nls work histories: nlsy79 & nlsy97

NLS Work Histories:NLS Work Histories:NLSY79 & NLSY97NLSY79 & NLSY97

Cohort OverviewCohort Overview

NLSY791957-64

NLSY971980-84

1st round year1st round age

197914-21

199712-16

Latest round Latest yearAgesNext interview

22200641-512008

10200721-272008

Teen jobsHS/college jobsCareer jobs

MostYesYes

YesYes

Starting

Work/Event History Array Work/Event History Array Week-by-Week ArraysWeek-by-Week Arrays

• Status array– Employment related activity

• Working at a specific civilian job• Unemployed• Out of the labor force• Active military service

– Sometimes called the ‘A’ array• Hours array• Dual job array

– Records the 2nd (3rd, 4th) job worked in a week

– Only civilian jobs

Work/Event History Array Work/Event History Array Employer Section DataEmployer Section Data

• For each job– Employment dates

• Collected in an event history format• Work/search activities during gaps within jobs

– Type of employment• E.g., military

– Hours worked

• Gaps between jobs– Work/search activities

Employment Section Employment Section StructureStructure

Employment Section Structure Employment Section Structure OverviewOverview

Employer Roster Formation

Employer name ID Dates of employment

Employer-Specific Questions Additional job related data

Gaps between Jobs Questions

Job-related activity during periods not working

START EMPLOYER SECTION

Input: EMP_ROSTER detailing jobs worked at the DLI

Check EMP_ROSTER: Any jobs reported at DLI?

R confirms DLI jobs; EMP_ROSTER updated with job end date or current job flag

Ask R: any (other) jobs begun since DLI?

For each employer collect: Name, start date, stop date, has R worked for employer before DLI

Update EMP_ROSTER (sort by the job’s end date)

Does EMP_ROSTER list at least one job?

Employer-specific loop collects: Wage & non-wage compensation Hours worked Industry, occupation & class of worker Other job characteristics

Update EMP_ROSTER

Collect information on gaps between jobs

END EMPLOYER SECTION

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

NLSY79 “On Jobs”

section

Does EMP_ROSTER list another job?

No

Yes

NLSY79 Employer

Supplement section

Employer Roster Employer Roster FormationFormation

Roster Formation: Roster Formation: General informationGeneral information

• Basic roster generated during the interview– Employer name– Start & stop dates

• Sort to assign order from most recent – Employer supplements asked in roster order

• Post-interview– Employer name translated to a position/job id– Other information added to roster

• E.g., NLSY97 flag for military jobs

– Questionnaire / Roster QNAME mismatch• Survey questions replaced by roster information

Structure of the NLSY79Structure of the NLSY79

On Jobs Section Employer Roster Formation Employer name Employer position Start date; currently working/stop date Job type (2002/r20+)

Employer Supplements Employer specific questions Collect other job-specific data such as:

o Wages and hours worked

Gaps between Jobs Section Job-related activity during periods not working

CPS Section (prior to 1994) Data on current/most recent employer & labor force status

NLSY79 Roster FormationNLSY79 Roster Formation

• R1-R15– CPS section

• Asked prior to ‘On Jobs’ section• Employment activity in previous week• Current/most recent employer determined

– E.g., hours, industry & occupation, class of worker– ‘On Jobs’ section

• Remaining jobs collected on roster– E.g., hours, industry & occupation, class of worker

• R16 and beyond– All jobs collected in ‘On Jobs’ section

• Implication for researchers– Most CPS job data under different QNAMEs

[<r16]

NLSY79 Roster: R1-R8 Key NLSY79 Roster: R1-R8 Key PointsPoints

• Civilian jobs• Work at least 20 hrs/wk for 9 weeks

– Less information• Jobs worked fewer than 20 hrs/wk• Short term jobs (less than 9 weeks)

– Paper & Pencil Interviews (PAPI)– FIs told to list jobs in reverse chronological

order – CPS job usually listed first

• Data on up to 10 jobs collected– Data on up to 5 jobs released to public– Information on all jobs used in created

variables and created event history arrays

NLSY79 Roster: Changes in NLSY79 Roster: Changes in R9R9

• Expanded job information collected– Work at least 10 hrs/wk for 9 weeks– Non-CPS jobs lasting 10-19 hrs/wk

