Introduction to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics PSID source material An Overview of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics http psidonline isr umich edu Guide Overview html Overview o The PSID is a longitudinal survey of U S families and their members that has been ongoing since 1968 o The panel primarily collects economic and demographic information though it also collects sociological and psychological measures and other measures through occasional supplements o Over time the sample size has grown from 4 800 families to more than 7 000 families in 2001 o The PSID is conducted by the Survey Research Center in the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan The Sample o The original sample in 1968 consisted of two sub samples a cross sectional national sample of about 3 000 families and a national sample of low income families of about 2 000 families o From 1968 1996 the PSID interviewed and reinterviewed individuals from families in the core sample every year including people who split off from their original families to form new families and people born into these families other members of new families are interviewed while they are in these families but not followed if the family dissolves 1 o Changes in 1997 survey switched to biennial interviewing the core sample was reduced and a refresher sample of immigrant families was introduced Data Collection o Interviews face to face interviews using paper and pencil questionnaires from 1968 1972 mostly phone interviews from 1973 1993 and computer assisted phone interviews since then o Core content central focus is economic and demographic with detailed data on income sources and amounts employment family composition changes and residential location sociological and psychological content included in some waves information applies to the family a whole head of household spouse of the head of household and other individuals less information measures and methods are largely comparable over time though there have been some changes core topics income sources and amounts including poverty status and public assistance other financial matters e g taxes inter household transfers 2 expenditures family structure and demographic measures including marital events births and adoptions and children forming households nest leaving labor outcomes and housework housing e g own rent house value rent payment size geographic mobility socio economic background e g education ethnicity religion military service parents education occupation poverty status general health status disability and emotional distress Supplements to the PSID and Supplemental Files o In addition to the core content the PSID has collected additional information on either a one shot or irregular basis o Major supplemental topics housing and neighborhood characteristics 1968 1972 1977 1987 achievement motivation 1972 child care 1977 child support and child development 1997 2002 job training and job acquisition 1978 retirement plans 1981 1983 health health status health expenditures health care of the elderly and parent s health 1986 1990 1991 19931995 1999 2003 kinship financial situation of parents time and money help to and from parents 1980 1988 3 wealth assets savings pension plans fringe benefits 1984 1989 1994 1999 2003 education grade failure private public school extracurricular activities school detention special education Head Start Programs criminal offense 1995 military combat experience 1994 risk tolerance 1996 immigration history 1997 time use 1997 2002 philanthropic Giving 2001 2003 File Structure of the PSID Data o Before 1990 PSID main files for each interviewing wave consisted of a Cross Year Family Individual Response File a Cross Year Family Individual Nonresponse File and a Cross Year Family File o From 1990 data on there was a new structure with separate single year files with family level data collected in each wave i e 26 family files for data collected from 1968 through 1993 contains one record per family interviewed in wave identified and sorted by Family ID one cross year individual file with individual level data collected from 1968 to the most recent wave contains one record for each person ever in a PSID family through the current year identified by 1968 Family ID and Person Number contains Family ID for each year o Special supplemental files created for convenience of 4 researchers or because the information doesn t fit well with the core files some of these are restricted use Active Saving File 1984 1989 and 1989 1994 intended to measure flows of money into and out of different assets Estimating Risk Tolerance 1996 asked employed respondents about willingness to take jobs with different income prospects and other events 1994 2001 Family Income Plus Files 1993 Health Care Burden File contains the detailed data on health events of the elderly and their burden on immediate and extended families 1993 OFUM Income Detail File contains information on other family unit members OFUMs 1994 2001 Hours of Work and Wage Files Wealth File permits researchers to ask questions about household saving over five year periods 1984 1989 1989 1994 and 1994 2001 1988 Time and Money Transfers File several health supplements covering 1990 1995 1990 Self Administered Health Supplement contains data on health status health care coverage and longterm care coverage of heads and wives 50 and over 1990 Telephone Health Supplement contains detailed data on health care costs and utilization for heads and wives aged 65 and over as well as data on health services provided or available to the elderly Parent Health Supplement has data about the health status health care utilization experiences health needs and resources of the parents and parents in law of the head of the family 5 Demographic History Files including 1985 2001 Childbirth and Adoption History File 1985 2001 Marriage History File 1985 Ego Alter File provides retrospective eventhistory data on substitute parenting events and usage of public assistance programs 2001 Parent Identifier File 1968 1985 Relationship File clarifies the crude relationships from the main PSID file in early years and relates all pairs of individuals including co residence status associated with a given family Work History Files contain detailed information about employment and unemployment and the timing of those events 1968 1980 Retrospective Occupation Industry Files contain three digit 1970 Census occupation and industry codes for