Age

Age

Mature Women Age Variables

The data set includes the respondent's date of birth and age as of the initial survey year. The initial survey year age variable, 'Age, 67,' was provided by the Census Bureau based on information collected during the 1966 household screening; complete information is available for most respondents. As age inconsistencies were discovered, Census made date of birth information available in the late 1970s. Two additional age variables were then collected in the "Household Roster" section of the questionnaire for those interviewed in 1987 or 1989 (i.e., 'Age of Respondent, 87' and 'Age of Respondent, 89').

During the 1981 interview, respondents were asked whether the Census birth date information was correct. In 144 cases, the respondent reported a birth date different from that originally provided by Census; the 1981 variable contains revised birth dates for those cases. The 1987 and 1989 "Household Roster" collected additional date of birth information for the respondent. During the 1995-2003 surveys, the respondent was asked to confirm or correct the most recent birth date information available.

Table MW1 provides reference numbers for date of birth and age variables; Table MW2 presents age distributions for the Mature Women. Data for reported age and birth dates include a small number of inconsistencies. As a result, attempts to restrict the universe according to age-related variables may lead to unwanted or incorrect results. The User Notes below discuss some of the idiosyncratic aspects of these variables.

Table MW1. Reference Numbers for Date of Birth & Age Variables

Year Date of Birth of R Age of R
1967 R00022.01-R00022.03 R00022.00
1981 R04916.00-R04916.20 --
1987 R0817100.-R08173.00 R08174.00
1989 R09205.00-R09207.00 R09208.00
1995 R16067.00-R16070.00 R16071.00
1997 R35040.00-R35043.00 R35044.00
1999 R42763.00-R42766.00 R42767.00
2001 R54450.00-R54453.00 R54454.00
2003 R65133.00-R65136.00 R65137.00

Notes on Tables MW2A and MW2B: Tables MW2A and MW2B present age distributions for the Mature Women. In order to construct the most accurate ages possible, ages were created using the most recent date of birth information available. That is, information from the 2003 interview was used first, then 2001 data, then 1999, etc.

In some cases, the date of birth was incomplete. If the respondent did not report a year of birth in any of the three interview years, then no age was calculated. There are two respondents for whom this applies. If no month of birth was recorded for a respondent, then the respondent was assigned a birth month of June. If no day of birth was recorded, then the respondent was assigned to be born on the 30th of the month. This method of calculating ages places a number of respondents out of range for the age requirements for the sample. Respondents should have been aged 30 to 44 as of March 31, 1967. Calculating ages as of this date indicates that 16 of the respondents were younger than 30 and 44 of the respondents were over the age of 44.

Table MW2A. Ages of Interviewed Respondents by Survey Year: 1967-2003

  Survey Year
Age1 67 68 69 71 72 74 76 77 79 81
<= 29 16 7 5 3 2 -- -- -- -- --
30 241 9 1 1 1 -- -- -- -- --
31 302 233 9 1 1 2 -- -- -- --
32 352 293 223 1 1 1 -- -- -- --
33 310 343 282 8 1 1 2 -- -- --
34 311 298 324 222 9 1 1 2 -- --
35 265 299 288 270 215 1 1 1 -- --
36 295 257 291 313 262 9 1 1 2 --
37 331 287 248 279 311 208 1 1 1 --
38 352 324 277 282 270 249 8 -- 1 2
39 357 342 308 243 273 301 207 7 1 --
40 353 343 330 269 239 259 249 195 1 1
41 350 335 326 300 266 265 296 242 7 --
42 365 336 317 315 294 232 247 284 188 1
43 378 353 326 311 313 254 261 239 236 7
44 373 365 333 316 305 284 223 243 275 186
45 97 357 354 316 306 306 246 214 231 229
46 9 94 344 326 310 301 273 228 239 266
47 11 9 91 345 317 293 287 257 202 225
48 7 11 9 332 338 300 286 278 219 231
49 1 7 11 88 316 303 282 280 248 194
50 -- 1 7 8 88 323 282 266 267 210
51 2 -- 1 11 9 308 298 274 270 238
52 1 2 -- 7 10 86 304 284 256 262
53 -- 1 2 1 7 9 298 276 260 261
54 -- -- 1 -- 1 11 84 279 272 246
55 1 -- -- 2 -- 7 9 79 261 245
56 1 1 -- 1 2 1 11 9 266 260
57 -- 1 1 -- 1 -- 7 11 76 252
58 -- -- 1 -- -- 2 1 7 9 255
59 -- -- -- 1 -- 1 -- 1 11 74
60 1 -- -- 1 1 -- 2 -- 6 9
61 -- 1 -- -- -- -- 1 2 1 11
62 -- -- 1 -- -- 1 -- 1 -- 6
63 -- -- -- -- -- 1 -- -- 2 1
64 -- -- -- 1 -- -- 1 -- 1 --
65 -- -- -- -- 1 -- 1 1 -- 2
66 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
67 -- -- -- -- -- 1 -- -- 1 --
68 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 1 --
69 -- -- -- -- -- -- 1 -- -- 1
70 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 1 -- 1
71 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
72 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 1 --
73 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
74 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 1
Total Int'd 5083 4910 4712 4575 4471 4322 4172 3964 3812 3677
Not Int'd -- 173 371 508 612 761 911 1119 1271 1406
Birth
Year n/a
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 -- -- --
 
Note: This table is based on R00022.01-R00022.03 (1967), R04916.00-R04916.20 (1981), R08171.00-R08173.00 (1987), R09205.00-R09207.00 (1989), R16068.00-R16070.00 (1995), R35041.00-R35043.00 (1997), R42763.00-R42766.00 (1999), R54450.00-R54453.00 (2001), and R65133.00-R65136.00 (2003), with the most recent date of birth variables used when available.
1 Age of respondent is calculated as of June 30 of the interview year.

