4.3 Employment

• Introduction

• 4.3.1 Employers & Jobs

• 4.3.2 Fringe Benefits

• 4.3.3 Gaps in Employment

• 4.3.4 Industry

• 4.3.5 Job Search

• 4.3.6 Labor Force Status

• 4.3.7 Occupation

• 4.3.8 Self-Employment Characteristics

• 4.3.9 Tenure

• 4.3.10 Time Spent at Work

• 4.3.11 Wages

• 4.3.12 Work Experience

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Introduction

NLSY97 respondents answer questions about current and previously held jobs; there is 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.  Unlike earlier NLS surveys, the employment section distinguishes between four types of jobs:  employee-type jobs, freelance jobs, self-employment, and military service.

Employee Jobs

For each employee-type job--defined as a situation in which the respondent has an ongoing relationship with a specific employer--youths age 14 and older are asked about the job's characteristics as of the time they started that job.  The survey solicits similar end-date information for each employee-type job lasting more than 13 weeks.  For jobs that end after the respondent's 16^th birthday (or for on-going jobs held by youths age 16 or older), detailed questions are asked about the workplace.  Additional questions similar to the Current Population Survey (CPS), asked of respondents age 15 or older in the round 1 Youth Questionnaire, determined respondents' labor force status in the week before the interview.  In round 4, all respondents received the CPS section.

Freelance Jobs

Questions specific to freelance employment--that is, jobs for which the respondent performed one or a few tasks for several people without a specific boss, or in which the respondent worked for himself or herself--are unique to the NLSY97.  This survey captures many typical youth jobs, such as lawn-mowing and baby-sitting, which are often missing from an employment history.  In this section of the survey, respondents age 14 and older are asked about their experiences with freelance jobs.  For respondents age 12 or 13, the survey asks these freelance questions about all jobs (without explicitly distinguishing between employee and freelance jobs).

Self-Employment

In rounds 1-3, respondents who were age 16 or older and who usually earned $200 or more per week at a freelance job were considered self-employed.  Additional information was collected about those jobs as part of the freelance section of the survey.  Starting in round 4, respondents were routed through different paths based on age.  Those born in 1980-82 answered questions about self-employment in the regular employee jobs section of the questionnaire (regardless of amount earned at that job).  Younger respondents born in 1983-84 who met the earnings requirement continued to list self-employment in the freelance section.  In addition to answering the freelance or employee jobs questions, these respondents were asked to provide more information about their self-employment.  See section 4.3.8, "Self-Employment Characteristics," for more details.

Table 1 summarizes the NLSY97 User's Guide subtopics available in this section and any global restrictions affecting those subtopics.  Users should note that certain questions or groups of questions within a subtopic may have additional restrictions.  Please consult the NLSY97 questionnaire and codebook for more information on particular questions.

4.3 Table 1. Employment Subtopics and Universe Restrictions

The employment sections of the questionnaire are somewhat complex.  Before beginning analysis, researchers must understand the structure of each round's questionnaire, particularly the way in which jobs are classified as employee, freelance, or self-employment.  It is important to note that this classification depends in part on the survey round and the respondent's age.  In rounds 1 and 2, employee jobs were recorded in the first part of the YEMP section, administered only to respondents age 14 or older as of the interview date.  The second part of the YEMP section collected information about freelance jobs of respondents age 14 and older and all jobs of respondents age 12 or 13 (the implicit assumption being that respondents younger than 14 are not likely to hold employee jobs).  If the respondent was at least 16 years old and made at least $200/week in a freelance job, the job was classified as self-employment and an extra series of questions was asked during the freelance section.

In round 3, all respondents were at least age 14 by the interview date, so the age restriction for employee jobs was no longer necessary.  The structure of the section remained largely the same, with a division between employee and freelance jobs.  Self-employment was classified in the same way as in the earlier rounds.

In round 4, the section was redesigned.  Respondents born in 1980-82 (who were mostly age 18 and older when the round 4 field period began) were asked about employee jobs and self-employment at the same time.  In addition, the minimum income requirement from the freelance section no longer applied; jobs could be classified as self-employment regardless of earnings.  However, respondents born in 1983-84 (who were mostly age 16 or 17 when the round 4 field period began) continued to describe employee and freelance jobs separately.  For these respondents, data on self-employment jobs were still collected in the freelance section, and freelance jobs still had to meet the income criteria to qualify as self-employment.

The round 5 employment section followed similar age restrictions and question structure as the round 4 section.  For this survey, respondents born in 1980-83 (who were mostly age 18 and older when the round 5 field period began) were asked about employee jobs and self-employment.  Respondents born in 1984 (who were younger than age 18 when the field period began) again described employee and freelance jobs separately.

Beginning in round 6, all respondents reported both self-employment jobs and employee jobs in the employer loop.  The freelance section was dropped from the survey.  From round 6 forward, information on self-employment mirrors that collected for regular employee jobs.