• Occupation• Industry• Class of worker

NLSY79 Roster: Changes in NLSY79 Roster: Changes in R15/R16R15/R16

• Transition to CAPI – Began in r15

• Employer Roster jobs– Automatically sorted in reverse order– Current/most recent (CPS) job always

listed first• CPS section asked on a rotating basis [r19+]

– Current/most recent job information• Collected in employer supplement [r16+]• E.g., hours, industry & occupation, class of

worker

NLSY79 Roster: Major Change NLSY79 Roster: Major Change in R20in R20

• Determine job-type in ‘On Jobs’ section– Prior to entering employer supplements

• Supplements administered according to job-type

– 3 job types• Traditional employment• Self employment

– Defined by the type of work, not clients

• Non-traditional employment– Temporary agency workers– On-call workers– Contract workers

NLSY79 R20+ Job NLSY79 R20+ Job Determination:Determination:

Self-EmploymentSelf-Employment• Own a business

– Sole owner (with spouse) – Partner

• Own 50 percent or more of the business

• Director, Chief Executive Officer, or principal managing partner

• Independent contractor or consultant – [Supposed to] file federal tax return

form SE to report self-employment income

NLSY79 R20+ Job NLSY79 R20+ Job Determination: Determination: Non-TraditionalNon-Traditional

• Temporary Agency– Paid by a temporary help agency that assigns

worker• On-call workers

– Only work on-call hours• Contract workers

– Companies contract w/employer to provide workers

• “We consider [job name] to be a single employer. Until otherwise instructed, please answer all questions about this job based on your experience with [job name] and not a specific client or assignment”

NLSY79 R20+ Job NLSY79 R20+ Job Determination: Determination:

TraditionalTraditional• Supervisor employed by the same

company• Employer provides tools/equipment• Work primarily at home but is

otherwise a regular employee of the company

NLSY79 R20+ Job NLSY79 R20+ Job Determination: Determination:

None of the aboveNone of the above• “This job does not seem to fit the

usual patterns we deal with. Could you briefly describe the sort of working arrangement you have in terms of who owns the business, your relationship with that business, who supervises you and assigns work and who pays you?”

• Receives a traditional job supplement– Most who answer this question have

traditional jobs

NLSY97: Differences in NLSY97: Differences in Employer Roster FormationEmployer Roster Formation

• Employer ID assigned– YEMP_UID.xx

• Job reports less constrained– No minimum hours or weeks bounds

• More data on shorter-term or part-time jobs that transition into longer-term or full-time jobs

– Both military & civilian jobs on Employer Roster• YEMP_MILFLAG.01

• No CPS distinction• No constraint on the number of jobs

reported– All jobs in created variables & event history

arrays

Connecting Employer Roster Connecting Employer Roster DataData

• Loop numbers match information collected in each job-specific employer supplement

• Loop numbers match information found in created variables

• Questionnaire/Roster QNAME mismatch– Survey questions replaced by roster

items in data• NLSY79: EMPLOYER_* [r18+]• NLSY97: YEMP_

Employer-Specific Employer-Specific SupplementsSupplements

Structure of the NLSY79Structure of the NLSY79

On Jobs Section Employer Roster Formation Employer name Employer position Start date; currently working/ stop date Job type (2002/ r20+)

Employer Supplements Employer-specific questions Collect other job-specific data such as:



CPS Section (prior to 1994) Data on current/ most recent employer & labor force status

Employer Supplements (ES) Employer Supplements (ES)

• Collected for each employer– Class of worker

• Public• Private• Government• Family/Self-employed• Armed Forces

– Hours worked– Industry– Occupation– Gaps within jobs– Rate of pay

• Covered in a later session

79/97 Supplement Differences: 79/97 Supplement Differences:

Work HistoriesWork Histories• Reference point for data collection • Job type

– Self-employed/freelance jobs – Non-traditional jobs

• Temporary agency workers• On-Call workers• Contract workers

– Military jobs

Data Collection Reference Data Collection Reference PointPoint

• NLSY79– Data collected as of survey date

• Except hours at start of each job (began in r20)

• NLSY97– Data for new jobs

• Collect as of the job’s start date

– Data for jobs lasting more than 13 weeks• Collect currently/as of the job’s stop date

