of marriages or cohabitations since the date of last interview. For Young Adults who were married or cohabiting at their last interview point, information on that relationship is updated. If the relationship is still on-going, characteristics of the spouse/partner and information on spousal/partner employment are updated. Relationship quality is also assessed. If the relationship has ended, information pertaining to the termination is collected. Any Young Adult who reports one or more new current or past marriages/cohabitations answers a series of questions about the timing of each relationship, including beginning and ending dates of the relationship as well as date of marriage if the marriage occurred after the cohabitation. Starting in 2008, questions about how long they had been romantically involved before living together and, for cohabitations, how long they had planned to live together before actually doing so are asked for each relationship. These questions are only asked the first time a relationship is reported.

The Young Adult survey also collects data on a variety of characteristics of each spouse/partner, including their race, religion, age when they first began living together, and highest grade completed. Month and year of birth is also asked of current spouse/partners. General information is collected about the spouse's or partner's current job, and in 2020 the survey also asked whether the Covid-19 pandemic affected the spouse's/partner's employment.

In 2004, questions about whether and when current spouse/partners had been previously married were added. Starting in 2010, additional questions about religion were incorporated for current spouse/partners, including whether if Christian they are born-again/evangelical, how often they attend religious services, and if they attend with the respondent.

Young Adults who report a current spouse or partner are also asked questions about the quality of the relationship. This series of relationship quality questions were also asked during the 1988, 1992, and 1994-2016 NLSY79 interviews of those mothers living with a spouse or opposite-sex partner. These questions deal with both positive and negative interactions in the relationship, for example, 'Frequency R and Husband/Partner Calmly Discuss Something' and 'Frequency R and Husband/Partner Argue About - Money.'

In 2004 questions were added about the household division of labor and financial enmeshment. The categories and question structure for the household division questions were derived from the household chores time use questions in the 1981 NLSY79 interview. Respondents are asked how often they do specific chores and how often their partners do these same chores. They are also asked whether or not they have joint and/or separate bank accounts and credit cards, as well as how much they share the household expenses.

Starting in 2010, respondents answered questions about the perceived fairness of the household division of labor and about how household income is managed. These questions are taken from the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) Family and Changing Gender Roles III questionnaire which was administered in 2000 in approximately 35 countries. Also added in 2010 was a series of questions about decision-making, again adapted from the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) Family and Changing Gender Roles III questionnaire.

Beginning in 2016, the questions about the household division of labor, decision making, and financial enmeshment will be asked of YAs with a new spouse/partner, YAs with the same spouse/partner but now with a first child, and at specific ages (25, 35, 45, etc.) if they still have the same spouse/partner.

Spouse/partner unique IDs

To allow researchers to follow spouse/partner relationships across time, all reported spouse/partners have been assigned a unique ID. Each spouse/partner unique ID comprises the year the spouse/partner was first reported, followed by the next number in this respondent’s number of reported partners. For example, if the R is married in 1994, that spouse would be assigned the ID 199401 and would have this ID number in all subsequent years this spouse is reported. If this R remains married for a few rounds, but by 2002 is now divorced and living with a partner, that partner’s ID would be 200202. A code of 999999 in a spouse/partner ID variable indicates that a review of the data and interviewer comments indicates the person being asked about is not actually a cohabiting spouse or partner.

These unique IDs were created retrospectively prior to the release of the YA2020 data and have been slotted into each survey’s data at the point where questions about a particular spouse/partner are being asked. Because the pattern of questions differs in the first three rounds (1994 to 1988) than subsequent rounds (2000 and after), the variable names follow differing patterns.

In 1994, 1996, and 1998, YA respondents were asked about up to four spouse/partners, with the current spouse/partner asked about in the initial set of questions, followed by the next most recent, then the next before that, then the first spouse/partner. The following spouse/partner unique ID variables are available each of these survey rounds:

• Q3-6-SPPTR-UID – the unique id of the current spouse/partner
• Q3-17-SPPTR-UID – the unique id of the most recent spouse/partner
• Q3-28-SPPTR-UID – the unique id of the next most recent spouse/partner
• Q3-39-SPPTR-UID – the unique id of the first spouse/partner

Beginning in 2000, spouse/partners that were current at the date of the last interview are asked about at the beginning of the Dating and Relationship History section, and information about any newly reported spouse/partners is collected in a looped series. The following spouse/partner unique ID variables are available each of the survey rounds from 2000 onward:

• Q3-SPPTR-SEPDLI-UID – the unique ID of the spouse/partner separated from the YA at the date of last interview
• Q3-1I-SPPTR-UID – the unique ID of spouse/partner who was current at the date of last interview
• Q3-6-SPPTR-UID.## – the unique ID of the spouse/partner in a given loop

These unique IDs will allow researchers to follow the course of each spouse/partner relationship reported by YA respondents.

Attitudes about marriage and relationships

As described above, Young Adults in a current relationship answer questions about relationship quality, household division of labor, and decision-making.