Figures 1, 2, and 3 capture the flow of the employment sections in the various rounds.  These figures are intended to picture the major universe restrictions and question topics asked of various groups of respondents about different types of jobs.  They are not a complete representation of every question in the YEMP section of the questionnaire.  Figure 1 focuses on rounds 1-3; users should note that questions asked only in rounds 2 and 3 are indicated in italics.  Figure 2 illustrates the change in the structure of the section for rounds 4 and 5, and figure 3 notes the changes beginning in round 6.  References to groups of questions that are the same as previous rounds are indicated in italics.

Note: The following figures can only be viewed as Adobe Acrobat PDF files. If you are viewing this HTML file in the NLS Investigator program, you may need to open it in a Web browser to follow these links.

4.3 Figures 1-3. Employment Flowcharts

Linking Job Information with Employers

In round 1, any respondent who went through the employee-type jobs section was asked to provide the names of all the employers (including family businesses at which the respondent worked in an unpaid position) for whom he or she had worked since age 14.  Then, in the YEMP-1800.xx variables, each employer was assigned a number (e.g., 9701, 9702, and so on through 9707 since the highest number of jobs reported was 7) in the order in which they were reported by the youth.  This number is called the unique identification number (UID) for the employer.

After the round 1 employers were assigned a number between 9701 and 9707, the respondent reported the dates he or she started and stopped working for each employer.  (These questions are not represented in the data exactly as asked; they are reordered and reported in YEMP_STARTDATE.xx and YEMP_STOPDATE.xx.) At this point, the survey program sorted the jobs by stop date so that the most recent employer was employer #01, the next most recent was employer #02, and so on.  Key information about each employer, including the ID number and dates of employment, was organized in the employer roster.  Throughout the rest of the employment section, the employer numbers remain constant, so that each variable containing, for example, the phrase "Job #01" or "Employer #01" refers to the same employer for a given respondent.  In this case the variables would refer to the first employer on the roster, which is not necessarily the first employer reported by the youth at the beginning of the employment section of the interview.

Starting in round 2, the employer information was collected in a similar manner.  Respondents reported all employers since the last interview date in no particular order.  As employers were reported, the CAPI program included a check for whether each employer had been reported in a previous interview.  If the respondent reported a new employer, then the YEMP_UID.xx variables contain a new number, as shown in Figure 4.  If the employer had been previously reported, the employer kept the same ID number (9701-9707 for round 1 employers, 9801-9809 for round 2 employers, and so on) as it had in previous rounds.  This system permits users to link employers across survey rounds, even if there was a break in employment, and to identify the round in which an employer was first reported.  After the ID numbers were either continued from a previous round or newly assigned, the roster was sorted according to the stop date of each job.  Therefore, employers from different rounds may be mingled on the roster; previous round employers do not necessarily precede current round employers.  Note that old employers for whom the respondent has not worked since the last interview do not appear on the current round's roster.

4.3 Figure 4. NLSY97 Unique ID Numbers

Data hint

See the "Self-Employment Characteristics" section of this guide for information on the special case of respondents who had a freelance job classified as self-employment in rounds 1-3 and carried that job over into the regular employee jobs section in rounds 4-6. In certain cases, these self-employment jobs are assigned UIDs ending in 99; see section 4.3.8 of this guide for more information.

In addition to retaining the previous ID code to permit linking across rounds, jobs reported at a previous interview retain the start date information from the previous round.  For example, if a respondent began a job before the round 1 interview and continued it until the round 2 interview, the round 2 roster will contain the ID code assigned in round 1 and the round 1 start date information.  However, all other information in the roster refers only to the time period since the round 1 interview date.

Data hint

"Employer #01" is not necessarily employer number 9701, 9801, 199901, etc. The variables titled YEMP_UID.xx provide a crosswalk between the two systems of identification. For example, if the value of the round 2 variable R24761., 'YEMP, Employer 01 Unique ID (Ros Item),' is 9702, then the data regarding employer 9702 from the round 1 interview match with the information reported in the employer #01 variables in round 2.

Treatment of missing values.  As mentioned above, the NLSY97 interview collects information from the respondent on the start and stop dates of jobs and the beginning and ending dates of within-job gaps.  These dates are transferred onto the individual's employment roster and additional questions within the survey are asked based on those data.  For example, the length of time between jobs is calculated within the CAPI program using the job start and job stop dates, and the respondent is asked follow-up questions about the number of weeks spent actively searching for a job during each gap.  If respondents report exact employment dates (e.g., no missing values are reported), the survey program proceeds without any adjustments. 

If a respondent does not recall the exact month and day for an employment date, the missing information is imputed and stored in the individual's employment roster.  This is done because many questions in the employment section cannot be asked if there is no month and day information, so an imputed month or day is used temporarily so that the section can be completed.  For example, if the respondent does not know the start and stop days of the job, "1" is imputed for the start day and "28" for the stop day.  Using these temporary days, the survey can ask questions such as those about job search activities during periods of unemployment.  As in the case of jobs without missing information, the length of between-job gaps is calculated in the CAPI system using the information in the employer roster.  When the respondent's answers include don't know or refuse, the length of between-job gaps is calculated from the imputed dates.  Follow-up questions are then asked based on the imputed information.