– Implication for event history hours array• Hours worked when started for short term jobs• Latest hours worked for jobs lasting 13+ weeks

79/97 Supplement 79/97 Supplement DifferencesDifferences

• Reference point for data collection• Job type


• Temporary agency workers• On-call workers• Contract workers

– Military jobs

Comparing Self-Comparing Self-Employment Employment

• NLSY79– Prior to r20: reported with other jobs

• Business incorporated• Number of employees

– R20 and beyond• Tailored self-employed supplement

• NLSY97– R1-r5: freelance section includes self-employed

jobs• Not included in event history/created variables

– R6-r8: reported with other jobs• Included in event history/created variables

– R9 and beyond: separate supplement• Included in event history/created variables• Mirrors the NLSY79 r20 section

NLSY97 R1-R5NLSY97 R1-R5

R is younger than age 14?

List employee-type jobs on the employer roster

Loop through questions specific to each employee-type job no more jobs reported on the roster

Job-specific questions about freelance jobs, if any

Did respondent work on this job after turning age 16 and earn $200/ week at this freelance job?

Additional self-employment questions for this job

No

Yes

At least 1 job listed

No jobs listed

Yes

NLSY97 Freelance Jobs NLSY97 Freelance Jobs QuestionsQuestions

• All freelance jobs – Type– Weeks worked at job– Usual hours per week– Number of weekdays, weekends, days/week– Usual weekly earnings

• Freelance jobs earning more than $200/week– Industry– Occupation– Number of people who worked for R– Reason job ended

NLSY97 Self-Employment: R1-NLSY97 Self-Employment: R1-R3R3

• Age restrictions– Age 12 & 13

• Freelance section only

– Older than 14• Both the employer & the freelance section

• Created variables & the event history arrays are constructed for jobs reported in the employer section only

NLSY97 Self-Employment: R4 & NLSY97 Self-Employment: R4 & R5R5

• Add freelance jobs into the employer section– R4: 1983 & 1984 cohorts receive the freelance

section– R5: 1984 cohort receives the freelance section

• Implications– Self-employment jobs on the Employer Roster

for those who aged-out of the freelance section– Created variables & created event history

variables include self-employed jobs when collected on the Employer Roster

NLSY97 Self-Employment: R6-NLSY97 Self-Employment: R6-R8R8

• Freelance section no longer exists• All jobs reported in the employer

section– Self-employment – Freelance jobs

• All [civilian] jobs included in the constructed variables and the event history status arrays

Self-Employed InformationSelf-Employed Information

• NLSY79 – Business incorporated [all rounds]– Number of employees [most rounds]– Run business from home/outside home [r20+]

• NLSY97 Freelance section, age 16+; r1-r3– Business incorporated– Number of employees– Run business from home

• NLSY97 Employer section, r4+– Business incorporated– Number of employees– Run business from home

NLSY79 Self-Employment: NLSY79 Self-Employment: R20R20

• How business started• Percentage owned• Financial information

– Value– Liabilities

• No longer at business– Reason– New job before business close– Value after liquidation





– Military jobs

NLSY79 Non-Traditional Jobs: NLSY79 Non-Traditional Jobs: R3-R15R3-R15

• ‘Some jobs are odd jobs-that is, work done from time to time. Others are REGULAR jobs-that is, jobs done on a more or less regular basis. Is this a job that is done on a more or less regular basis or is it an odd job?’

• CPS employer only (r3-r15)• All employers (r16+)

NLSY79 Non-Traditional Jobs: NLSY79 Non-Traditional Jobs: R16-19R16-19

• “Are you a regular employee at this job, do you consider yourself a temp worker, consultant or contractor, or are you an employee of a contractor?”– Non-traditional before a regular employee

• Expect job to become permanent or remain temporary

– Paid by a temporary agency or contractor• Ever a regular employee for this employer

• All employers

NLSY79 Non-Traditional Jobs: NLSY79 Non-Traditional Jobs: R20+R20+

• Identified in the Employer Roster section

• # weeks expect to be on assignment• Monthly earnings over all assignments• # different assignments• # periods with no assignment