Young Adults who are not in a current marriage or cohabitation are asked detailed questions about current dating behavior and, if they date only one person, about relationship quality. From 2000 to 2016, these Young Adults, as well as those reporting that they had never been married and no dating behavior, were asked two questions about ideal romantic relationships. In 2008, questions were added about whether they plan to marry or cohabit (again) and, if so, how likely that will occur in the next two years.

Since 2008, respondents have been asked about their attitudes towards personally having children within non-martial cohabiting relationships. A comparable general question was also included in the Attitudes section.

Young Adult

Beginning in 2008, a new sequence on work experiences around the birth of each child of female respondents was added to the fertility section of the Young Adult survey. These questions were modeled after the 1983 maternity leave questions in the NLSY79. The questions in this series ask about work during the pregnancy, leave before and after the birth of the child, and the timing of the return to work. In 2008, this series was asked retrospectively about all children. This set of questions has remained in for subsequent years, but is asked only of new children and children for whom these data have not been collected previously or whose mothers had not returned to work by the date of last interview.

This section describes the child care experiences of child/young adult respondents in their first three years of life. Information about the child care experiences of the children of young adult respondents is summarized in a separate Child Care section under the Marital History, Childcare & Fertility topical area.

A range of both cross-sectional (past four weeks) and retrospective child care information is available in the NLSY79. The mother-report child care sections from the main NLSY79 surveys provide the types of current child care arrangements used for each child in the household, the overall family expenditure for current care, and a retrospective of child care experiences during the first three years of life for all children (of at least 1 year of age) born to the respondent. Only the retrospective information about the first three years of each child's life appears on the Child files. The other cross-sectional child care information can be extracted from the main Youth files and merged.

Retrospective childcare: Created XRND variables

The child-based child care variables that are assigned to the CHILD CARE area of interest (child reference numbers C03564.-C03590.) provide a cumulative updated profile of the child care experiences in the first three years of life for children of at least one year of age. Retrospective questions on child care during the first three years of life for each child were collected in the NLSY79 surveys in 1986, 1988, 1992, and 1994-2014. While child care information was not collected in the 1990 main Youth survey round, it was updated in 1992 or in subsequent rounds through 2014 for mothers not interviewed in 1992.

These variables were reviewed for the 1986-2018 public release. The initial variables for whether or not a child was in childcare during a specific year of life (C03564., C03573., and C03582.) were expanded to include information to help users understand why information is unavailable for that year. The revised variables contain the following categories:

• 1 YES
• 0 NO
• 2 Child did not live with mother in this year of life
• 3 Child adopted out<
• 4 Child deceased
• 5 Mother of child in dropped military oversample
• 6 Mother of child in dropped poor white oversample
• 7 Mother was a non-interview when these questions were asked
• 8 Mother of child deceased before answering these questions
• 9 Child reported or mother interviewed after these questions were discontinued

In the process of assigning these new codes, some errors in the original variables were identified and corrected. These corrections affected less than 5% of children.

Cross-sectional childcare information in the NLSY79 main Youth

Child care information in the 1984 and 1985 NLSY79 main Youth surveys describes child care arrangements used in the past four weeks for the youngest child by parents who were either employed, in school, or in training at the survey date. Location and type of primary and secondary care, hours of use, nature of payment and grandmother care are reported in 1984. Location, type, payment, detail on group arrangements, and hypothetical care are available for 1985. In both years, respondents who are not currently employed but who have an employed spouse report limited information on location and type of care.

The retrospective information collected in 1986 and the current child care information collected between 1984 and 1988 relate to different universes of children and utilize different child care definitions. These distinctions are clarified further in Child Care in the NLSY79 User's Guide. Additional child care information was also collected in the 1982 and 1983 main NLSY79 surveys. The child care data from these two years can be found on the NLSY79 main Youth file.

• Child
• Young Adult

Child

Drawing on other studies in which scales of parent-child interaction and parenting were used, in 1994 the Child survey introduced the following types of parenting measures:

1. parental monitoring
2. emotional relationship with parents
3. parent-child interaction in discussion and activities
4. child perception of the degree of parent involvement

Details on the parenting items found in the Child surveys are outlined in Table 1, which is adapted from a study based on the NLSY79 Child data (Joshi et al., 1998). While several of these items are asked as part of the HOME sections of the questionnaire, many of them are not included as part of The HOME scale.

Parent-child interaction

The questions on parent-child interactions that were introduced into the NLSY79 Child survey in 1996 were developed with the assistance of Robert Emery, University of Virginia. Three of the parental agreement items were derived from scales developed in the Stanford Divorce Study that measure (1) How often do your parents get along well, (2) How often do they agree about rules, and (3) How often do your parents argue (Buchanan, Maccoby, & Dornbusch, 1991). The other parental agreement items were taken from instruments prepared for The 1991 American Teenage Survey, a large-scale survey of adolescent sexual behavior. Studies using the NLSY79 child parent-child interaction items indicate that parent-child discussions and arguments can be used to discriminate self-esteem and problem behavior trajectories (Fohl Bailey, 1996; Carlson, 2006).