When the data are being prepared for public release, the original missing values are inserted into the employer roster.  At this point the employer roster reflects the actual responses given during the interview and not the temporary imputed values.  Therefore, researchers can use the original answers in their analyses.  However, they may wish to know what imputed values were substituted so that they can follow the correct question paths and understand the respondent's answers.  A complete, detailed explanation of the imputation process is contained in Appendix 6 in the NLSY97 Codebook Supplement.

Event history data.  The created event history variables (see section 4.4) can be used in conjunction with the main file information about the respondent's employment.  Like the main file variables, the event history variables use two systems of identification for a respondent's employers.  First, the event history variables contained in the week-by-week status (e.g., EMP_STATUS_1997.01, where "01" indicates the first week of the year "97") and dual job (e.g., EMP_DUAL_2_1997.01) arrays use the unique ID numbers (UID) for each employer; to associate these employers with characteristic information collected during the interview, researchers must use the YEMP_UID.xx crosswalk variables.  A second set of event history variables, those providing start and stop date information (e.g., EMP_START_WEEK_1997.01, EMP_END_WEEK_1997.01, where "01" indicates job #01), use the employer roster line numbers to identify the jobs.  The number in the title of these variables refers to the same job as the variables in the main data set with the same number, so users can compare all information about job #02, for example, without any additional ID variables.  However, to compare event history start and stop date information about job #02, for example, with information in the event history week-by-week status arrays, researchers must first use the YEMP_UID.xx crosswalk variables to identify the employer ID (9701-9707, 9801-9809, etc.) that matches job #02.  See the example below to understand how this process works.

Employer Roster Creation in Round 1

Raw data collection:  The round 1 survey asked for the names of all employers for whom the respondent had worked since age 14.  Assume that a respondent named Emma reported delivering the Smalltown Press when she was 14, then switching companies and delivering the County Register, and finally working in her parents' business, Peel's Corner Store, at the time of the round 1 interview.  For this example, the newspaper delivery jobs are assumed to be employee jobs and not freelance-type work.  The survey then assigned a unique identification number (UID) in the order the jobs were reported: 9701 for the Smalltown Press, 9702 for the County Register, and 9703 for Peel's Store.

Roster creation and roster sort:  After the UIDs were assigned, Emma reported the dates she started and stopped working for each employer.  At this point, the survey program sorted the jobs according to stop date, so that the most recent employer was employer #01, the next most recent was employer #02, and so on.  Therefore, Peel's Store (UID 9703) became job #01 on the roster, the County Register (UID 9702) was listed as job #02, and the Smalltown Press (UID 9701) was listed third.  Key information about each employer, including the unique ID number and dates of employment, was organized in the employer roster.  All of the information about Peel's Store is located in variables numbered #01 in the title, the County Register data are in variables numbered #02, and so on.

Example: Emma's Round 1 YEMP Roster

Roster use in the interview:  Throughout the rest of the employment section, the employer line numbers remain constant, so that each variable containing, for example, the phrase "Job #03" or "Employer #03" refers to Emma's Smalltown Press job.  Note that the Smalltown Press is not the third employer Emma reported at the beginning of the employment section of the interview.  It became employer #03 during the roster sort because the other two jobs were more recent.

Roster Creation in Round 2

Data from previous interviews:  The employer information was collected in a similar manner in subsequent rounds.  Because data were available from the previous interview, they could be used in the construction of the round 2 roster.  Before the survey was fielded, survey staff loaded information about each respondent into the interviewers' laptops.  In Emma's case, part of this information would be the list of employers she reported in round 1.

Raw data collection:  During the survey, respondents first provided information about employers who were current at the last interview date.  Assume that Emma stated that she worked at Peel's Store for several months after the round 1 interview.  Respondents next reported new employers since the last interview date in no particular order.  Emma reported only one additional job, waiting tables at Steed's Diner after she turned 16.  At this point UIDs were given to each employer.  Because Peel's Store was previously reported, it already had a UID--9703--assigned during the last interview.  Steed's Diner was a new employer in round 2, so it was given a UID of 9801.

Roster creation and roster sort:  Emma then reported the date she stopped working at each job, and the roster was sorted according to these stop dates.  At the round 2 interview, the diner job was more recent, so it was listed as job #01 on the roster, and the store became job #02.  At this point, the roster contains information from multiple survey rounds.  The UID and start date of the Peel's Store job are carried over from round 1, while the stop date of the store job and all the information about Steed's Diner comes from round 2.  Because Emma had not worked for the Smalltown Press or the County Register since the round 1 interview, neither of those employers is listed on the round 2 roster.

Example: Emma's Round 2 YEMP Roster

Roster use in the interview:  Just as in round 1, the employer line numbers remain the same for the rest of the interview.  As Emma answered questions about Steed's Diner, her rate of pay, hours worked, etc., were recorded in the "Employer #01" questions.  Peel's Store data were recorded in the "Employer #2" series.

