The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) Is a nationally representative sample of men and women who were born In the years 1957 to 1964 and living In the United States when the survey began In 1979. The sample members were ages 14 to 22 during the first round of data collection. A primary focus of the NLSY79 Is labor force behavior, but the content of the survey Is considerably broader. The NLSY79 Includes questions on educational attainment, training, Income and assets, participation in government programs, health, workplace injuries, Insurance coverage, alcohol and drug use, sexual activity, marital and fertility histories, and other topics. The NLSY79 was conducted annually from 1979 through 1994 and has been conducted biennially since 1994. The original sample included supplemental samples of blacks, Hispanics, economically disadvantaged nonblacklnon-Hispanics, and youths in the military. The military supplemental sample was discontinued after the 1984 survey, and the economically disadvantaged nonblacklnon Hispanlc supplemental sample was discontinued after the 1990 survey. Since 1986, the BLS also has collected a survey of all children born to female NLSY79 respondents and their mothers. The survey is called the NLSY79 Child and Young Adult survey (CYA) and has been sponsored by NationalInstitute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). In concert with the NLSY79 CYA, NICHD also sponsors several questions within the main NLSY79 survey dealing with children and fertility Issues. Round 26 of the NLSY79 CYA includes: a battery of cognitive, social, emotional, and physiological assessments administered to those under 14 that measure different aspects of development; a series of self-administered questions for those between 10 and 20 about family, school, and socialinteractions;and an Interview of children 15 and over, modeled on the NLSY79 questionnaire, focusing on employment, schooling, family, and social life and Including a confidential supplement on sensitive topics. Beginning In 1999, participants in the NLSY79 CYA who reached age 21 by December of the survey year were transferred to a separate survey, the NLSY79 Young Adult survey of members over age 20 (YA 21+). The Center for Human Resource Research (CHRR) at the Ohio State University (OSU) conducts the NLSY79 YA 21+ survey under NICHD peer-reviewed grant HD037078. The YA 21+ survey, though funded by a grant, remains a BLS survey and will be collected under a forma lletter of agreement with the OSU that will be completed in fiscal year (FY) 2014. It is fielded In conjunction with the main NLSY79 survey and is reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as part of the same clearance package as the main NLSY79 and NLSY79 CYA.