Child discipline

A series of items related to child discipline are addressed to the mother in the HOME sections of the Mother Supplement. These items, derived from the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH; 1988, M306, Q.306), ask: "Sometimes children behave well and sometimes they don't. Have you had to spank (CHILD) when (he/she) behaved badly in the past week?" The following questions are also used in the NSFH (1882-1883 M307, Q.307): "About how many times have you had to spank (CHILD) in the past week? (NSFH/1 October 88, Page M-186).

Father presence and contact

Starting with the 1984 main Youth interview, the mother reports, for each child, whether the child's father is living in the household. If not, she then reports on the frequency of contact the child has with their father, how far away the child's father lives from the mother, and when he left the household or died if not living. These questions are asked in the Fertility section of the main Youth questionnaire. This information is then presented as five created child-based variables (listed above) in the CHILD BACKGROUND section of the Child database.

Family rules

A set of questions on family rules was introduced in the 1988 NLSY79 Child survey round. These questions were adapted from the National Survey of Children (NSC), Wave 2, 1980. Users interested in details on this survey and its content are directed to the Child Trends website. Questions about family rules are answered by NLSY79 children ages 10-14 in the Child Self-Administered Supplement (CSAS) from 1988 to 2014. 

With the exception of variations in response choices, the following questions were taken directly from the National Survey of Children, Wave 2 (Spring 1981), Section C: Child Questionnaire, items 58-61: CSAS questions 3a-3d (child expected to help around house), Q.4a-4d (existence of rules about watching TV, parent knowledge of child's whereabouts, homework, and dating), Q.5 (how much say child has in the previous rules i.e. how much child gets to help decide), and Q.6 (how often child and parents argue about the rules). The differences in response choice scoring are as follows:

• NLSY79 1988 CSAS Q.3a-d (expected to help around house) and Q.4a-d (rules) are scored 1=yes, 0=no; NSC items 58a-d and 59a-d are scored 1=yes, 2=no.
• NLSY79 1988 CSAS Q.5 (how much say in rules) was scored on a 4-point scale and presented in order of 4=a lot of say to 1=no say at all. This was a simple reversal of the NSC scoring for the same question (item 60, also a 4-point scale) presented in order of 1=a lot of say to 4=no say at all.
• NLSY79 1988 CSAS Q.6 (argue about rules) was scored (3-point scale) 1=hardly ever, 2=sometimes, 3=frequently. This represented somewhat more of a change from the NSC item 61 (3-point scale) 1=frequently, 2=occasionally, 3=hardly ever.

In 1990, a change was made to CSAS items 5 and 6 (interaction about rules). Rather than two global questions about the child's influence and arguments with parents about rules, CSAS items 5 and 6 were expanded to Q.5a-5d and Q.6a-6d. The updated items inquired specifically about each of the four categories of rules asked about in Q.4a-4d. The response choices for the expanded items were kept consistent with previous scoring.

In the 1988-1994 CSAS (and the corresponding NSC wave 2 item), a conditional skip follows question 4d. If child answered "no" to all four items 4a-4d (i.e., the child reported none of the four categories of rules were in force in the household), the question flow skips over items 5 (child's say in the rules), and 6 (arguments about the rules). This skip was dropped from the CSAS beginning in 1996.

Young Adult

A wide variety of items in the Young Adult surveys are designed to measure aspects of relationships between parents and children, both between the Young Adults and their parents and between the Young Adults and their biological, adopted, step children or partner's children.

First-time Young Adults are asked about interaction patterns between the Young Adult and his or her parents as well as between the Young Adult's parents. These questions were also asked of the 10-14 year olds in the Child Self-Administered Supplement through 2014. In 2000, younger Young Adults were asked about how close they felt (ranging from extremely close to not very close) to their mother and their father, unless a parent was deceased. From 2002 onward, these parental closeness items have been asked, if appropriate, of all Young Adults. Beginning in 2006, all Young Adults also answered a series of questions concerning family conflict. A series of questions about childhood adversity, also used in the NLSY79, was introduced in 2012 and will be asked of Young Adults in their first survey after turning 21.

Respondents who are parents themselves are asked a variety of questions about parenting. From 2000 to 2010, respondents with children, whether or not these children were coresidential, answered a series of parenting attitude questions. These questions were derived from a series of parenting questions asked of male respondents in the 1998 NLSY79 survey. These questions are no longer included in the Young Adult Survey.

From 2008 through 2016, Young Adults indicated for each child how much conflict they had with the other parent of that child in terms of how the child was raised. Additionally, Young Adults with at least one biological, step, adopted or partner's child in the household are asked a series of parenting questions derived from the HOME section of the NLSY79 Mother Supplement. In 2008, some new questions about parenting behaviors, adapted from the NLSY97, were added to improve the detail we have about parenting residential children as well as to provide a comparison to parenting of noncoresidential children (these questions are asked about noncoresidential children in the fertility section). From 2012 to 2016, the Behavior Problems Index from the Mother Supplement has also been asked about each child living in the household. Beginning in 2018, the Behavior Problems Index has been asked about children at ages 6/7 and 10/11.