– If <5 then collect information on all– If 5+ then collect information

• Most recent • # weeks total

NLSY97 Non-Traditional JobsNLSY97 Non-Traditional Jobs

• R1-R8– Traditional supplement– No specific questions

• R9 and beyond– Section mirrors the current NLSY79

section





– Military jobs

Military ExperienceMilitary Experience

• Military-specific questions– Pay grade– Dates of service– Branch of service

• Regular branch or reserves

– Military occupation• NLSY97 r2+• NLSY79 from r1-r7

NLSY79 Military ExperienceNLSY79 Military Experience

• Military oversample (N=1,280)– R1-r6 collect data– R7 and beyond

• Funding cutbacks reduced this oversample • 201 remain in sample

• Military jobs not on Employer Roster – Not assigned a job id– Work history coded to reflect military job

• No other civilian jobs held at that time

NLSY97 Military ExperienceNLSY97 Military Experience

• Military-specific questions began in R2• Identified in the class of worker question

– At this employer are you employed by government, by a PRIVATE company, a nonprofit organization or are you working WITHOUT pay in a family business or farm or are you a member of the Armed Forces?

– YEMP-58500

• Small number of misidentified military jobs– Correctly coded in YEMP_MILFLAG– Rs answer regular employer supplement initially– Answer correct question set at next interview

Gaps Between Jobs Gaps Between Jobs SectionSection

Structure of the Gap Structure of the Gap SectionSection

On Jobs Section Employer roster formation Employer name Employer position Start date; currently working/ stop date Job type (2002/ r20+)

Employer Supplements Employer-specific questions Collect other job-specific data such as:



CPS Section (prior to 1994) Data on current/ most recent employer & labor force status

Gaps Between JobsGaps Between Jobs

• Number of weeks – On layoff– Looking for work

• Main reason did not look for work• Methods of job search used

– NLSY79: Not in r20+– Possibly on rotating basis in future

rounds

Created Variables: Created Variables: NLSY79 & NLSY97NLSY79 & NLSY97

Created VariablesCreated Variables

• Inputs– Answers to interview questions– Employer Roster data– Data from previous rounds

• Outputs– Created variables

• Point-in-time (e.g., hourly wage)• Longitudinal (number of jobs ever worked)

– Employment event history arrays• NLSY79: work history arrays

Number of Jobs Created Number of Jobs Created VariablesVariables

NLSY79 NLSY97 (CV_TTL_)

Number of jobs Teen (14-19) Adult (20+) Adult (20+) ET

JOBEVERNANANA

NAJOB_TEENJOB_ADULT_ALLJOB_ADULT_ET

# of jobs - CY All Employer Self-employed

NANANANA

NAJOB_YR_ALL JOB_YR_ETJOB_YR_SE

Weeks Worked Created Weeks Worked Created VariablesVariables

NLSY79 NLSY97 (CV_WKSWK_)

Wks work in CY Employee job Self-employment

WORKCNANA

YR_ALLYR_ETYR_SE

Wks work SDLI Employee job Self-employment

WORKLNANA

DLI_ALLDLI_ETDLI_SE

Wks work (Job) NA DLI

Wks work teen (14-19) Wks work adult (20+) All Wks work adult (20+) ET

NANANA

TEENADULT_ALLADULT_ET

Hours Worked Created Hours Worked Created VariablesVariables

NLSY79 NLSY97 (CV_HOURS_)

Hours worked CY Employee job Self-employment

HOURSCNANA

WK_YR_ALLWK_YR_ETWK_YR_SE

Hrs work teen (14-19) Hrs work adult (20+) All Hrs work adult (20+) ET

NANANA

WK_TEENWK_ADULT_ALLWK_ADULT_ET

Other Employment Created Other Employment Created VariablesVariables

NLSY79 NLSY97

Wks unemployed SDLIWks unemployed CY

UNEMPLUNEMPC

NANA

Wks out of labor force SDLIWks out of labor force CY

OLFLOLFC

NANA

Wks active military SDLIWks active military CY

MILSWKLMILSWKC

NANA

Creating the Creating the Event History ArraysEvent History Arrays

Work History Data

1. Overview the key employment-related work history variables in the NLSY79 and NLSY97.

2. Examine selected work history variables for one NLSY79 respondent to see how his employment activities are summarized.

