Economics Juniors Microlevel Data

Some heavily used data sets:

I. National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) of Labor Market Experience

Where do I get the data?

BLS Web site

Where do I find the documentation:
- around (DSS) HD5724.N375 (various call numbers clustered together)

Sponsor: United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

Purpose: collection of data on the labor force experience of specific age-sex groups of Americans. Presents a rich source of information about life course changes – from middle age to retirement, from youth to middle age. Permit the study of determinants of labor supply, earnings and income distribution, job search and separation, labor market inequities, and human capital investments.

National Longitudinal Surveys of Older Men, Mature Women, Young Men, Young Women

consists of 4 groups
- Older Men aged 45-59 in 1966 (surveyed from 1966-1990)
- Mature Women aged 30-44 in 1967 (surveyed from 1967-2003)
- Young Men aged 14-24 in 1966 (surveyed from 1966-1981)
- Young Women aged 14-24 in 1968 (surveyed from 1968-2003)
each of the 1960s cohorts has been surveyed 12 or more times over the years
major topics for all cohorts include
- labor market experience variables (including labor force participation, unemployment, job history, and job mobility)
- socioeconomic and human capital variables (including education, training, health and physical condition, marital and family characteristics, financial characteristics, and job attitudes)
- selected environmental variables (size of labor force and unemployment rates for local area)
- also includes a specially constructed data file that specifies the relationships among members of the four original cohorts living in the same household at the time of the initial surveys, i.e., husband-wife, mother-daughter, brother-sister, etc.
Age specific topics include additional questions.
- Young Men and Young Women
  - educational goals, high school and college experiences, high school characteristics, and occupational aspirations and expectations, as well as military service.
- Mature Women and Young Women:
  - fertility, child care, responsibility for household tasks, care of parents, volunteer work, attitudes towards women working, and job discrimination
  - As the older-aged cohorts of men and women approached labor force withdrawal, surveys for these groups collected information on their retirement plans, health status, and pension benefits.
- Mature Women
  - includes 1989 pension file detailing information on pensions and other employer-provided benefits.
- Older Men
  - inclues information collected during the 1990 re-interviews of respondents and widows or other next-of-kin of deceased sample members. Also includes cause of death information collected from State vital records departments in 1990.

National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79)

nationally representative sample of 12,686 young men and women who were 14-22 years old when they were first surveyed in 1979
surveyed yearly from 1979-1996; every other year since then (1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006).
includes data similar to the major topics of the original series plus additional data on their educational goals, high school and college experiences, high school characteristics, and occupational aspirations and expectations, as well as military service.
special surveys have included data on:
- last secondary school attended, including transcript information and selected aptitude/intelligence scores
- test scores from the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB)
- illegal activities participation including police contacts
- alcohol use and substance abuse.
NLSY79 child and young adult file (1986 - 2004) Information from a battery of child cognitive, socioemotional, and physiological assessments administered to NLSY79 mothers and their children has been combined with other data collected during the main youth surveys to form a data set that permits examination of the linkages between maternal-family behaviors or attitudes and the subsequent development of over 7,000 children.
supplements include
- a work history tape detailing the week-by-week labor force attachment of the youth respondents from 1978 through the present
- a child-mother file linking the child assessment data to other information on children and mothers within the NLSY
- constructed and edited fertility variables
- a women's support network tape detailing the geographic proximity of the relatives, friends, and acquaintances of 6,308 female NLSY respondents who were interviewed during the 1983-1985 surveys
- in 1986 expanded to include surveys of a group of children born to women of one of the national survey groups.

National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97)

documents the transition from school to work experienced by today's youths through 10 rounds of data collection spanning the time period 1997-2006. 2005 is currently the latest data that has been released.
collects extensive information on respondents' labor market behavior and educational experiences
also includes data on the youths' family and community backgrounds which helps researchers assess the impact of schooling and other environmental factors on these newest labor market entrants. Data from the NLSY97 also aid in determining how youths' experiences relate to establishing careers, participating in government programs, and forming families
allows a comparison of the progress of this cohort with that of other NLS cohorts
The Youth Questionnaire, administered each round, asked the youth about a number of topics, including employment, schooling, family background, health, attitudes, and behaviors. The Round 1 Parent Questionnaire interviewed one of the youth's parents about the youth's history and status and about key aspects of the parent's own life. School and transcript surveys collected information in several rounds about schools in the NLSY97 sample areas and the academic records of NLSY97 respondents. The administration of the computer adaptive form of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery during Round 1 to most NLSY97 respondents provides a common aptitude score. Finally, in Rounds 2-5, data about family income were collected from one of the respondent's parents using the Household Income Update.