• Child
• Young Adult

Child

Child residence status

A key variable (CRES) is constructed for each NLSY79 main Youth survey round that indicates the child's usual residence at the time of the mother's survey. From 1979-1981 and in 1983 the child's residence status is based on reports from the mother's household roster. In all other years, child residence information is derived from the child-specific questions on "with whom the child usually lives" in the Fertility section of the mother's main Youth questionnaire. The universe of children for the child residence variables includes all children reported by interviewed mothers in the survey year, regardless of age of child. Child residence variables, updated in each new data release to reflect the full universe of children born, are assigned to the CHILD BACKGROUND area of interest.

Child residence codes

For all years, a residence code of "1" indicates that the child lives in the mother's household. For the years 1979-1981 and 1983 in which only limited child and fertility information was collected from the mother, the child residence variables are based on information from the mother's household record and are coded as follows:

• 0 NOT IN HH OF MOTHER
• 1 IN HH OF MOTHER
• 8 DECEASED AT DATE OF INT

In 1982 and 1984 onward, the usual residence of the child is based on reports from the mother in the Fertility section of the main Youth questionnaire about where the child usually lives. In 1982 and 1984-1985, the following response categories were used:

• 1 IN HOUSEHOLD OF MOTHER
• 2 WITH FATHER
• 3 WITH OTHER RELATIVE(S)
• 4 WITH FOSTER CARE
• 5 WITH ADOPTIVE PARENT(S)
• 6 IN LONG TERM CARE INSTITUTION
• 7 AWAY AT SCHOOL
• 8 DECEASED
• 9 OTHER

In 1986, the coding categories were expanded to include:

• 9 PART TIME W/ MOTHER, PART TIME W/ FATHER
• 10 PART TIME W/ MOTHER, PART TIME W/ OTHER
• 11 OTHER

Starting with the 1998 main Youth survey round, a code of "12" was added to describe young adult children living in their own household. Beginning in 2008, other specify answers were recoded, leading to the addition of post-field categories. The full range of categories for the constructed child residence variables now includes:

• 1 IN HOUSEHOLD OF MOTHER
• 2 WITH FATHER
• 3 WITH OTHER RELATIVE(S)
• 4 WITH FOSTER CARE
• 5 WITH ADOPTIVE PARENT(S)
• 6 IN LONG TERM CARE INSTITUTION
• 7 AWAY AT SCHOOL
• 8 DECEASED
• 9 PART TIME W/ MOTHER, PART TIME W/ FATHER
• 10 PART TIME W/ MOTHER, PART TIME W/ OTHER
• 11 OTHER
• 12 OWN INDEPENDENT RESIDENCE
• 13 PRISON
• 14 MILITARY
• 15 TEMPORARY LIVING ARRANGEMENT
• 16 WITH IN-LAWS
• 17 WITH PARTNERS FAMILY

Beginning in 2016, the NLSY79 questionnaire had different coding categories based on the age of the child being asked about. When NLSY79 respondents were asked about children under the age of 23, the following set of categories was used:

• 1 IN THIS HOUSEHOLD
• 2 WITH (HIS/HER) (FATHER/MOTHER)
• 12 OWN RESIDENCE, ALONE OR WITH OTHERS
• 7 AWAY AT SCHOOL
• 3 WITH OTHER RELATIVES
• 9 PART-TIME WITH YOU, PART-TIME WITH OTHER PARENT
• 10 PART-TIME WITH YOU, PART-TIME WITH OTHER PERSON
• 4 WITH FOSTER CARE
• 5 WITH ADOPTIVE PARENTS
• 6 LONG TERM CARE INSTITUTION
• 8 DECEASED
• 11 OTHER (SPECIFY)
• 99 R INDICATES THIS IS NOT HIS/HER BIOLOGICAL CHILD

When NLSY79 respondents were asked about children age of 23 and older, the following set of categories was used:

• 1 IN THIS HOUSEHOLD
• 13 JAIL/PRISON
• 14 MILITARY
• 8 DECEASED
• 18 SOMEWHERE ELSE
• 99 R INDICATES THIS IS NOT HIS/HER BIOLOGICAL CHILD

For 2018, the set of categories used when NLSY79 respondents were asked about children age of 23 and older was:

• 1 IN THIS HOUSEHOLD
• 2 WITH (HIS/HER) (FATHER/MOTHER)
• 7 AWAY AT SCHOOL
• 12 OWN RESIDENCE, ALONE OR WITH OTHERS
• 13 JAIL/PRISON
• 14 MILITARY
• 8 DECEASED
• 11 OTHER (SPECIFY)
• 99 R INDICATES THIS IS NOT HIS/HER BIOLOGICAL CHILD

Child residence location: Geographic

Since the child's residence is in the mother's household, information about the location of each child's residence, including region, urban/rural, and SMSA status must be obtained from the mother's main Youth record. Geographic information more specific than that provided on the public file can be obtained from the NLSY79 main Youth Geocode for the children and from the NLSY79 Young Adult geocode for the young adults. Details on constructed variables that can be obtained from the mother's record and linked to the Child data can be found in Geographic Residence & Geocode Data section.