Roster Creation in Round 3 and Subsequent Surveys

Data from previous interviews:  This was collected as it was in round 2.  Information reported in previous rounds, including the list of employers previously reported, was loaded into interviewers' laptops before the survey was fielded.

Raw data collection:  During her round 3 interview, Emma reported her ongoing employment at Steed's Diner, where she had been working in round 2.  In addition, she went back to work at the Smalltown Press for a 6-month period in between interviews.  Both employers retained their original UID numbers, 9801 for the diner and 9701 for the newspaper, despite the break in Emma's employment at the latter. 

Roster creation and roster sort:  The roster is again sorted according to the stop date of each job.  Since it is a current employer and does not yet have a stop date, Steed's Diner is listed as job #01 on the round 3 roster.  The Smalltown Press becomes job #02 since Emma's employment there had stopped by the date of her round 3 interview.  Previous jobs not reported in this round are not listed on this roster.

Example: Emma's Round 3 YEMP Roster

Roster use in the interview:  These employer line numbers are in place for the duration of the interview, just as in previous rounds.  Information about her employment at the diner is recorded in "Employer #01" questions, while data about the newspaper are recorded in the "Employer #02" series.

Use of the Employer Roster in Analysis

Emma's information, as organized in the employer rosters, can be used to examine the characteristics of her jobs at the date of each interview or over time.  This example focuses primarily on the round 2 employer roster, but subsequent rounds also follow the same sequence for forming the employer roster.

As described above, Emma worked for Peel's Store and Steed's Diner during the period between the round 1 and round 2 interviews.  Information about these employers was sorted and a roster constructed with the most recent employer appearing first.  A researcher using these data would need to be aware of the impact of roster construction.

Because the roster is sorted and employers reported in different rounds may be mixed, variables with "Employer #01" in the title do not necessarily refer to employer number 9701, 9801, etc.  The #01 refers solely to the order of the job as listed on the current year's roster.  The unique identification numbers provide a crosswalk between the two systems of identification.  The UIDs also allow users to link employers across survey rounds and to identify the round in which an employer was first reported.

For example, Emma's value for the round 2 variable R24761., "YEMP, Employer 02 Unique ID (Ros Item)," would be 9703--Peel's Store.  The user can identify this as an ID assigned in round 1 because it starts with "97," and look at the round 1 UID variables (R05311.-R05317.) to match the employer.  In Emma's case, the comparable variable for employer #01 in round 1 would have UID 9703.  Therefore, the researcher knows that information about employer #01 in round 1 refers to the same job as variables about employer #02 in round 2.  The variables from the two rounds can then be compared to determine if there were any changes in characteristics such as hours worked, rate of pay, occupation, etc.

The roster line numbers and UID variables in the event history data work in the same way.  For example, a researcher might want to know Emma's employment status in the first and last week of 1998.  In the first week of 1998 (variable EMP_STATUS_1998.01), Emma was working at her parents' store, so the status variable would have a value of 9703.  Using this UID, researchers can link that job to all of the other information collected during the interview.  For example, in the main round 2 data Peel's Store is job #02, according to variable YEMP_UID_1998.02 (R24761.).  Similarly, for the final week of 1998 (variable EMP_STATUS_1998.01), when Emma was working at Steed's Diner, the status variable would have a value of 9801.  The job with a UID of 9801 is employer #01 in round 2, so job characteristic data are contained in the employer #01 variables.  The second set of event history variables, the start and stop dates of each job, uses the roster line numbers.  For these variables, the number in the variable title refers to the same job as in the main data set.  For example, the start and stop dates for Peel's Store in the event history data (variables EMP_START_WEEK_1998.02 and EMP_END_WEEK_1998.02) will also have #02 in the variable title.

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4.3.1 Employers & Jobs

In round 1, the NLSY97 collected an employment history for three types of jobs:  employee jobs, freelance jobs, and military service (self-employed was collected as part of the freelance section).  Subsequent surveys confirm the data gathered in the previous interview and then ask about employers, freelance jobs or self-employment, and military service since the date of last interview.  This section highlights key questions asked for each job type; other characteristics of each job are described in the remaining employment subsections (e.g., "Fringe Benefits," "Industry").

Data hint

The employer roster is the only source of information about start and stop dates of employment.  The roster also contains flags indicating whether the employer was current at the date of interview, whether the job was in the military, and whether the employer was part of a paid internship experience.  The interview questions that collected this information prior to the creation of the roster are not released on the data set but are shown in the questionnaire.  Conversely, the roster items appear in the data set but have no questions associated with them in the questionnaire.  See the introduction to Employment and section 3.2 for more information on rosters.

Employee Jobs

In rounds 1 and 2,  only respondents age 14 and older were eligible to answer the series of questions on employee jobs; in subsequent rounds, all respondents have reached age 14 and are eligible for this section.  The surveys collect details on all current and previously held employee jobs at which the respondent has worked since his or her 14^th birthday.  For each employee job, these respondents are asked about the job's starting and ending dates and the labor force characteristics (e.g., rate of pay, type of business) of the job at its start date.  If the job lasted longer than 13 weeks, the respondent reports this same information as of the job's stop date (or as of the interview date if the job is on-going).  The round 1 survey also asked respondents about their relationship to the person who hired them and to the person who recommended them for the job.  There is no limit on the number of employee jobs that the respondent may report. 

