NLS Listening Sessions Handout - Child & Family

Thank you again for your willingness to contribute to our listening session in an effort to plan for a
potential NLSY26 cohort. We have provided a few topics and background information to help get your
thoughts flowing on this topic before your session.
Example questions to help you brainstorm before attending the listening session
• What new concepts should be added to the new NLSY26 cohort so that researchers can study the
effects of childhood and family experiences on later outcomes? Why?
• Which measures are essential to capture in the early rounds of the NLSY26 to enable life-course
research about the effects of childhood and family experiences on later outcomes?
• At what frequency do you recommend child and family data be collected in the NLSY26? For
comparison, the NLSY79 and NLSY97 collected annually (up until about age 30) and then
biennially.
• What datasets do you currently use for your child and family related research and why?
Past content and feedback for a new youth cohort
1. What has been collected by the NLSY79 and NLSY97 in the past on child and family?
• The NLSY97 contained a parent questionnaire in round one that gathered extensive
background information about parents, the child’s schooling, child health, expectations for
child’s future (youth also received these questions), parental employment, and the family’s
financial situation, among other topics.
• The NLSY79 Child and Young Adult surveys contain extensive information about the
biological children of women in the NLSY79-including various child assessments.
Topics covered
 Parents, Family Process, and Childhood: both the NLSY97 and NLSY79 contain information
about the respondent’s family of origin. The NLSY97 information is more in depth because it
is obtained from a parent in the first round rather than a youth report.
 Fertility and Children: topics include pregnancy, age at birth, fertility expectations, as well as
a fertility and relationship history.
 Respondent background: topics include religion, home life, and residence history.
 Childcare: data on types and locations of respondent’s child-care arrangements-more
extensive questions on childcare are in the NLSY97.
2. General themes from outreach that BLS conducted with federal agencies and departments.
o Disability and accommodations in K-12 schooling
o Public assistance/eligibility and application
o Housing insecurity
o Parental opioid use
o Virtual/remote learning-experiences during covid era
o Pre-school exposure
o Expectations for child
o Gender role attitudes
o Child early life health experiences