Young Adult

Young Adult respondents provide information on their living arrangements, such as whether they are living with their mother, with both parents, on their own, or in some other arrangement. The questions used to establish residence are at the beginning of the Household Interview section. Because type of residence is sometimes miscoded in the field, researchers are encouraged to use the created RESTYPE(year) for the survey year(s) they are interested in. However, it is important for users to note that the type of residence as coded in the field will have driven branching within the questionnaire. The residence as coded in the interview can be found in question HH1-1-B in each survey year.

Young Adults under age 23 who do not live with their mother are asked when and why they left home for both the most recent and, if applicable, the first time. If the father is no longer living with the mother, these young adults are also asked about when they last lived with their father. Since 2000, questions have also been asked about movement into or out of the mother's household and about homelessness. All Young Adults not living with parents are asked the amount and type of contact they have with their parent(s).

If a Young Adult has become a parent, questions are asked about whether he or she is living with each child and whether the other parent of that child is also living in the same household as the Young Adult.

• Child
• Young Adult

Child

Neighborhood safety. In 1992 a question was added to the Child Self-Administered Supplement for children 10 and older about how safe they felt walking and playing in their neighborhood. From 1992 to 2014, this question can be found in the CHILD SELF-ADMINISTERED SUPPLEMENT area of interest with the title, 'CHILD SELF-ADMIN: HOW SAFE CHILD FEELS WALKING AND PLAYING IN NEIGHBORHOOD.' In 2016, the same question was asked of Young Adults ages 12 and 13 as of the end of 2016.

Beginning in 1992, mothers were  asked, HOW WOULD YOU RATE YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD AS A PLACE TO RAISE CHILDREN? WOULD YOU SAY IT IS EXCELLENT, VERY GOOD, GOOD, FAIR, OR POOR? Documented as Q10-74 in the mother's main Youth questionnaire, this item was asked from 1992-2000.

Neighborhood quality. From 1992-2000, mothers of NLSY79 children were asked (Q10-75 in the main Youth questionnaire) to assess the quality of the neighborhood on a number of dimensions. Mothers were given a potential problem, such as "people don't have enough respect for rules and laws" and asked, "Is this a big problem in your own neighborhood, somewhat of a problem or not a problem at all?" NLSY79 Young adults self-report on this same series, starting in 1994. Items include measures of both resources and collective efficacy. The NLSY79 neighborhood quality series is taken from the National Commission on Children Parent & Child Study, 1990 Parent Questionnaire, p.7 (V32, V34-V41).

Neighborhood volunteerism. From 2004 to 2014, users can identify whether children 10-14 are involved with a neighborhood improvement organization. In 2004, this question was assigned to the CHILD SELF-ADMINISTERED SUPPLEMENT area of interest. Starting in 2006, this question was assigned to the year-specific CHILD SUPPLEMENT area of interest. Information about neighborhood is also available in the Young Adult survey in the YA SELF REPORT area of interest.

Table 1. Question names and titles for neighborhood volunteerism items by survey year

Young Adult

In each survey year, Young Adult respondents report on the negative characteristics of the neighborhood where they live. Items include measures of both resources and collective efficacy. The neighborhood quality series is taken from the National Commission on Children Parent & Child Study, 1990 Parent Questionnaire, p.7 (V32, V34-V41). Young Adults age 14 and older rate the following statements describing problems that neighborhoods sometimes have, indicating whether the issue is a big problem, somewhat of a problem, or not a problem in their own neighborhood:

• People don't have enough respect for rules and laws
• Crime and violence
• Abandoned or run-down buildings
• Not enough police protection
• Not enough public transportation
• Too many parents who don't supervise their children
• People keep to themselves and don't care what goes on in the neighborhood
• Lots of people who can't find jobs

Beginning in 2016, children aged 12 and over have been fielded as part of the Young Adult sample. Children ages 12 and 13 answer one question about their neighborhoods, “Thinking about the area around your home, how safe do you feel walking and playing in your neighborhood?” This question was asked in the Child Self-Administered Supplement from 1992 to 2014.

Comparison to Other NLS Cohorts: The NLSY79 mothers were asked this neighborhood quality series in 1992 and from 1994 to 2000. Children between ages 10 and 14 are asked some contextual questions about their neighborhoods in the Child Self-Administered Supplement. Data on both household and neighborhood environments are collected from the NLSY97 respondents.

