National Longitudinal Survey

The National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) are a set of surveys conducted by the US Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, designed to gather information at multiple points in time on significant life events of several population samples of US citizens, especially their labor market activities.

The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) is a survey of young men and women born in the years 1980-84. The NLSY97 consists of a nationally representative sample of approximately 9,000 youths who were 12 to 16 years old as of December 31, 1996. Round 1 of the survey took place in 1997. In that round, both the eligible youth and one of that youth's parents received hour-long personal interviews. Youths continue to be interviewed on an annual basis.In spring of 2000, high school transcripts were collected for NLSY97 born in 1980 and 1981 who provided written permission to contact their schools. A second phase of collecting the remaining high school transcripts began in 2004.

The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) is a survey of men and women born in the years 1957-64. The NLSY79 is a nationally representative sample of 12,686 young men and women who were 14–22 years old when they were first surveyed in 1979. These individuals were interviewed annually through 1994 and are currently interviewed on a biennial basis.

The NLSY79 Children and Young Adults is a survey of the biological children of women in the NLSY79. In addition to all the mother's information from the NLSY79, the child survey includes assessments of each child as well as additional demographic and development information collected from either the mother or child.

The National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women and Mature Women (NLSW) comprises two separate surveys. The Young Women's survey includes women who were ages 14–24 when first interviewed in 1968. The Mature Women's survey includes women who were ages 30–44 when first interviewed in 1967. These surveys were discontinued in 2003.

The National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Men and Older Men comprises two separate surveys. The Young Men's survey, which was discontinued in 1981, includes men who were ages 14–24 when first interviewed in 1966. The Older Men's survey, which was discontinued in 1990, includes men who were ages 45–59 when first interviewed in 1966.

The publicly accessible data can be downloaded using the NLS Investigator. Application is necessary to access the geocode and school surveys data.

The NLS data has been an important tool since the 1970s for economists, sociologists, and other researchers.

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