II. Current Population Surveys (CPS)

http://www.bls.census.gov/cps/cpsmain.htm

Where do I find the documentation?
- Shelved by Call Number in DSS (various call numbers); See Main Catalog .
Where is the data?

The Current Population Survey (CPS) is a monthly survey of about 50,000 households conducted by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The survey has been conducted for more than 50 years.

The Current Population Survey (CPS) is a household sample survey conducted monthly by the Census Bureau to provide estimates of employment, unemployment, and other characteristics of the general labor force, estimates of the population as a whole, and estimates of various subgroups in the population. The March survey, Annual Social and Economic (ASEC) Supplement (prior to 2003 called the Annual Demographic Files) contain the core labor force information included in every Current Population Survey as well as data on income and work experience. Detailed demographic data representative of the noninstitutionalized United States civilian population, including members of the armed forces living in civilian housing units, are provided in the Annual Social and Economic (ASEC) Supplement as well. Additional surveys conducted during other months contain the core labor force and demographic information along with supplemental data on one or more specific topics. Supplement topics include after-tax money income (March), noncash benefit values (March), displaced workers, job tenure, occupational mobility, contingent (temporary) work, adult education, pension and retirement plan coverage, multiple job-holding and premium pay, marital history, fertility and birth expectations (June), immigration, school enrollment (October), voting behavior (November), tobacco use, food security, and Internet and computer usage. A major redesign of the Current Population Survey was implemented in January 1994. The primary aim of the redesign was to improve the quality of the data derived from the survey by introducing a new questionnaire and modernized data collection methods.

Comprehensive data are available on the employment status, occupation, and industry of persons 15 years old and over. Also shown are personal characteristics such as age, sex, race, marital status, veteran status, household relationship, educational background, and Hispanic origin.

III. National Health Interview Survey Series
Years covered: 1970- . (1970-1975 entitled Health Interview Survey)
Scope: basic purpose is to obtain information about the amount and distribution of illness, its effects in terms of disability and chronic impairments, and the kinds of health services people receive. Information on the utilization of medical care facilities is also available in the form of data on medical and dental care, hospitalization, preventive care, nursing care, prosthetic appliances, and self-care. The Core variables are contained in the files for household, person, condition, doctor visit, and hospital data. Each year additional batteries of questions are asked which focus on specific topics.

Supplemental NHIS data provide information on topics such as AIDS knowledge and attitudes, child health care and immunization, dental care, substance abuse, hospitalization, preventive care, nursing care, prosthetic appliances, and self-care. Supplements on Aging (SOA) conducted in 1984 and 1994 and the 1984-1990 Longitudinal Study of Aging (LSOA) were designed to furnish information on the causes and correlates of changes in the health and functioning of older Americans. Another component of the NHIS is the National Health Interview Survey on Disability (NHIS-D). Begun in 1994, the NHIS-D was designed to collect data that can be used to understand disability and to develop public policy on disability. Starting in 1997, the NHIS was redesigned to include a basic module, a periodic module, and a topical module. The basic module corresponds to the NHIS core questionnaire and is made up of the family core, the sample adult core, and the sample child core questions. The periodic module provides more detailed information on topics resulting from the basic module. The topical modules correspond to the supplements of the 1982-1996 NHIS and focus on public health data needs as they arise.

Sample Size and Makeup: representative sample of the civilian, noninstutionalized population of the USA
How segmented: type of living quarters, size of family, geographic region, age, sex, race, marital status, veteran status, education, income, industry, occupation codes, and limits on activity.
Where is the documentation: (DSS) RA407.3.N38
Where do I get the data? http://webapp.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR-SERIES/00040.xml
Questions: Does income status impact health service received? Does the patient have Medicare, Medicaid, private health insurance? Does race impact prevalence of certain illnesses? Do certain areas of the country have higher incidences of certain diseases? What variables (age, race, sex, education, etc) impact one's health? Does your occupation impact your health?

Bobray Bordelon
bordelon@princeton.edu

Last updated 5/14/2008