National Longitudinal Survey of Youth

National Longitudinal Survey of Youth
Name	National Longitudinal Survey of Youth
Established	1966
Type	Longitudinal cohort study
Administered by	Bureau of Labor Statistics
Country	United States

Contents

National Longitudinal Survey of Youth The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth is a set of longitudinal cohort studies conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and involving data linked to administrative sources such as the Social Security Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, and the National Center for Health Statistics. The surveys have been used by researchers affiliated with institutions including Harvard University, Stanford University, University of Michigan, University of Chicago, and Princeton University to study life-course trajectories related to employment, demography, and health. Funders and collaborators have included agencies and organizations such as the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Rand Corporation, and the Urban Institute.

Overview

The surveys comprise multiple cohorts sampled to represent youth in the United States and are administered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics with data products used by scholars at Columbia University, Yale University, University of California, Berkeley, Northwestern University, and University of Pennsylvania. The data support analyses spanning outcomes tied to policy debates involving the Social Security Act, the Affordable Care Act, the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and labor regulation debates involving the Fair Labor Standards Act. Prominent investigators who have used the data include scholars from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Duke University, Johns Hopkins University, Cornell University, and University of Wisconsin–Madison.

The program began in the 1960s and expanded with cohorts recruited in later decades, with key cohorts launched in 1979, 1997, and 1997/1998 and refreshers linked to administrative records from the Social Security Administration and Internal Revenue Service. Early cohort design and sampling were informed by methodological work from researchers at Columbia University, University of Michigan, and the Census Bureau. Subsequent cohort waves overlapped with major events studied by users of the data, including the Great Recession (2007–2009), the Gulf War, the September 11 attacks, and policy shifts under administrations such as the Reagan administration and the Obama administration. Investigators from RAND Corporation, Urban Institute, Brookings Institution, National Bureau of Economic Research, and American Enterprise Institute have contributed analysis across cohorts.

Data collection combines structured interviews, self-administered questionnaires, biomarker modules, and linkages to administrative files managed by Social Security Administration, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Internal Revenue Service, and the National Death Index. Sampling methods drew on standards set by the U.S. Census Bureau and survey methodology research from University of Michigan and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Quality control and weighting procedures reference standards developed by analysts at Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Center for Health Statistics, Institute for Social Research (University of Michigan), and consulting firms such as Westat.

Core measures include labor market histories, earnings, employment spells, family formation and fertility histories, educational attainment, health indicators, and criminal justice contacts, often cross-referenced with administrative records from Social Security Administration, Internal Revenue Service, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the National Center for Health Statistics. The survey instruments capture detailed variables used in analyses by scholars at Harvard University, Princeton University, Yale University, University of Chicago, and University of California, Los Angeles. Additional topical modules have addressed substance use, cognitive assessments, mental health measures, and job training participation referenced in policy analyses by the Department of Labor, the Institute of Education Sciences, and the National Institutes of Health.

Analyses using the surveys have produced influential publications and books cited in work by researchers at National Bureau of Economic Research, Harvard University Press, Oxford University Press, Princeton University Press, and Cambridge University Press. Findings have informed literatures on wage inequality, intergenerational mobility, returns to education, incarceration and reentry, and health disparities examined by scholars at University of Michigan, Columbia University, Stanford University, Duke University, and Johns Hopkins University. Policy-relevant reports drawing on the data have appeared from Brookings Institution, Urban Institute, RAND Corporation, Pew Research Center, and the Economic Policy Institute.

Restricted-use and public-use files are distributed under access protocols involving the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the National Longitudinal Surveys Center, and data enclaves operated in partnership with institutions such as National Bureau of Economic Research, ICPSR, University of Michigan, and federal research data centers affiliated with the National Archives and Records Administration. Researchers from Harvard University, Princeton University, Yale University, Columbia University, and University of California, Berkeley routinely apply for data access and institutional review board approvals from bodies such as the Office for Human Research Protections.

The surveys have had broad impact across social science disciplines with citations in work by scholars at National Bureau of Economic Research, American Economic Association, American Sociological Association, Population Association of America, and American Public Health Association. Criticisms have included concerns about nonresponse bias, measurement error, and linkage consent processes raised by methodologists at University of Michigan, U.S. Census Bureau, Brookings Institution, and RAND Corporation, and debates over representativeness during periods such as the Great Recession (2007–2009) and immigration policy changes under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 and subsequent legislation.

Category:Longitudinal studies