Additional information is collected from respondents who report a job that ended after their 16^th birthday (or, for those age 16 and over, who report an on-going job). The first question determines whether the job is/was in the Armed Forces or a civilian job for a government agency (e.g., local, state, federal), a private or for-profit company, a non-profit organization, or a family business without pay.  Respondents in the Armed Forces answer the military service questions described below.  The survey questions civilian respondents about the characteristics of each job and employer.  For example, questions are asked about whether the respondent is/was covered by collective bargaining and the gender, race, and age of the respondent's immediate supervisor.  The respondent also reports what type of schedule he or she worked (e.g., regular day shift, split shift, irregular schedule).  Other questions in this section gather information about the number of employees working at the same location as the respondent and the number of employees working for that firm across all locations.  One question also gathers the level of job satisfaction for each job (e.g., like it very much, think it is okay).  For jobs that have ended, the respondent is asked to state the main reason that he or she left the job.

In round 9, respondents who were working for an employment agency first reported information on the agency itself, then information on the most recent assignment.

Freelance Jobs

In the freelance section of the questionnaire, the survey gathers information from respondents age 12 or 13 (at the survey date) about all jobs they held since age 12.  Respondents age 14 and older are questioned on freelance jobs, such as snow shoveling or baby-sitting, they have held since the age of 14.  For all jobs reported in this section, the respondent is first asked to state the type of job he or she had and the month and year when it began and ended.  Details are then collected about the job's characteristics when it began and ended (or as of the date of the interview if the job is current).  These questions ask for the usual number of hours worked per week, the amount earned per week, and the number of weekday versus weekend hours.  The round 1 survey also recorded whether the respondent had help in finding the job and the relationship of the person who helped.  When these responses are combined with the information collected about employee jobs, the respondent's employment history (from age 14) can be constructed by researchers.  See section 4.3.12, "Work Experience," for details on employment history data.

Beginning in round 4, older respondents no longer go through the freelance jobs series.  See the following paragraphs on self-employment for details.

Self-Employment

In rounds 1-3, a respondent who was age 16 or older and reported earning $200 a week or more at freelance job(s) was considered to be self-employed.  In addition to the data collected for freelance jobs, self-employed respondents also reported the industry and occupation of the job, the number of employees working for the respondent, their usual time of day to work, and the reason the job ended if it was not current. 

Beginning in round 4, the structure of the employment section of the questionnaire was different than previous rounds.  Older respondents reported both self-employment jobs and employee jobs in the employer loop and skipped past the freelance section.  In these cases, details collected for self-employment jobs are the same as those for employee jobs.  In round 4 this group was made up of respondents who were born in 1980-82; the round 5 survey included those born in 1980-83.  Younger respondents reported only regular employee jobs in the employer loop and continue to list both freelance and self-employment jobs in the freelance section.  This followed the same process as previous rounds; information on self-employment jobs was the same as that collected for freelance jobs.  This younger group included respondents born in 1983-84 for round 4 and those born in 1984 for round 5.

In round 6, all respondents reported both self-employment jobs and employee jobs in the employer loop.  The freelance section was dropped from the survey.  From round 6 forward, information on self-employment mirrors that collected for regular employee jobs.

For information on self-employment question flow, users are encouraged to review the employment flowcharts (4.3 Figures 1-3).

Military Service

Respondents first state in which branch of the Armed Forces they serve and whether they serve in the regular forces, the reserves, or the National Guard.  The survey then collects occupational and pay information from respondents age 16 or older who report their employer as an active branch of the Armed Forces; these questions are described in section 4.3.7, "Occupation," and section 4.3.11, "Wages." 

Comparison to Other NLS Surveys:  For employee jobs, respondents in each cohort have reported the following information in at least some survey years:  start and stop dates, labor force characteristics, class of worker, collective bargaining status, and firm size.  Young Men, the NLSY79, and Children of the NLSY79 respondents age 15 and older have provided similar information about military service, including pay and occupational data; Older Men reported the dates of any military service.  No information on freelance jobs has been collected from the other NLS cohorts, although job information for self-employed respondents has been gathered as a part of the regular employment section.  For further details, consult the appropriate cohort's User's Guide.

Survey Instruments:  The employment section of the Youth Questionnaire asks these questions. Question names begin with YEMP- and roster items begin with YEMP_.

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4.3.2 Fringe Benefits

Questions on fringe benefits are only asked of respondents who report an employee job lasting at least 13 weeks that ended after the date of their 16^th birthday, or who are age 16 and over and report an on-going employee job at which they have worked at least 13 weeks.  For each job meeting the above criteria, the interviewer hands the respondent a card listing typical fringe benefits (see Figure 1) and asks him or her to state the benefits available.  In addition to these benefits, the survey questions respondents on the number of paid vacation days and paid sick or personal days per year to which they are currently entitled (or were entitled to when the job ended).