• Child
• Young Adult

Child

The NLSY79 Child data file does not contain child-specific geographic information for children under age 15. However, to be interviewed as part of the child survey, all children must reside with their mothers for at least part of the year. Limited geographic information about mother's residence in each survey year is available in the main NLSY79 data set, and more detailed information is provided on the restricted-use Geocode data.

The following created variables are provided, for mothers of NLSY79 children, in the main Youth data file:

• REGION. Region of residence at birth, age 14, and survey dates (Northeast, North Central, South, or West)
• URBAN-RURAL. Information on whether the current residence is in an urban or rural county
• Through 1996, this series was based on the respondent's State and county of residence and the "% urban population" data from the County & City Data Book. From 1998-2002 this item was based on whether the respondent was living in an urbanized area or in area with a population greater than 2,500. Beginning in 2004, this item indicates whether the respondent resides within an urban cluster or urbanized area. For further information see the Geocode Codebook Supplement.
• SMSARES. Information on whether the current residence is in a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), the central city of an MSA, or outside of an MSA
• Based upon zip code, State, and county matches with metropolitan statistical designations for place of residence, the location of the respondent is determined to be within or outside of a metropolitan statistical area
• USRES. Beginning in 1988, whether the current residence is in the United States

This mother-based geographic information can be merged with any child's record by using the case identification code. As children age into the Young Adult sample, information on their geographic residence is included in the Young Adult data set as described below. By combining the main NLSY79 and Young Adult with the child file, data users can track geographic residence from birth to the current survey round and can also link information on the location of family members who are also respondents in the NLSY79 or Child/Young Adult surveys.

The geographic data available for mothers in the main NLSY79 survey are described in the Geographic Residence & Neighborhood Composition section of the NLSY79 topical guide.

Young Adult

Geographic residence (public data)

Publicly available created variables for the Young Adult respondent's geographic residence include U.S. region of residence (Northeast, North Central, South, and West), an urban/rural designation for the residence, and whether the residence is in an SMSA (standard metropolitan statistical area). These variables are in the "YA Common Key Variables" Area of Interest. More specific information about geographic residence, including an explanation of missing data, can be found in the restricted-use Geocode data.

Geocode data

Beginning with the 2000 data release, the decision was made to create a set of geocode data files for the Young Adults comparable to those created each round for the NLSY79. A full set of geocode variables was created for all Young Adult years from 1994 to 2000 at that time, and geocode variables continue to be prepared for each new round. 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.

The Young Adult supplemental data files provide geographic variables from the NLSY79 Young Adult survey data file. Additionally, for survey years 1994-2002, these supplemental data files provide selected variables from the County and City Data Books.

The Young Adult geocode file includes the state and county of residence for each survey round. For the creation of the 1994 through 2002 geocode data, for Young Adults living in their mother's household, the county and state of residence were drawn from the mother's NLSY79 data if the mother was interviewed for that year. For Young Adults not living with their mothers, and those whose mothers were not interviewed, county and state of residence were coded from the Young Adult survey data. In cases where the mother's data were missing or incomplete, Young Adult survey data were used to provide accurate codes wherever possible. Since 2004, all county and state of residence variables were coded from the Young Adult survey data.

The county and state of residence for each Young Adult respondent for each survey year between 1994 and 2002 were matched with the county and state variables from the County And City Data Book data files for both 1988 and 1994 so that geocode data files include selected county-level and SMSA-level environmental variables. Users should note that a decision was made to extract geocode variables for all five 1994-2002 Young Adult survey years from only the 1988 and 1994 County and City Data Book data files. This decision means that the 1994 and 1996 Young Adult geocode variables are not directly comparable to those of their mothers, whose geocode variables were extracted from the 1983 and 1988 County and City Data Book data files. 

The County and City Data Book data files were prepared by the U.S. Bureau of the Census. Related printed matter for each of these data files can be found in the County and City Data Book for the specified year, which is also published by the U.S. Bureau of the Census. 

The Geocode Codebook for the Young Adult survey provides the following detailed information on each geocode variable: its reference number, variable description, coding information, frequency distribution, file name, variable name, and source of the variable. Included are references to pertinent attachments and appendices from the NLSY79 Geocode Codebook Supplement providing supplementary coding and variable creation procedures. Variables are grouped within the geocode codebook according to the year with YA GEOCODE 1994 variables followed by YA GEOCODE 1996 and so forth. 

Users of the Young Adult geocode data are encouraged to review the NLSY79 Geocode Codebook Supplement for greater detail on the geocoding processes as comparable procedures have been used in the Young Adult as in the NLSY79 main file. This supplement has several appendices and attachments, including:

• Appendix 10: Geocode Documentation which provides background information on how the original 1979-1982 geocode tape and subsequent updates were created and how those data were modified to form the subsequent releases.
• Attachment 100: Geographic Regions which provides a listing of those states, which comprise each of the four regions, used in such variables as region of residence and south-non-south place of birth/place of residence at age 14.
• Attachment 102: State Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) Codes, which are used to code respondents' state of residence. 
• Attachment 104: SMSA Codes which contains the coding information utilized to classify SMSA, MSA, CMSA, PMSA of residence at each interview date.
• Attachment 105: Addendum to FICE Codes contains the supplementary identification numbers for those colleges and universities not listed in the Education of Directory Colleges and Universities (1981-1982 and 1982-1983 supplement) published by the National Center for Educational Statistics.
• Appendix 7: Unemployment Rates which provides an explanation of how the continuous and collapsed versions of the variable, unemployment rate for labor market of current residence were created.