3. Consider alternative ways to measure work experience and job mobility.

Part 1 Overview of Employment-

Related Work History Variables in the NLSY79 and

NLSY97

A. NLSY79 & NLSY97 Weekly A. NLSY79 & NLSY97 Weekly Arrays Arrays

Definition NLSY79 QName NLSY97 QName

Labor force status:

STATUS_WK_NUMxxxx

EMP_STATUS.year.wk

Hours worked per week:

HOURS_WORKED_ WK_NUMxxxx

EMP_HOURS.year.wk

Dual job status:

JOB_WK_NUMxxxx_ DUALJOB_NUMx

EMP_DUAL_x_year.wk

• Each array contains one variable per week • Week 1 begins on January 1, 1978 in the NLSY79

B. Other Employment Variables B. Other Employment Variables (NLSY79 & NLSY97)(NLSY79 & NLSY97)

Definition NLSY79 QName

NLSY97 QName

Start date (job)

START_WK#_year _JOB#n

EMP_START_WEEK_syr.job# EMP_START_YEAR_syr.job#

Stop date (job)

STOP_WK#_year _JOB#n

EMP_END_WEEK_syr.job# EMP_END_YEAR_syr.job#

Start date (within-job gap)

PER#_START_year _JOB#

EMP_GAP_START_WEEK _syr.job.gapEMP_GAP_START_YEAR _syr.job.gap

Stop date (within-job gap)

PER#_STOP_year _JOB#

EMP_GAP_END_WEEK _syr.job.gapEMP_GAP_END_YEAR _syr.job.gap

B. Other Employment Variables B. Other Employment Variables (NLSY79)(NLSY79)

Definition Survey

Years

NLSY79 QName

Start date (period not working between jobs)

All BSTART_year_PERIOD#

Stop date (period not working between jobs)

All BSTOP_year_PERIOD#

Start date (military service)

All MIL_START#_year

Stop date (military service)

All MIL_STOP#_year

Week of the current interview:

All CURRINT__WK#_year

Week of the last interview:

All LASTINT__WK#_year

Job number assigned to employer from last interview:

All PREV_EMP#_year_JOB#n

B. Other Employment Variables B. Other Employment Variables (NLSY97)(NLSY97)Definition Surve

y Years

NLSY97 QName

Number of weeks prior to DLI in which the EMP_STATUS.year.wk variable would have changed had this job been included in the last interview.

2000+

EMP_BK_STATUS_syr

Number of weeks prior to DLI that job began.

2000+

EMP_BK_WKS_syr

Number of hours prior to DLI that would have been included in the EMP_HOURS.year.wk array had this job been included in the last interview.

2000+

EMP_BK_HOURS_syr

Part 2Part 2

Examine Selected Examine Selected Work History Variables Work History Variables

for one NLSY79 for one NLSY79 RespondentRespondent

Our RespondentOur Respondent

• We will follow a single NLSY79 respondent (CASEID=15) from 1990 to 1993.

• The examples show how selected work history variables convey this respondent’s employment activities.

A. Job Start Dates and Stop A. Job Start Dates and Stop Dates Dates

1990 interview CURRINT_WK#_1990 = 658

– 1990 interview is held the week of 8/5/90 (week 658).

START_WK#_1990_JOB#n = . (for n=1,2,3,4,5)

STOP_WK#_1990_JOB#n = . (for n=1,2,3,4,5)

– The respondent reports no current job, and no jobs held since the last interview.



START_WK#_1991_JOB#01 = 674

STOP_WK#_1991_JOB#01 = 705

– The respondent reports a job that began in week 674.– The job does not “stop” in week 705. The interview

week is used as a pseudo-stop week to indicate that the job is ongoing. [A variable in the Job Information file confirms that the respondent is currently working for this employer.]

– In this example, we will refer to this job as Job A. START_WK#_1991_JOB#n = . (n=2,3,4,5)

STOP_WK#_1991_JOB#n = . (n=2,3,4,5)

– The respondent reports no other jobs held since the last interview.

Based on this reported information we know that, as of week 705, the respondent’s work history looks like this:

658 674 705

Job A begins1990 interview 1991 interview (Job A in

progress)

1992 Interview CURRINT_WK#_1992 = 755 LASTINT_WK#_1992 = 706


– LASTINT_WK is last year’s interview week +1.