4.3.2 Figure 1. Fringe Benefits Available through Employer

The intent of these questions is to gather information about any benefits to which respondents know they are entitled.  If an employer offers a benefit that the respondent chooses not to take, it is still considered available.  Benefits that are available to other employees at the company but not to the respondent at the time of the survey are not included.

Comparison to Other NLS Surveys:  Information on fringe benefits has been collected for the NLSY79 in each survey except 1981; for the Mature Women in 1977, 1982, 1987, 1989, and 1995-2003; for the Young Women in 1978 and 1983-2003; and for the Young Men in 1976 and 1981.  Users should note, however, that benefits data were collected only for the CPS job (see the appendix for definition) for the NLSY79 through 1993.  Additionally, the exact categories of benefits for which information was recorded may vary; generally, less information was collected in earlier years.  Consult the appropriate cohort's User's Guide for more information.

Survey Instruments:  These questions are found in the employment section (question names begin with YEMP) of the Youth Questionnaire.

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4.3.3 Gaps in Employment

Respondents age 14 and older are asked about gaps within employee-type jobs and gaps between jobs.  These periods when a respondent was not working are not counted in the various created variables summarizing total weeks worked and tenure with an employer.  For more information on these variables, see section 4.3.9, "Tenure," and section 4.3.10, "Time Spent at Work."

Data hint

The employer roster is the only source of information about start and stop dates of employment. The roster also contains flags indicating whether the employer was current at the date of interview, whether the job was in the military, and whether the employer was part of a paid internship experience. The interview questions that collected this information prior to the creation of the roster are not released on the data set but are shown in the questionnaire. Conversely, the roster items appear in the data set but have no questions associated with them in the questionnaire.

Gaps within Jobs

Regardless of how long the job lasted, the respondent is asked to report any periods of a week or more within an employee job when he or she did not work for the employer, not including paid vacations or sick days.  After a within-job gap is established, follow-up questions probe for the main reason for that gap, such as on strike, on layoff, job ended but began again, or unpaid vacation or leave.  Next, the respondent is asked to state the number of weeks that he or she spent looking for work or on layoff during the gap.  Any respondent who is classified as not looking for work is asked for the reason (e.g., did not want to work, child care problems, vacation).  Finally, female respondents who report a job that ended after their 16^th birthday are also questioned on employment gaps due to pregnancy or the birth of a child. 

Beginning in rounds 4 and 5, older self-employed respondents (those born in 1980-82 for round 4 and those born in 1980-83 for round 5) answer similar questions about gaps within a self-employed job.  All self-employed respondents answer these questions from round 6 on.  However, these questions are in a separate series from the questions for employee-type jobs to allow for more appropriate wording.  Beginning in round 9, those respondents who had five or more gaps within nontraditional jobs were asked specific questions about the most recent and longest gap.

Gaps between Jobs

In rounds 1-3, the number of weeks that the respondent did not work at any employee job was calculated.  For each gap between jobs, the respondent was asked to state the number of weeks he or she spent working at a freelance job or searching for another employee job.  Using this information, the total number of weeks spent not working, not looking for work, or not on layoff was computed for each respondent.  Those who did not report search activity were questioned on the reason that they did not look for work during that period (e.g., did not want to work, child care problems, vacation).  Data was also collected on the type of search activity in which the respondent participated (e.g., contacted employer directly, contacted an employment agency, placed an ad).

In round 4, respondents born in 1983-84 were asked the same questions as all respondents in rounds 1-3.  For respondents born in 1980-82, gaps when the respondent was not working at either an employee job or self-employed were identified.  For each gap, the respondent was asked if that time was spent searching for another employee job.  (In round 4, youths born in 1980-82 were not asked about working at a freelance job during a gap since they did not report this type of job starting in this round.)

Round 5 followed similar age restrictions and question structure as in round 4.  Again for this round, respondents born in 1984 answered the questions asked in rounds 1-3.  Those born in 1980-83 reported gaps when not working at an employee job or when self-employed.  Respondents also reported any job search activity during these gaps.

Beginning in round 6, all respondents answer the same questions as older respondents in rounds 4 and 5.

Comparison to Other NLS Surveys:  The NLSY79 records information about gaps both within and between jobs in all survey years.  Data include reasons for the gap, the total number of weeks not working, stop and start dates, and job search activity during the gap.  Since 1987, female respondents have been asked about periods of paid leave due to pregnancy or the birth of a child.  Similar information has been collected from the Children of the NLSY79 age 15 and older since 1994.  The Original Cohort respondents have provided data on gaps within jobs since the inception of the surveys; Mature and Young Women also answered questions on gaps between jobs beginning in 1995.  For more information, consult the appropriate cohort's User's Guide.

Survey Instruments: These questions are found in the employment section of the Youth Questionnaire. Question names begin with YEMP- and roster items begin with YEMP_.

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4.3.4 Industry

For both employee and self-employed jobs, NORC personnel code the respondents' verbatim descriptors of their business or industry.  In addition, NORC classifies freelance jobs that do not qualify as self-employment according to the type of work performed.

