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Each issue of the newsletter will highlight how one of the nation’s statistical agencies and units is using the SAP as a tool for evidence building. This quarter explores the success stories at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The BLS is a principal statistical agency within the U.S. Department of Labor. It is the principal fact-finding agency in the broad field of labor economics and statistics. BLS provides data essential to workers, job seekers, consumers, employers, policymakers, researchers, and investors. BLS measures labor market activity, pay and benefits, workplace safety and other working conditions, productivity, price changes, and consumer spending to support public and private decision-making.
BLS data from more than a dozen surveys are available through the SAP. The BLS data requested most frequently through the SAP are from the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS). These surveys gather information on the labor market activities and significant life events of the same groups of people at multiple points in time.
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At each interview, the surveys ask people about their lives and what changes have occurred since their prior interview. With this information, BLS creates histories that inform critical policy and research questions about long-term outcomes. For example, how many jobs do people hold over their lifetimes? How do earnings grow at different stages of workers’ careers? How do events that happened when a person was in high school affect labor market success as an adult?
Restricted data are available from three NLS cohorts:
- The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) follows a sample of American youth born in 1957–64. They were 14–22 years old when first interviewed in 1979. Data are now available from Round 1 (1979–80) to Round 29 (2020–21).
- The NLSY79 Child and Young Adult cohort follows the biological children of the women in the NLSY79. Developmental assessments of children began in 1986, and separate young adult interviews started in 1994. Data are now available from 1986 to 2020.
- The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) follows a sample of American youth born in 1980–84. They were 12–17 years old when first interviewed in 1997. Data are now available from Round 1 (1997–98) to Round 19 (2019–20).
Before BLS allows results from the NLS to be released to the public, trained analysts apply tests to ensure the data cannot be used to reveal individuals’ identities.
There are six NLS restricted datasets available through the SAP.
Three datasets are available for access through the BLS Virtual Data Enclave.
- NLSY79 State, County, and Metropolitan Statistical Area Geocode
- NLSY79 Child and Young Adult State, County, and Metropolitan Statistical Area Geocode
- NLSY97 State, County, and Metropolitan Statistical Area Geocode
Three other datasets are available for use only at BLS’s Washington, D.C., office or at a Federal Statistical Research Data Center.
- NLSY79 Census Tract and Zip Code
- NLSY97 Census Tract and Zip Code
- NLSY97 School Surveys
A recent enhancement is the NLSY97 Coronavirus Supplement, administered in the spring of 2021. BLS released these data in December 2023, enabling data users to examine employment outcomes for this cohort before, during, and after the peak of the pandemic.
Recent research using NLS restricted data available through the SAP spans a wide range of topics in economics, sociology, and other social sciences. One recent study examined the association between multigenerational exposure to neighborhood disadvantage in childhood and income in adulthood. Another study examined the contributions of noncollege occupations to the gender gap in college enrollment. Other research examined health, air pollution, and location choice and school quality and labor market earnings.
BLS maintains an extensive, public National Longitudinal Surveys bibliography with citations and abstracts of journal articles, working papers, conference presentations, and dissertations.
The BLS website has more information about restricted-access datasets that are available for policy-makers, researchers, and other data users.
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