PREV_EMP#_1992_JOB#01 =1 START_WK#_1992_JOB#01 = 706 STOP_WK#_1992_JOB#01 = 755

– The “previous employer” variable indicates that this year’s job #1 is identical to last year’s job #1.

– We continue to refer to this job as Job A.

1992 Interview, continued PREV_EMP#_1992_JOB#01 =1

START_WK#_1992_JOB#01 = 706 STOP_WK#_1992_JOB#01 = 755

– Job A does not “start” in week 706. The last interview week is used as a pseudo-start week to indicate that this job is a continuation of a job reported last year.

– Job A does not “stop” in week 755. The interview week is used as a pseudo-stop week to indicate that the job is ongoing.

START_WK#_1992_JOB#n = . (n=2,3,4,5)

STOP_WK#_1992_JOB#n = . (n=2,3,4,5)


As of week 755, the respondent’s work history looks like this:

Job A begins

1990 interview 1991 interview

658

1992 interview(Job A in progress)

755674 705

1993 Interview CURRINT_WK#_1993 = 810 LASTINT_WK#_1993 = 756


– LASTINT_WK is last year’s interview week +1.

PREV_EMP#_1993_JOB#02 =1 START_WK#_1993_JOB#02 = 756 STOP_WK#_1993_JOB#02 = 767

– The “previous employer” variable indicates that this year’s job #2 is identical to last year’s job #1.

– Job A does not “start” in week 756. The last interview week is used as a pseudo-start week to indicate that this job is a continuation of a job reported last year.

– Job A ended the week of 9/6/92 (week 767); this is the job’s true stop date.

1993 Interview, continued START_WK#_1993_JOB#01 = 771

STOP_WK#_1993_JOB#01 = 810

– The respondent reports a new job that began the week of 10/4/9 (week 771).

– In this example, we refer to this new job as Job B.

– Job B does not “stop” in week 810. The interview week is used as a pseudo-stop date to indicate that the job is ongoing.

START_WK#_1993_JOB#n = . (n=3,4,5)

STOP_WK#_1993_JOB#n = . (n=3,4,5)


As of week 810, his work history looks like this:

Job A begins

1990 interview

1991 interview

658 674 705

1992 interview

755 767

Job A ends

Job Bbegins

771 810

1993 interview(Job B in

progress)

A. Job Start Dates and Stop A. Job Start Dates and Stop Dates Dates

• Users may wish to create their own variables identifying the “true” start week and stop week of each job held

• For example, we might create the variables:

– STARTx = start week of job x, where x indexes the 1st

through last job encountered in chronological order

– STOPx = stop week of job x

– CENx = 1 if job x is right-censored (in progress when the

respondent is last interviewed) and 0 otherwise

• If our respondent (CASEID=15) were only seen from 1990 to 1993, these variables would take on the following values:

START1=674 START2=771

STOP1=767 STOP2=810

CEN1=0 CEN2=1 Note: If we begin following this respondent in 1979, Job A is not his first job. Similarly, if we follow him beyond 1993, Job B is followed by several additional jobs.

• For additional information, see: – NLSY79 APPENDIX 9: “LINKING EMPLOYERS

THROUGH SURVEY YEARS”

• The respondent’s weekly labor force status is described by the array of variables named STATUS_WK_NUMxxx

• These variables can take on the following values:

0: no information reported for week2: not working (unemployed vs. OLF not determined)

3: associated with employer (gaps missing; time unaccounted for)

4: unemployed5: out of labor force (OLF)7: active military servicexxnn: employed (xx is round; nn is job number)

B. Weekly Labor Force Status B. Weekly Labor Force Status

1990 interview CURRINT_WK#_1990 =658

STATUS_WK_NUM647 – STATUS_WK_NUM654 = 4


– The respondent is interviewed in week 658.

– He is OLF at the interview date.

– This 4-week OLF spell is preceded by an 8-week unemployment spell that began in week 647.

– As we will learn “next year,” this period of unemployment/OLF will continue for several more weeks.





– “Last year’s” period of unemployment/OLF continued through week 673.

– Recall that he is now holding a job (Job A) that began in week 674.

– The status array shows that from week 674 to the current interview week, he is employed on Job A, which is job #1 reported in 1991 (r13).




