Life, Work History, and Volunteer Data


YDS collects monthly records of respondents' living arrangements, school attendance, and labor force participation since Wave 5 (1992) via life history calendars. Separate variables are available for the following categories (For a sample calendar used in the survey, click here.).

Living Arrangements:

  1. Living with spouse/partner
  2. Living with children
  3. Cohabiting
  4. Living with one or more roommates, or in an institutional setting
  5. Living alone
  6. Living with parent(s) or guardian(s)
  7. Other

School & Work:

  1. Attending school
  2. Not employed and looking for work
  3. Employed part-time (less than 35 hrs per week)
  4. Employed full-time (35 hrs per week or more)
  5. Military service
  6. Full-time homemaker
  7. Volunteer work


Respondents' work history (including job title, name of organization, work hours, pay rate, and start/end dates), occupational aspiration, and spouse's occupation (if applicable) are available for each wave. Occupation title(s) and organization(s) are converted to numeric codes using:


Waves13-current:

  1. U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration. 2003. The Occupational Information Network - O*NET online database.
  2. U.S. Bureau of the Census. 2000. Census 2000 Alphabetical Index of Industries and Occupations.

Waves10-12:

  1. U.S. Department of Labor. 1991. Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT). Fourth Edition, Revised 1991. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
  2. U.S. Bureau of the Census. 1992. 1990 Census of Population and Housing: Alphabetical Index of Industries and Occupations. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Waves 1-9:

  1. U.S. Department of Labor. 1977. Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT). Fourth Edition. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
  2. U.S. Bureau of the Census. 1982. 1980 Census of Population and Housing: Alphabetical Index of Industries and Occupations. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.


Information about respondents' volunteer jobs (including name of organization, duties, work hours, and start/end dates) is available for all waves except waves 9, 10, 11, and 17.