DOI: 10.3886/icpsr37406
title: New York City Longitudinal Survey of Well-Being (Poverty Tracker), 2012-2015
title: Archival Version

description: The New York City Longitudinal Survey of Wellbeing (NYC-LSW) also known as the Poverty Tracker (PT) is a study of disadvantage in New York City. Launched in 2012, the Poverty Tracker surveys a representative sample of New Yorkers every three months collecting data on the dynamics of poverty and other forms of disadvantage. The Poverty Tracker covers two distinct panels. The first panel collected from 2012-2015 following 2,286 New Yorkers and the second panel which follows 3,909 New Yorkers. Collection of the second panel of data began in 2015 after respondents took the Community Health Survey with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH).
In the first panel (n=2286) the majority of respondents were recruited by landline and mobile phone using RDD (n = 2002). Landline phone numbers from zip codes where more than 20% of residents live in poverty based on the 2000 US Census were oversampled. An additional sample (n = 226) was recruited from 14 social service agencies randomly selected from a list of all agencies funded by the Robin Hood Foundation. The agency sample allowed the oversampling of low-income persons who utilize social services. An additional sample (n=58) of respondents randomly selected from homes in zip codes affected by Hurricane Sandy were also recruited. Respondents who joined the panel study were surveyed at baseline in late 2012 and early 2013. Follow-up interviews were conducted in English and Spanish every 3 months over a 2-year period. Surveys were 10-20 minutes in length. Persons recruited from social service agencies who did not have a stable telephone number were offered cell phones and paid phone service in lieu of monetary compensation.
The second panel (n=3909), was collected in Spring 2015 after respondents participated in the Community Health Survey administered by the NYC DOHMH, which was also sampled using RDD (n=3403). Again, this sample contains an additional subsample (n=506) from 26 randomly selected Robin Hood-funded social service agencies designed to provide an oversample of New Yorkers engaged in social services. Follow-up interviews were conducted in English and Spanish every 3 months over a 4-year period. Surveys are 10-25 minutes in length. Persons recruited from social service agencies who did not have a stable telephone number were offered cell phones and paid phone service in lieu of monetary compensation.
This data constitutes the first panel in the survey series. Demographic variables include age, gender, race, household relationships, and income.
description: To provide a more accurate picture of poverty in New York City.
description: There are two types of weights for each wave: the person-level weights and the poverty unit weights. The person-level weight represents all NYC adults. The poverty unit weight represents all NYC poverty units. If you multiply the poverty unit weight by personx (number of people in the household), it will be representative of NYC including both adults and children.
description: Response Rates: 
Baseline Survey: 2,286 respondents participated
3-Month Follow-Up Survey: 1,488 or 65% participated
6-Month Follow-Up Survey: 1,422 or 62% participated
9-Month Follow-Up Survey: 1,406 or 62% participated
12-Month Follow-Up Survey: 1,370 or 60% participated
15-Month Follow-Up Survey: 1,340 or 59% participated
18-Month Follow-Up Survey: 1,303 or 57% participated
21-Month Follow-Up Survey: 1,299 or 57% participated
24-Month Follow-Up Survey: 1,291 or 56% participated
description: Presence of Common Scales: Likert scales
description: Baseline Survey: The SRBI phone sample consisted of 2,002 New York City residents contacted by random digit dialing (RDD). Of the 2,0002 respondents, 500 were contacted by cellphone and 1,502 by landline. To oversample from poor areas, half of the landline sample was taken from zip codes with high poverty level (&gt; 20% of residents living in poverty). The face-to-face sample included 226 individuals from 14 agencies. To make the samples more representative of the target population, the baseline weighting process adjusted for unequal probabilities of selection, under-coverage (mainly due to oversampling from poor areas), and nonresponse.
Subsequent Waves: For subsequent survey waves, panel attrition was adjusted for using the stratification of response propensity score method. Non-coverage was addressed by post-stratification. The data used for post-stratification comes from the 2011-2013 American Community Survey (ACS) NYC sample. The population distributions of the post-stratification variables were approximated using weighted ACS numbers. Household counts and poverty rates by zip code were also obtained from the 2000 Decennial Census, which were used to stratify the sample into groups based on the poverty rate in the respondent's zip code.
description: Datasets: 
DS1: New York City Longitudinal Survey of Well-Being (Poverty Tracker), 2012-2015
description: New York City adult population in 2012. Smallest Geographic Unit: Bourough
description: computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI); mail questionnaire; mixed mode; paper and pencil interview (PAPI); telephone interview; web-based surveyAdditional information on the New York City Longitudinal Survey of Well-Being (Poverty Tracker) can be found at the
 New York Poverty Tracker Web site.