Employee Jobs

The NLSY97 asks respondents age 14 or older to report the industry of each employer as of the job's start date.  Respondent descriptors of the "kind of business or industry at the job's start date"--or, if the respondent is confused by the question, "what did they make or do where you worked"--are the basis of the industrial codes.  For employee jobs lasting more than 13 weeks, respondents also describe the business or industry as of the job's stop date (or at the survey date for on-going jobs).  In addition, the interviewer codes whether the business was mainly manufacturing, retail trade, wholesale trade, or something else, requesting respondent help if necessary.  Survey staff then coded each employer's industry.

Through Round 5, respondent industry and occupation were coded using the 1990 Census code frames.  As part of the 2000 Decennial Census, the Census Bureau and BLS revised the industry and occupation code frames.  Codes from the 2002 Census codes frames are now available for all rounds. The move to the new frame makes sense in part to maintain comparability with the Current Population Survey (CPS) and other federal surveys, which have adopted the new frame.  In addition, using historical code frames becomes increasingly problematic over time as new industries and occupations arise that are inadequately handled in the old frame.  At the same time, changing frames can introduce disruption into the longitudinal record; it may not always be appropriate to change frames whenever updates occur.  The NLSY79 data continue to support codes to multiple historical frames in order to retain longitudinal comparability.

A second change underlies the shift to the 2002 code frame.  While NORC had previously performed all coding to the 1990 code frames, the industry and occupation coding tasks were completed by the Census Bureau for the 2002 frames.  There are documented differences in coding practices across the two organizations, so house effects in coding are likely to surface in the data.  The process followed by the Bureau includes use of the respondents' reports of usual duties, title, etc., and contextual information on respondent income and education.  Problem cases are selected for manual review by an experienced coder or coding supervisor.  Rates of manual review are similar for the NLSY97 as for the CPS.  Wherever possible the Census Bureau has attempted to implement for this survey the coding procedures in place for the CPS.

Users should note that the 2002 frame differs considerably from the 1990 frame in organization, level of granularity, and other characteristics.  The Census Bureau does not currently support a crosswalk between the two frames.  Analyses of NLSY97 as well as CPS data indicate that jobs within a single category of one frame may disperse broadly to a variety of codes in the other frame.

Table 1 summarizes the industries reported by youths with employee jobs.

4.3.4 Table 1. Industry of NLSY97 Respondents at Current or Most Recent Employee Job, 2002 Codes

Freelance Jobs

In rounds 1-3, NLSY97 youths not classified as self-employed described the type of work they performed.  NORC personnel coded these verbatim descriptions for release in the data set.  This information is located in variable FREELANCE_JOBS_COD.xx.  Because the Census codes are not appropriate for this freelance employment, the descriptions were classified using a separate coding frame with categories such as babysitting, mowing, pet care, and snow shoveling.  This information is located in variable FREELANCE_JOBS_NEWCOD.xx for rounds 1-5.  The reporting of freelance jobs was limited in round 4 to respondents born in 1983-84 and in round 5 to those born in 1984.  The coding of these jobs was changed beginning in round 3.  At that time the freelance codes were redone for rounds 1 and 2 to match the new coding system, which began in round 3.  Both the old and new codes are available for these rounds.  Starting in round 6, no freelance jobs section is included.

Self-Employment

For all freelance jobs reported in rounds 1-3 in which respondents are considered self-employed (age 16 or older and usually earn $200 or more per week), the survey asked about the business or industry classification of the job.  The series of questions determining the industry was similar to that asked for employee jobs.  Survey staff then coded the industry of each self-employed job using the 1990 Census industrial codes.

The structure of the questionnaire changed in round 4, based on the age of the respondent.  Older respondents (those born in 1980-82 for round 4 and those born in 1980-83 for round 5) reported self-employment jobs in the employee jobs section, answering industry questions like those listed above for employee jobs.  These jobs were coded the same way as employee-type jobs.  Younger respondents (those born in 1983-84 for round 4 and those born in 1984 for round 5) continued to list self-employment jobs in the freelance section.  If a freelance job met the earnings requirement for self-employment, the industry was coded using the 1990 Census codes.  Beginning in round 6, no freelance sections were included.  All self-employed jobs were reported in the same way as employee jobs.

Comparison to Other NLS Surveys:  Industry is collected each year from NLSY79 respondents; however, the jobs must meet minimum hours worked and weeks worked requirements before this information is collected.  For the NLSY79, industry is coded using the 1970 (through 1993) and/or 1980 (1982-present) industrial classification codes. Industry is also coded using the 1970 and 1990 (for the CPS job only) codes for Children of the NLSY79 age 15 and older.  For the Mature and Young Women, industry has been coded using 1960, 1980, and 1990 systems.  The industries of Older and Young Men were recorded using 1960 codes for all years; in the final two Older Men surveys, industry was doublecoded using the 1980 system.  For more information, consult the appropriate cohort's User's Guide.

Survey Instruments:  These questions are found in the employment section of the Youth Questionnaire. Question names begin with YEMP- and roster items begin with YEMP_.

