+ Panel Study on Income Dynamics

The data available here is best described by their own documentation. To quote: "The Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) is a longitudinal survey of a representative sample of U.S. individuals (men, women, and children) and the families in which they reside. It has been ongoing since 1968. Data are collected annually, and the data files contain the full span of information collected over the course of the study. PSID data can be used for cross-sectional, longitudinal and intergenerational analyses, and for studying both individuals and families. The study emphasizes the dynamic aspects of economic and demographic behavior, but it contains a wide range of measures, including sociological and psychological ones. Between 1968 and 1988, the PSID collected information regarding approximately 37,500 individuals and spanning as much as 21 years of their lives."

"The general design and core content of the study have remained largely unchanged, and considerable effort has been expended cleaning the data. These two features greatly enhance the PSID's potential for longitudinal analysis. Preparation and distribution of comprehensive documentation and a User Guide also facilitate use of the PSID data."

"The study has been conducted at the Survey Research Center, University of Michigan since its beginning in 1968, with the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) data archive handling the public distribution of the data files, documentation, and User Guide. PSID data files have been disseminated widely throughout the United States and to numerous foreign countries."

The site has very extensive documentation, extensive introductory material, a newsletter, and lists of the very large number of working papers and publications that use the data (some of this material is in RTF (Rich Text Format), which can be read by Microsoft Word or WordPerfect).

The entry "PSID Dataset Information" contains the main PSID files. There are individual "family files" from 1968 to 1991, as well as a "24 year individual file." When uncompressed, they become ASCII files, and SAS and SPSS programs are available that will bring the data into those packages. Additional datasets include (i) Marriage and Birth History Supplements, (ii) Parent Health Supplement, (iii) Telephone Health Questionaire Supplement, and (iv) Self Administered Questionaire Supplement.

• http://www.umich.edu/ psid