PSID Studies

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The PSID began in 1968 with a nationally representative sample of over 18,000 individuals living in 5,000 families in the United States. Information on these individuals and their descendants has been obtained through various data collection efforts, which we call supplements.

Main Interview
One person per family is interviewed on a regular basis. Between 1968 and 1997, interviews were conducted annually. Since then, interviews have been biennial. Information about each family member is collected, but much greater detail is obtained about the head (‘Reference Person’ as of 2017) and, if married/cohabitating, spouse or long-term cohabitor. Survey content changes to reflect evolving scientific and policy priorities, although many content areas are consistently measured since 1968. Information includes employment, income, wealth, expenditures, health, education, marriage, childbearing, philanthropy, and numerous other topics. Please view this introduction to the PSID.

Child Development Supplement
The Child Development Supplement (CDS) is a research component of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), the world’s longest running nationally representative panel survey, with almost 50 years of data on the same families and their descendants. The CDS provides researchers with extensive data on children and their extended families with which to study the dynamic process of early human and social capital formation. The original CDS included up to two children per household who were 0 to 12 years old in 1997, and followed those children over three waves, ending in 2007-08. Beginning with CDS-2014, the new steady state design of CDS includes all eligible children in PSID households born since 1997. CDS-2019 and the CDS-2020 follow-up have been released and the early release of CDS-2021 is now available. Also available with an early release are CDS-2014 Polygenic Scores.

Transition into Adulthood Supplement
The Transition into Adulthood Supplement (TAS) began in 2005 to follow children from the original CDS cohort into young adulthood, collecting six waves of data through 2015. The study was relaunched in 2017 and now follows all PSID sample children who are entering early adulthood, and who comprise the future focal sample members of Core PSID. TAS-2019 has been released and the early release of TAS-2021 is available. Information is collected on many domains including psychological functioning, family formation, fertility-related behavior, cohabitation, childhood adversity, computer skills, responsibilities, employment and income, education and career goals, and health.

Disability and Use of Time Supplement
DUST collected information in 2009 and 2013 to investigate the connections between disability, time use, and well-being for older adults. Heads (‘Reference Persons’ as of 2017) and spouses in these couples were each interviewed twice about two randomly selected days-one week day and one weekend day. Information was obtained using time diaries about what respondents did, where they were, who did the activities with them, who else was there, how they felt, and for household and care-related activities, for whom the activity was carried out. Information was also collected about the respondent’s health, functioning, well-being, and stylized time use and participation measures.