1 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

NLSY97 COVID-19 Supplement: 

Initial Findings and Future Use

Donna S. Rothstein, Alison Aughinbaugh, 

Keenan Dworak-Fisher

FCSM Conference

October 25, 2023
2 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

About NLSY97 Data

 Sample of 8,984 men and women who were 

born in the years 1980-84.

 Oversamples of Black and Hispanic individuals.

 First interviewed in 1997 when ages 12-17.

 Interviewed every year until 2011 and 

biennially since then.

 Round 21 is currently in the field, round 20 

data (collected in 2021-22) available in 

December.
3 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

NLSY97 COVID-19 Supplement

 12-minute survey, mostly over internet (some 

phone)

 Dates of data collection 

February to May 2021

Between rounds 19 (began fall 2019) and 20 

interviews (began fall 2021)

 Over 5,600 respondents participated

 Ages 36-41 at the time of the supplement
4 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Topic Areas in COVID-19 Supplement

 Employment-respondent and spouse/partner

Last week 

– Hours worked

– Hours worked from home 

 Employment variation over last 12 months

 Child schooling last week

Mode: in-person and remote

Whether difficult to work or do other tasks

 Health—self reported, CES-D scale
5 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

What We Learned about 

Employment during the 

Pandemic

https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-11/how-did-employment-change-during-the-covid-19-

pandemic.htm
6 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Percent working last week (week before interview)

Feb-May 2021

Percent: All Men Women

Total 77.1 81.1 72.9

Race and ethnicity

Non-black, non-Hispanic 79.1 83.4 74.7

Black, non-Hispanic 70.4 70.5 70.4

Hispanic 74.4 82.1 65.5

Education

Less than high school 50.1 56.7 43.2

GED 60.1 64.9 53.1

High school diploma 70.5 75.8 63.7

Some college 75.9 80.0 71.4

Bachelor’s degree and higher 88.8 93.9 84.5
7 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Percent of nonworkers whose main reason for not 

working due to the COVID-19 pandemic

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Non-black, non-Hispanic

Black, non-Hispanic

Hispanic or Latino

Less than a high school diploma

GED

High school graduates, no college

Some college or associate degree

Bachelor's degree and higher

Race/ethnicity Education
8 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Conditional on working last week: 

hours worked and work from home

Hours Work from home

Percent: Lt 35 35 + None Some All

Total 15.9 84.1 53.3 21.3 25.4

Race and ethnicity

Non-black, non-Hispanic 15.5 84.5 51.6 22.2 26.2

Black, non-Hispanic 17.0 83.0 62.0 15.9 22.1

Hispanic 17.0 83.0 54.4 21.5 24.2

Education

Less than high school 32.2 67.8 82.3 9.7 8.0

GED 24.9 75.1 79.0 12.7 8.3

High school diploma 16.1 83.9 76.2 13.2 10.6

Some college 17.1 82.9 61.9 18.4 19.6

Bachelor’s degree and higher 11.9 88.1 32.1 28.5 39.4
9 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

If any in-person work: percent whose work 

requires frequent close contact with customers or 

coworkers

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Males

Females

Less than a high school diploma

GED

High school graduates, no college

Some college or associate degree

Bachelor's degree and higher

Sex Education
10 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Percent working in the last 12 months

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Non-black non-Hispanic

Black non-Hispanic

Hispanic

Less than a high school diploma

GED

High school graduates, no college

Some college or associate degree

Bachelor's degree and higher

Race/ethnicity Education

Women Men
11 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

If worked in last 12 months: employment 

changes due to the pandemic

 Stopped working for employer

 Started working at new employer

 Hours decreased

 Hours increased

 Earnings decreased

 Earnings increased
12 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Men: Percent who experienced employment 

changes in last 12 months

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Stop working for employer Hours decreased Earnings decreased

Less than a high school diploma GED

High school graduates, no college Some college or associate degree

Bachelor's degree and higher
13 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Women: Percent who experienced employment 

changes in last 12 months

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Stop working for employer Hours decreased Earnings decreased

Less than a high school diploma GED

High school graduates, no college Some college or associate degree

Bachelor's degree and higher
14 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

COVID-19 Supplement 

Findings for Subsample with 

Children in School

https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2023/article/employment-telework-and-child-remote-schooling-fromfebruary-to-may-2021-evidence-from-the-national-longitudinal-survey-of-youth-1997.htm
15 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Rates of Work and Telework

 80% worked in the 

week prior to the 

supplement 

interview. 