Geocode data file creation procedure

The software package Maptitude (V4.2) was used in the creation of the NLSY79 Young Adults 1994-2002 geocode data files for Young Adults who could not be matched to previous mother data (see NLSY79 Geocode Codebook Supplement for greater detail). Since 2004, the geocoding process has been undertaken with ArcGIS (V9.2). These programs link respondent address data to standard geographic information such as the FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standards) codes for state and county. Three graduated matching methods were applied, depending on the quality of address data available.

1. Where possible, an automated match was done between the respondent's locating address data and the GIS database.  Address records with matching street segments were assigned the latitude and longitude of the location. In some cases, addresses had to be cleaned before they could be matched by the program. Cleaning involves steps such as standardizing the address format, correcting obvious misspellings, identifying apartment numbers and locating them in the correct field, etc. It does not include any changes that might result in a change in the actual address location.
2. For some addresses, the procedure outlined in Step #1 failed to produce a match between the respondent's address data and the GIS database. In these cases, geocode staff used the Maptitude or ArcGIS program to locate the correct street. If the street number could be located along this street, staff assigned the correct latitude and longitude. However, some streets in the GIS database do not include information about street numbers, and, if this occurred, the address was manually located in the center of the street. The street is then classified as either a short street or a long street where long streets cross Census tract or block group boundaries while short streets do not. As a result, the level of certainty about geographical information is much higher for short streets than for long streets.
3. Addresses unmatched by either of the first two procedures were assigned latitude and longitude coordinates according to a 5-digit zip centroid. A centroid is essentially the midpoint of a ZIP code area. The geographic information is less certain for respondents located using the zip centroid method.

Because some Young Adults had latitude and longitude derived from Maptitude through 2002, while others had these data matched from NLSY79 records for their mothers from years when different systems were used, a quality of match variable equivalent to GEO10 in the NLSY79 geocode data was not released for survey years 1994-2002 but is available for all years after 2002. Quality of match is also available for subsequent survey years. Researchers who need to determine the level of certainty for the respondent's geographic data prior to 2004 may contact NLS User Services for further details.

Supplementary created Geocode variables

College variables

In all Young Adult survey rounds, information was gathered on the name and location of the college or university that the respondent currently or most recently attended. Included in the geocode variables for survey years 1994 through 2000 are Federal Interagency Committee on Education (FICE) codes for these colleges or universities as well as FIPS codes for the state where they are located. Additionally, beginning in 2000, respondents who were in either their senior year in high school or their first year of college were asked about what colleges and/or universities they had applied to. FICE codes are provided for these colleges and universities.

Beginning in 2002, the codes provided for colleges applied to and college attended are UNITID codes from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) database rather than the FICE codes used in previous rounds. A crosswalk between FICE codes and UNITID codes is available in the IPEDS database. For cases where a UNITID code was unavailable but a FICE code existed, the FICE code is provided. A code of 999999 was assigned to cases where neither a FICE code nor a UNITID code could be found for a given college or university.

Child support variables

Information was collected in the 1994-2016 Young Adult rounds about the state in which child support agreements were reached. The FIPS codes for these states are included in the geocode variables for those years.  

Missing data

Following the same convention as the NLSY79 Child and Young Adult public release data, missing data values on the geocode data files are coded -7, which indicates either a) a non-interview for a given year or b) respondents who have a missing value in the data for any variables from the County And City Data Book for the following reasons:

1. Respondents who were in the military or who had an APO address;
2. Respondents who were residing outside of the United States;
3. Respondents whose state or county codes could not be determined.
4. Respondents who reside in a county or SMSA/MSA for which there is missing data for that geographic location from the County And City Data Book for that specific item.
5. Respondents who do not reside in an SMSA for any survey year 1994-most recent who will be missing SMSA level environmental variables for that year.
6. Respondents whose state, county, and ZIP codes for any survey year 1994-most recent do not lead to an unambiguous SMSA designation. This generally applies only to a small number of respondents living in New England.

In the 1994-2002 geocode data, for the 1988 and 1994 metropolitan statistical area variables included in the data, GEO7 and GEO9A respectively, respondents with NECMA codes (i.e. respondents living in the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont) were not treated any differently than those residing elsewhere. The addition of the "Record Type" variable in the 1988 and the 1994 County And City Data Book data files, GEO9 and GEO9C respectively in the Young Adult Data, allows the user to designate these cases as missing and remove them from the analysis, without having to conduct a county-by-county or state-by-state determination of NECMA/non-NECMA status. These data from the County and City Data Books are not available as part of the geocode data releases for survey rounds after 2002.

