Technical Note
The estimates in this release were obtained using data from the first 30 rounds of the National
Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79). This survey is conducted by the National Opinion
Research Center at the University of Chicago and the Center for Human Resource Research at The
Ohio State University under the direction and sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau
of Labor Statistics.
Sample
The NLSY79 is a nationally representative sample of 12,686 young men and women who were 14 to 22
years of age when first surveyed in 1979. This survey sample was initially composed of three
subsamples:
--A cross-sectional sample of 6,111 youths that was designed to represent the noninstitutionalized,
civilian population of young people living in the U.S. in 1979 and born between Jan. 1, 1957, and
Dec. 31, 1964.
--A supplemental sample of 5,295 youths designed to oversample noninstitutionalized, civilian Black,
Hispanic or Latino, and economically disadvantaged nonblack, non-Hispanic or Latino youths living
in the U.S. in 1979 and born between Jan. 1, 1957, and Dec. 31, 1964.
--A military sample of 1,280 youths born between Jan. 1, 1957, and Dec. 31, 1961, and enlisted in
the Army, Air Force, Navy, or Marine Corps as of September 30, 1978.
In 1985, the military sample was discontinued, and, in 1991, the economically disadvantaged nonblack,
non-Hispanic youths were dropped from the supplemental sample. As a result, the NLSY79 sample now
includes 9,964 individuals from the cross-sectional sample and the Black and Hispanic or Latino
supplemental samples. (This sample size is not adjusted for sample members who have died.)
Individuals were surveyed annually from 1979 to 1994 and biennially since 1994. In 2022-23, 6,413
individuals responded to the survey, for a retention rate of 64 percent (representing a 75 percent
response rate among those sample members who are still living). Only these individuals are included
in the estimates in this release. All results are weighted using the 2022-23 survey weights that
correct for the oversampling, interview nonresponse, and permanent attrition from the survey. When
weighted, the estimates represent all people born in the years 1957 to 1964 and living in the U.S.
when the survey began in 1979. Not represented by the survey are U.S. immigrants who were born from
1957 to 1964 and moved to the U.S. after 1979.
Work history data
The total number of jobs that people hold during their work life is an easy concept to understand
but a difficult one to measure. Reliable estimates require a survey that interviews the same people
over the course of their entire work life and also keeps track of all the jobs they ever held. The
NLSY79 tracks the number of jobs that people have held, but many of the respondents in this survey
are still working and have more years of work life ahead of them. While the survey has already
tracked 43 years of work history, as the cohort continues to age, more complete information will
become available.
A unique feature of the NLSY79 is that it collects the beginning and ending dates of all jobs held
by a respondent so that a longitudinal history can be constructed of each respondent's work
experiences. The NLSY79 work history data provide a week-by-week work record of each respondent
from Jan. 1, 1978, through the most recent survey date. These data contain information on the
respondent's labor force status each week, the usual hours worked per week at all jobs, and earnings
for all jobs. If a respondent worked at more than one job in any week, hours and earnings are
obtained for additional jobs. When a respondent who missed one or more consecutive survey rounds is
interviewed again, he or she is asked to provide information about all time since the last interview.
Interaction between time and age in a longitudinal survey
Because the NLSY79 is a longitudinal survey, meaning the same people are surveyed over time, the ages
of the respondents change with each survey round. It is important to keep in mind this inherent link
between the calendar years and the ages of the respondents. For example, table 5 reports earnings
growth from age 55 to age 58. The youngest respondents in the sample (birth year 1964) were these
ages during 2019-22, whereas the oldest respondents (birth year 1957) were these ages during 2012-15.
Although participants in the NLSY79 were ages 57 to 66 during the 2022-23 interviews, this release
covers only the period while the respondents were ages 18 to 58. The reason for not including older
ages is that the sample sizes were still too small to provide statistically reliable estimates for
age groups older than 58. As the NLSY79 continues to be administered and the respondents age,
subsequent rounds of the survey will enable analyses to be conducted for older age groups.
As with age, the educational attainment of individuals may change from year to year. In the tables
and analysis presented in this report, educational attainment is defined as of the 2022-23 survey.
This definition is used even when data on age and educational attainment are presented together. For
example, table 1 reports the number of jobs held during different age categories. Suppose that a
respondent had completed a bachelor's degree at age 58. That respondent would be included in the
"Bachelor's degree or higher" educational category in all age categories shown on the table, even
though he or she did not have a bachelor's degree at any point from age 18 to age 57.
Definitions
Job. A job is defined as an uninterrupted period of work with a particular employer. Jobs are
therefore employer-based, not position-based. If a respondent indicates that he or she left a job
but in a subsequent survey returned to the same job, it is counted as a new job. For example, if
an individual worked in a retail establishment during the summer, quit at the end of summer, and
then resumed working for the same employer the following spring, this sequence would count as two
jobs, rather than one. For self-employed workers, each "new" job is defined by the individuals
themselves.
Unemployment. If respondents indicate a gap between employers, they are asked how many of those
weeks they spent searching for employment or on layoff. For that number of weeks, they are
considered unemployed. For the remaining weeks, they are coded as not in the labor force. No
probing for intensity of job search is done.
Usual earnings. Respondents can report earnings over any time frame (hour, day, week, month, year).
For those who do not report an hourly wage, one is constructed using usual hours worked over that
time frame. Wages greater than $100 per hour and less than $1 per hour (in 1979 dollars) were not
included in the analysis of earnings growth because the reported earnings levels were almost
certainly in error. For the same reason, individuals who had inflation-adjusted earnings growth
greater than 100 percent were not included in the analysis.
Training compared with regular school. Regular school is one that offers an academic diploma or
degree, e.g., high school, college, graduate school, law school, or nursing program leading to an RN
degree. Not included as regular school are training at a technical institute, license trade programs,
etc. unless the credits obtained are transferable to a regular school and could count toward an
academic diploma or degree.
Marital Status. Marital status is determined for the interview date in which the respondent first
turned a specific age (58, for example). If not interviewed at that age, then marital status is
determined for the prior age.
Health limits kind or amount of work respondent can do: Health limit is determined for the interview
date in which the respondent first turned a specific age (58, for example). If not interviewed at that
age, then health limit is determined for the prior age.
Race and ethnicity groups. In this release, the findings are reported for non-Hispanic White people,
non-Hispanic Black people, and Hispanic or Latino people. These three groups are mutually exclusive
but not exhaustive. Other race groups, which are included in the overall totals, are not shown
separately because their representation in the survey sample is not sufficiently large to provide
statistically reliable estimates. In other BLS publications, estimates usually are published for
White people, Black people, and Hispanic or Latino people, but these groups are not mutually
exclusive. The term Hispanic or Latino is considered to be an ethnicity group, and Hispanic or Latino
people can be of any race. Most other BLS publications include Hispanic or Latino people in the
White and Black race groups in addition to the Hispanic or Latino ethnicity group.
Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request.
If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access
telecommunications relay services.
United States Department of Labor