 Among those 

working: 46% had 

any telework and 

23% had full 

telework.
16 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Likelihood of Full Telework Last Week:

Sample with Children in School

 Linear probability model with state fixed effects

 Probability of Full Telework, among those working.

Increased probability if female, highest quartile 

AFQT score, bachelor’s degree+, job conducive to 

telework at r19 interview, health condition that 

limits kind/amount of work at r19 interview.

Decreased probability if positive change in 

county-level workplace activity based on cellphone data and location at r19 interview.
17 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Likelihood of having a child in household who attended only in 

person, only remote or hybrid schooling last week

0 10 20 30 40 50

Only in person

Only remote

Hybrid

Only in person

Only remote

Hybrid

NLSY97 Household Pulse

Women Men
18 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Likelihood of having a child in household who attended only in 

person, only remote or hybrid schooling last week

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Only in person

Only remote

Hybrid

Only in person

Only remote

Hybrid

NLSY97 Household Pulse

Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic Non-black, non-Hispanic
19 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Probability Children Attend In-Person School Only in 

the Week Before the COVID-19 Supplement Interview

 Linear probability model with state fixed effects

 Probability in-person school only (vs remote only, 

hybrid)

Increased probability if h.s. diploma, some college 

or, bachelor’s degree+, only children under age 6 

in household, positive change in county-level 

workplace activity based on cell-phone data and 

location at r19 interview.

Decreased probability if female (adult), black, 

Hispanic, urban location at r19 interview.
20 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Likelihood of full telework in the prior week, by 

schooling type and sex

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Hybrid

Only remote

Only in person

Women Men
21 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Additional COVID-19 

Questions in Round 20 

Collected in 2021-22
22 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Round 20 Questions about COVID-19

Employment:

For each job 

• If experienced volatility due to pandemic

• Main reason left job, follow up asks if due to the 

pandemic

Job search, gaps, why not 

looking for work:

Main reason not looking for work, 

follow up asks if due to the 

pandemic

Income: COVID-19 stimulus payments in 2020

Health: tested positive for COVID-19, whether received 

the vaccine.
23 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Future Research
24 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Future Research: Round 20 Data

Expected release December 2023.

Covers period before and during the 

height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Labor market history from the 2019 

interview (and earlier) through 2021 

interview.

Additional questions about 

experiences during COVID-19 

pandemic.
25 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Methodological Research

 Examine how reports 

of employment and 

hours in the NLSY97 

COVID-19 

supplement compare 

with work event 

history reported in 

Round 20.
26 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Additional Research Topics

 Job changes and job loss during the pandemiccontrolling for prior labor market historiescould compare the NLSY79 and NLSY97.

 Telework, occupation, job flexibility, and the 

pandemic.

 Health impacts of the pandemic.

 Program participation, income, financial 

stability, and inequality-impacts of the 

pandemic.
27 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Research with the NLS

 The structure of the NLSY surveys

Event histories of employment

Wide breadth of topics

Repeated measures

 Enables the study of outside events (Great 

Recession, COVID-19 pandemic) across many 

domains.
28 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Example of Use of Work History Data Before 

and During Pandemic: NLSY79

0

0.01

0.02

0.03

0.04

0.05

0.06

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Percent

Year

Percent of men unemployed January 2015 to September 

2020

Born 1957 to 1960 Born 1961 to 1964
Contact Information

29 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Donna S. Rothstein

Research Economist

ERPDS/NLS

www.bls.gov/nls

202-691-7529

rothstein.donna@bls.gov
30 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

References

1. Alison Aughinbaugh and Donna S. Rothstein, “How did employment 

change during the COVID-19 pandemic? Evidence from a new BLS survey 

supplement,” Beyond the Numbers: Employment & Unemployment, vol. 

11, no. 1 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 

2022). https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-11/how-did-employmentchange-during-the-covid-19-pandemic.htm

2. Alison Aughinbaugh, Jeffrey A. Groen, Mark A. Loewenstein, Donna S. 

Rothstein, and Hugette Sun, “Employment, Telework, and Child Remote 

Schooling from February to May 2021: Evidence from the National 

Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997,” Monthly Labor Review (U.S. Bureau of 

Labor Statistics, March 2023). 

https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2023/article/employment-telework-andchild-remote-schooling-from-february-to-may-2021-evidence-from-thenational-longitudinal-survey-of-youth-1997.htm