Table MW2B. Ages of Interviewed Respondents by Survey Year: 1967-2003

  Survey Year
Age1 82 84 86 87 89 92 95 97 99 01 03
39 1 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
41 1 1 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
42 1 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
43 1 1 2 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
44 7 1 -- 2 -- -- -- -- -- -- --
45 179 1 1 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
46 221 7 1 -- 1 -- -- -- -- -- --
47 256 172 1 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
48 216 215 7 1 -- -- -- -- -- -- --
49 218 245 163 6 1 2 -- -- -- -- --
50 186 211 210 162 1 -- -- -- -- -- --
51 203 212 248 201 7 -- -- -- -- -- --
52 234 177 204 237 163 1 1 -- -- -- --
53 257 197 207 198 191 1 -- -- -- -- --
54 249 230 178 203 236 6 1 2 -- -- --
55 235 248 186 172 192 155 1 -- -- -- --
56 234 241 224 181 199 187 1 -- 2 -- --
57 248 226 241 222 163 225 6 1 -- -- --
58 249 228 239 236 168 185 143 1 1 2 --
59 244 238 224 238 201 192 160 6 1 -- 1
60 72 232 221 217 226 163 207 135 1 1 2
61 8 240 227 212 223 166 169 158 5 1 --
62 11 70 223 218 213 190 176 211 129 1 1
63 5 7 229 214 193 213 159 163 153 5 --
64 1 11 70 224 213 219 148 178 201 122 1
65 -- 5 7 68 203 198 175 150 155 149 4
66 2 1 11 7 210 181 197 148 158 196 119
67 -- -- 5 10 62 202 197 175 143 149 145
68 -- 2 1 6 6 188 188 184 146 162 193
69 -- -- -- 1 11 196 177 190 163 133 148
70 1 -- 2 -- 5 57 181 176 180 138 156
71 1 -- -- 2 1 6 172 162 173 156 124
72 -- 1 -- -- -- 10 175 172 171 161 130
73 -- 1 -- -- 2 5 54 151 157 166 157
74 -- -- 1 -- -- 1 6 173 167 154 159
75 1 -- 1 1 -- -- 10 51 140 143 164
76 -- -- -- 1 -- 2 5 5 157 152 140
77 -- 1 -- -- 1 -- 1 9 47 124 135
78 -- -- -- -- 1 -- -- 5 3 139 146
79 -- -- 1 -- -- -- 1 1 9 47 125
80 -- -- -- 1 -- -- -- -- 4 3 129
81 -- -- -- -- -- 1 -- 1 1 8 44
82 -- -- -- -- 1 -- -- -- -- 5 2
83 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 1 7
84 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 4
85 -- -- -- -- -- 1 -- -- -- -- 1
Total Int'd 3542 3422 3335 3241 3094 2953 2711 2608 2467 2318 2237
Not Int'd 1541 1661 1748 1842 1989 2130 2372 2475 2616 2765 2846
Birth
Year n/a
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
 
Note: This table is based on R00022.01-R00022.03 (1967), R04916.00-R04916.20 (1981), R08171.00-R08173.00 (1987), R09205.00-R09207.00 (1989), R16068.00-R16070.00 (1995), R35041.00-R35043.00 (1997), R42763.00-R42766.00 (1999), R54450.00-R54453.00 (2001), and R65133.00-R65136.00 (2003), with the most recent date of birth variables used when available.
1 Age of respondent is calculated as of June 30 of the interview year.

Related Variables: In addition to the information collected on the respondent, most surveys have also collected age data on household members. See the Household Composition section of this guide for more information.

Survey Instruments: The respondent's age and date of birth were derived from the 1966 Household Screener. The respondent's age or date of birth was subsequently collected in the "Household Roster" section of the questionnaire. If the respondent's age or birth date is asked in a particular survey year, an open coded answer box for the respondent will be found in the "Household Roster."

User Notes

Users are encouraged to carefully examine all age and birth date variables when performing any age-related analysis. Birth data collected at the time of screening may have been provided by a family member, giving rise to possible inconsistencies when comparing a respondent's reported age with age calculated from date of birth. In cases where age was unknown, interviewers were directed to obtain a "best estimate" of a respondent's "exact age" at the time of screening and to make corrections later if possible. Furthermore, a respondent may be inconsistent in different interviews in reporting her age. The date of birth inconsistencies are documented in the codebook. Birth date corrections were made in 1981. The birth date corrections should be used carefully and users are advised to make any additional corrections on a case-by-case basis.

There are varying numbers of out-of-scope cases in the Mature Women cohort for two reasons: (1) the birth date variables in a handful of cases are inconsistent with the stated age of the respondent and (2) some borderline cases that may actually be in scope for the calendar year of the survey are not necessarily in scope at the time the interview took place. CHRR has investigated causes of birth date inconsistencies and has discovered that they arise from birth data originally provided by the Census Bureau. Unfortunately, these data are generally not recoverable because many of the affected respondents have since attrited. An additional difficulty is that the date of birth for some cases is not reported.

It may be to the user's advantage to calculate his or her own variable for age based on the reported date of birth. When birth date variables are either unavailable or out of scope, the user may wish to investigate other age-related variables, such as schooling information, in order to establish age.