– Recall that he has worked continuously on Job A since the last interview date.

– The status array shows that from the last interview week to the current interview week he is employed on Job A, which is job #1 reported in 1992 (r14).

1993 interview CURRINT_WK#_1993 =810 STATUS_WK_NUM756 – STATUS_WK_NUM 767 = 1502 STATUS_WK_768 – STATUS_WK_NUM770 = 4 STATUS_WK_771 – STATUS_WK_NUM810 = 1501

Recall that Job A ended in week 767 & Job B began in week 771.

The status array shows that from the last interview week to week 767 he is employed on Job A, which is job #2 reported in 1993 (r15).

The status array shows that from week 771 to the current interview week he is employed on Job B, which is job #1 reported in 1993 (r15).

The status array shows that he was unemployed for the 3 weeks between Job A and Job B.

With the addition of the information in the status array, we

know that this portion of the work history looks like this:

658 674 705 755 767 771 810647

Job A

1990 interview

1991 interview

1992 interview

Job B

1993 interview

UnemploymentUnemployment or OLF

C. Weekly Hours Worked C. Weekly Hours Worked • The respondent’s weekly work effort is described by

the array of variables: HRS_WORKED_WK_NUMxxxx

• These variables give the usual weekly hours worked on all jobs during the particular week.

1990 interview CURRINT_WK#_1990 =658

HRS_WORKED_WK_NUM647 – HRS_WORKED_WK_NUM658 = 0


– Recall that the respondent is unemployed or OLF from week 647 to week 658 (and beyond).

– The hours array shows that he work zero hours during each week of the unemployment/OLF spells.





– The hours array shows that he worked zero hours for the duration of “last year’s” unemp/OLF spell.

– Recall that the respondent began Job A in week 674.

– When interviewed in week 705, the respondent reports his “usual weekly hours” on Job A to be 50.

– The hours array shows 50 hours for every week since Job A began.


HRS_WORKED_WK_NUM706 – HRS_WORKED_WK_NUM755 =

55


– Recall that the respondent has worked on Job A since the last interview.

– When interviewed in week 755, the respondent reports his “usual weekly hours” on Job A to be 55.

– The hours array shows 55 hours in every week since the last interview.

1993 interview CURRINT_WK#_1993 = 810 HRS_WORKED_WK_NUM756 – HRS_WORKED_WK_NUM767 = 50 HRS_WORKED_WK_NUM768 – HRS_WORKED_WK_NUM770 = 0 HRS_WORKED_WK_NUM771 – HRS_WORKED_WK_NUM810 = 40

– When interviewed in week 810, the respondent reports his “usual weekly hours” on Job A (which ended in week 767) to be 50.

– When interviewed in week 810, the respondent reports his “usual weekly hours” on Job B (which began in week 771) to be 40.

– The hours array shows that he worked zero hours during each week of the intervening unemployment spell.

Part 3:Part 3:

Measuring Work Measuring Work Experience Experience

and Job Mobilityand Job Mobility

Examples from the NLSY79 Examples from the NLSY79

(and YA)(and YA)

A. Cumulative Work A. Cumulative Work ExperienceExperience • In cross-sectional surveys, data on actual work

experience are scarce.

• As a result, we often use “Age-Schooling-6” as a proxy for work experience. At the interview date, the respondent reports his age

and years of schooling (S). We approximate his school exit date as age S+6 and

his experience as the time elapsed since that date.

Born Assumed to begin school

Assumed to end school

Interviewed (report age & S)

6 yrs S yrs Age-S-6 yrs

• With NLS data, we have many options for measuring work experience.

We need not “start the clock” on work experience at age S+6. We can pick any date as the starting date (t1).

We can also pick any date as the stopping date (t2).

We need not measure experience as “elapsed time.” Instead, we can count the number of weeks actually worked, the (usual) number of hours worked, etc.

Defining t1 and t2:• Depending on one’s substantive focus, possibilities include:

– Let t1 be the actual date of school exit (e.g., first exit, last exit, or first exit lasting at least N months)

– Let t1 be the date of college entry and t2 be the date of college exit; this allows us to measure work experience gained while in college.

– Let t1 be a particular age (e.g., the 18th birthday). This allows us to measure all respondents’ work experience from a uniform date regardless of their school enrollment behavior.

