NLSY79

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

Age of cohort. Born between 1957 and 1964. At the time of first interview, respondents' ages ranged from 14 to 22. The respondents were 55 to 64 at the time of their 2020 interviews (the most recent survey year).

Number of respondents in survey. 12,686 individuals initially interviewed in 1979.

NEWEST ERRATA

CORRECTIONS IN SOME EMPLOYER ID, CREATED, AND EVENT HISTORY VARIABLES [posted 12/22/23, updated 05/02/24]

NEWEST ERRATA

NLSY79 2018 Bonus and Income Data [posted 8/3/2022]

A small number of bonus and income variables were inadvertently omitted from the 2018 release. 2023 Update: These variables have now been added to the public release.

OTHER ERRATA

NLSY79 Total Net Family Income 2018 Value of Estates/Trusts/Inheritances [posted 7/25/2022]

• Highest Grade Ever Completed as of Most Recent Interview
• Highest Grade Completed and Enrollment Status as of May 1, 1990
• Highest Grade Completed and Enrollment Status as of May 1, 1991
• Highest Grade Completed and Enrollment Status as of May 1, 1992
• Highest Grade Completed and Enrollment Status as of May 1, 1993
• Highest Grade Com

The NLSY79 public release data contains a set of variables for survey years 1980-2020 with information on the respondent's labor force status at each date of interview. These variables are:

This part of Appendix 23 includes the programs that created the TNFW_TRUNC (Total Net Family Wealth) Variables for survey years 1985-2020.