Reference

Census Bureau. 1990 Census of Population Alphabetical Index of Industries and Occupations. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1991.

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4.3.5 Job Search

Job Search in the Weeks before the Survey

In rounds 1 and 4, questions based on the Current Population Survey (CPS) asked NLSY97 respondents age 15 or older about job search (all respondents had reached age 15 in round 4).  Respondents who did not report working in the week before the survey stated whether they had been doing anything to find work during the last four weeks.  If so, the interviewer recorded the actions that had been taken (see Figure 1).  If the respondent had looked for a job, follow-up questions then asked if he or she could have started a job in the past week if offered one and the reason why not, if applicable.  A key aspect of the CPS questions is the distinction between active and passive search methods.  Active methods could result in a job offer without any further action by the job seeker, such as having an interview with an employer or bidding on a contract.  Passive search methods, such as picking up a job application or completing a resume, could not result in a job offer without further action on the part of the job seeker.  Official statistical surveys like the CPS consider people who have used at least one active method in the last 4 weeks to be unemployed.

Employee Job Search

If the respondent reports gaps between employee-type jobs since the last interview, he or she is asked whether a job search was conducted during each gap.  Note that in rounds 1 and 2 only respondents age 14 or older as of the interview date were eligible for gaps questions and therefore for job search questions; all respondents are age-eligible beginning in round 3.  These questions ask respondents for the number of weeks during each gap that they spent looking for work.  If a job search was conducted, respondents also state what methods they used in their search, choosing from the list shown in Figure 1.  If there are any weeks in the gap when respondents were not looking for work and were not self-employed, they are asked why they were not looking for work (respondents born in 1980-82 were skipped past this question in round 4, as were those born in 1980-83 in round 5).

If a job ended after the respondent's 16^th birthday (or, for respondents age 16 and older, if a job is on-going), the NLSY97 employment questions in each round ask the respondents if they have done anything to look for work while employed.  Those who have are asked to choose from a list the specific actions they have taken (see Figure 1).

4.3.5 Figure 1. Possible Job Search Actions

Comparison to Other NLS Surveys:  For the NLSY79, information includes active and passive methods of job search used and the total number of weeks spent actively looking for work.  Additionally, CPS questions similar to those described above are regularly asked of respondents in each cohort.  For further details, refer to the appropriate cohort's User's Guide.

Survey Instruments:  The questions concerning job search in the week before the survey are found in the CPS section (question names begin with YCPS) of the rounds 1 and 4 Youth Questionnaires.  The other employee job search questions are in the employment section (question names begin with YEMP) of the rounds 2-8 questionnaires.

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4.3.6 Labor Force Status

Borrowing questions from the Current Population Survey (CPS), rounds 1 and 4 of the NLSY97 asked respondents age 15 and older about their labor force status in the week before the interview (note that all respondents had reached age 15 by round 4).  These respondents provided information on the characteristics of their current job (e.g., usual number of hours, type of business).  Any respondent who did not report working was questioned on job search activities in the previous month.  For those who reported looking for work, data on the type of search activity were also collected.  Through these questions, the employment status (e.g., working, looking for work, unable to work) of the respondent can be defined according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) definition.  BLS uses a similar set of CPS questions to determine the monthly labor force participation and unemployment rates for the nation.

Created Variables.  Using this CPS information, two variables were created for round 1 and round 4.  The first variable, CV_ESR, provides the respondent's employment status in the week before the survey.  CV_ESR_COLLAPSED, the second created variable, collapses this status into four categories:  employed, unemployed, not in the labor force, and in the active Armed Forces. 

Comparison to Other NLS Surveys:  Current labor force status was determined for all respondents in the NLSY79 for 1979 through 1998 and the four Original Cohorts for each survey year.  From 1994 through 1998, labor force status was also determined for Children of the NLSY79 age 15 and older.  However, the current labor force status questions were changed for the NLSY79 in 1994 and for the women's cohorts in 1995 to reflect the redesign of the CPS.  Users should employ caution when comparing labor force status from surveys before these years to the NLSY97.  For more information, consult the appropriate cohort's User's Guide.

Survey Instruments:  These questions are found in the CPS section (question names begin with YCPS) of the rounds 1 and 4 Youth Questionnaire.

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4.3.7 Occupation

For both employee and self-employed jobs, NORC personnel code respondents' verbatim descriptors of their occupations.  In addition, NORC classifies freelance jobs that do not qualify as self-employment according to the type of work performed.

Employee Jobs

The NLSY97 asks respondents age 14 or older to report their occupation for each employer.  The question "what kind of work did you do" elicits information on the occupation when the job started.  A follow-up question asks the respondent to describe his or her usual activities or duties on this job.  The occupational classification at the job's end date (or at the survey date for on-going jobs) is solicited for all employee jobs lasting more than 13 weeks.  Survey staff then coded the respondent's occupation at each job.  Table 1 lists the number of youths with employee jobs in each occupation category.

4.3.7 Table 1. Occupation of NLSY97 Respondents at Current or Most Recent Employee Job