– Let t1 be the job start date and t2 be the job stop date. This allows us to measure experience with a particular employer.

Born Begin school Actual school exit date (t1)

S1 yrs S2 yrs

Break from school

Defining the unit of measurement:• Possibilities include:

– Cumulative number of months (or 4-week intervals) in which any experience was gained.

– Cumulative number of weeks in which any experience was gained.

– Cumulative number of weeks in which the individual worked full-time (e.g., usual hours35).

– Cumulative number of (usual) hours worked.

Example 1Example 1 • Define EXPER1 = cumulative weeks between t1 and t2 in

which any experience was gained.

• LFS1-LFS1409 are variables containing elements of the array STATUS_WK_NUMxxx for weeks 1 (1/1/78) through 1409 (12/26/04).

• T1 and T2 are the start and stop weeks between which we wish to measure work experience;

array status (1409) LFS1-LFS1409;EXPER1=0;do k=T1 to T2;

if status(k)>7 then EXPER1=EXPER1+1;

end;EXPER1=EXPER1/52;

Note: this strategy counts military service and “unknown” weeks as 0.

Example 2Example 2 • Define EXPER2= cumulative hours worked between t1 and t2

• HRS1-HRS1409 are variables containing elements of the array HOURS_WORKED_WK_NUMxxxx for weeks 1 (1/1/78) to 1409 (12/26/04)

• T1 and T2 are the start and stop weeksarray hrs (1409) HRS1-HRS1409;EXPER2=0;do k=T1 to T2;

if hrs(k)>0 then EXPER2=EXPER2+HRS(k);

end;EXPER2=EXPER2/2000;

Note: this strategy counts “unknown” weeks as HRS=0.

Example 3Example 3 • Define JOB= 1 if a job is held at t1; JOB=0 otherwise.

(In contrast to the preceding examples, this is not a measure of cumulative experience.)

• START1-STARTX and STOP1-STOPX are user-created variables representing the start and stop dates of every job held.

To make the example concrete, assume X=40 (i.e., 40 is the maximum number of jobs reported by any R).

• T1 is the date of interest (e.g., a given age).array STARTS (40) START1-START40;array STOPS (40) STOP1-STOP40;JOB=0;

If T1>0 then do k=1 to 40;if STARTS<=T1<=STOPS then JOB=1;

end;

Example 3, continuedExample 3, continued Let T1 be the week of the 20th birthday

Compare JOB for NLSY79 mothers & their YA daughters

Mother holds job at age 20

No Yes All

No 1074

(71%)

437

(29%)

1511

(69%)

Yes 419

(62%)

257

(38%)

676

(31%)

All 1493

(68%)

694

(32%)

2187

Daughter holds job at age 20

B. Cumulative Number of Jobs B. Cumulative Number of Jobs HeldHeld

We may wish to measure:• Cumulative number of jobs begun between

any two points t1 and t2 (e.g., from school exit to the interview date).

• Cumulative number of jobs ended between any two points t1 and t2

• Cumulative number of job-to-job transitions between any two points t1 and t2

Example 4Example 4• Define JOBBEG = # of jobs begun between t1 and t2

• Define JOBEND = # of jobs ended between t1 and t2

• START1-STARTx and STOP1-STOPx are user-created variables representing the start and stop dates of every job held; CEN1-CENx are user-created variables equal to 1 if the job is right-censored, and 0 otherwise.

To make the example concrete, assume x=40; i.e., 40 is the maximum number of jobs reported by any respondent.

T1 and T2 are the start and stop weeks between which we will obtain our job count.

Example 4, continuedExample 4, continuedarray STARTS (40) START1-START40;

array STOPS (40) STOP1-STOP40;

array CENS (40) CEN1-CEN40;

JOBBEG=0; JOBEND=0;

do k=1 to 40;

if T1<=STARTS(k)<=T2 then JOBBEG=JOBBEG+1;

if (T1<=STOPS(k)<=T2 and CENS=0) then JOBEND=JOBEND+1;

end;

nls work histories: nlsy79 & nlsy97

Documents

roster detailing jobs

jobs sectionimplication

beyondall jobs

jobs collecteddata

dli jobs emp

roster list

roster informationstructure

roster sort