Use of the Geocode files

Here are a few suggestions concerning the use of the NLSY79 Young Adult geocode files: First, the data file and the accompanying documentation should be used in conjunction with the printed versions of the 1988 and 1994 County and City Data Book and the IPEDS codes so that researchers have complete information regarding variable descriptions and coding idiosyncrasies. Second, users should familiarize themselves with the NLSY79 Geocode Codebook Supplement. Also, the data must not be used in any fashion that would endanger the confidentiality of any sample member. To use these data, researchers must sign a written licensing agreement consenting to protect respondent confidentiality and to other conditions; agree not to make, or allow to be made, unauthorized copies of the geocode file; and further agree to indemnify the Center for Human Resource Research for all claims arising from misuse of the file.

• Child
• Young Adult

Child

The variable CRACE (child reference number C00053.00) in the NLSY79 Child data file is the mother's race and corresponds to the 'Racial/Ethnic Cohort from Screener' (R02147.00) in the NLSY79 main Youth. This variable designates the respondent as "Hispanic," "black," or "nonblack/non-Hispanic" and provides the basis for weighting NLSY79 data. This variable is collapsed from R01736.00 (SAMPLE-ID in the Child data), 'Sample Identification Code,' which includes such values as "supplemental male black" or "cross-sectional female Hispanic." This code was assigned by NORC to each respondent based on information gathered during the 1978 household screening. In the creation of the 'Sample Identification Code' and thus the 'Racial/Ethnic Cohort' variable, both race and ethnic origin information collected at the time of the 1978 household screening were used. 

In the NLSY79 Young Adult, the variable YARACE corresponds directly to CRAC, based directly on the mother's main Youth variable R02147.00. However, YARACE is created only for young adults ever interviewed as young adults, while the variable CRACE is created for all children in the database, regardless of age.

Young Adult

First-time Young Adults are asked to self-identify their race and ethnic background and give their father's race. Beginning in 2000, Young Adults provided the race/ethnicity of their spouse/partner as well.

Which Young Adults have been asked their race and ethnicity has differed across survey rounds as has the structure of the questions asked:

• In 1994, all respondents were asked both a six-category race/ethnicity question [Black, White (non-Hispanic), Hispanic, American Indian, Asian or Pacific Islander, or Other (SPECIFY)] as well as a detailed ethnic identification question paralleling that asked of their mothers in 1979.
• In 1996, Young Adults not interviewed in 1994 were asked the same two questions.
• In 1998, all Young Adults were branched into these questions because the structure of the race/ethnicity questions was changed significantly. Respondents were initially asked if they were of Hispanic origin, followed by a six-category question asking whether they considered themselves White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, or Other (SPECIFY).
• The category of "American Indian or Native American" in the detailed ethnicity question was changed to "American Indian" beginning in 1998 in order to reduce confusion on the part of respondents.
• Beginning in 2000, the six-category race question was asked in a "code all that apply" format.
• Since 2000, only new Young Adults are asked the race and ethnicity questions about themselves and their father.

• Child
• Young Adult

Child

The official fertility record in the mother's main Youth record is reconciled with reports in the child interview to ascertain the best determination of the child's gender. The gender of each child CSEX (reference number C00054.00) is created as a cross-round (XRND) key variable for all children regardless of age. CSEX is assigned to the CHILD BACKGROUND area of interest. A comparable variable (YASEX), just for children ever interviewed as Young Adults, can be found in the YA COMMON KEY VARIABLES area of interest.

Young Adult

The Young Adult cohort includes both male and female offspring of the NLSY79 mothers. The Y06774.00 XRND variable indicates a sex of Young Adult composition of 4434 males and 4239 females.

Gender identity and sexual orientation questions

While the Young Adult survey has allowed for the reporting of same-sex dating and relationships and has included questions about attitudes towards gender roles, gender identity and sexual orientation have not been directly addressed. With the growing openness about and awareness of these issues and how they might affect the lives of respondents, questions about gender identity and sexual orientation were added to the self-report section of the YA2018 survey. In the 2020 interview, these questions were asked of respondents not interviewed in 2018. Although asked in the same section of the survey, these two topics were not asked back to back.

There are three gender identity questions, one of which asks whether the respondent considers themselves to be a man, a woman, transgender, or something else (YASR-GENID-1). The other questions ask the respondents to rate how other people see them in appearance (YASR-GENID-2) and mannerisms (YASR-GENID-3) on a masculinity/femininity Likert scale. The sexual orientation question (YASR-SEXOR-1) asks if respondents consider themselves to be lesbian or gay, straight, bisexual, or something else.

strong>Comparison to Other NLS Cohorts: Information on sex is available in the NLSY79. Sex for all biological children born to female members of the NLSY79 is available. Information on sex is also available for the NLSY97. Sex is implicit by membership in the Original Cohorts. 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.