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INCOME AND EARNINGS
EARLY CHILDHOOD LONGITUDINAL STUDY—BIRTH COHORT
Measure: Income and earnings items from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study— Birth Cohort Non-Resident Father Self-Administered Questionnaire, Resident Father Self-Administered Questionnaire, and Parent Interview
Source
The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics in collaboration with several health, education and human services agencies, including the National Center for Health Statistics; the National Institutes of Health; the Administration for Children, Youth, and Families; the U.S. Department of Agriculture; the Office of Special Education Programs; the Maternal and Child Health Bureau; the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation; the Office of Indian Education; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and the Office of Minority Health.
Sponsoring Institutes from NIH include the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute on Nursing Research, the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, the National Center on Minority Health Disparities, and the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research.
The Non-Resident and Resident Father Self-Administered Surveys were developed by the funders specifically for the ECLS-B to collect information about the role of the father in the child’s development and the father’s view of himself as a parent.
The Parent Interview was developed by the funders specifically for the ECLS-B to collect information about a child’s development, family life, and childcare arrangements.
Population Assessed
The ECLS-B is a longitudinal study that follows a nationally representative sample of children from birth through first grade. The base-year data were collected when children were approximately 9 months old. The base-line sample consisted of 15,550 children. Exhibit 1 shows the break down of the sample by race/ethnicity.
| Race/Ethnicity | Number of Children | Percentage of Sample |
|---|---|---|
| White | 7728 | 49.7 |
| Black | 2923 | 18.8 |
| Hispanic | 2416 | 15.5 |
| Chinese | 705 | 4.5 |
| Pacific Islander/Other Asian | 1779 | 11.5 |
Additionally, the sample includes 2,118 (13.6 percent) twins, 2,543 (16.4 percent) children of very low birth weight, and 2,237 (14.4 percent) children with moderately low birth weights. The sample will also include an oversampling of American Indian births, with an initial sample size of 1,454.
Periodicity
The ECLS-B, begun in 2001, is scheduled to conclude in 2008. The first data collection occurred during the base year (2001–02) when children were 9 months of age. This includes an assessment of children, interviews with primary caregivers, a father self-administered questionnaire, and a videotaped observation of parent-child interaction. Future data collections are planned for when the children reach 24 months (first follow-up in 2003) and 48 months (second follow-up in 2005) and when they enter kindergarten (third follow-up in 2006–07) and first grade (fourth follow-up in 2007–08).
The non-resident and resident father questionnaires and the parent interview are scheduled to be fielded at all subsequent collections (i.e., 24 months, 48 months, the kindergarten year, and the first-grade year).
Components
The non-resident father questionnaire, resident father questionnaire, and parent interview each contain a series of questions about the income and earnings of the respondent’s household. The non-resident father questionnaire asks a series of about 12 questions related to income and earnings of the household. The questions address the non-resident fathers employment status, household income, and the amount he pays for child support. The total household income is referenced in the past year while the child support question is asked in reference to the monthly payment.
The resident father questionnaire also asks questions related to the father’s employment status and household income. It also addresses whether the father is eligible for a list of benefits at his job. The father’s income is addressed in the reference period most convenient to him.
The parent interview has a series of questions addressing the income and earnings of the household. In addition to total household income, the questions address the receipt of WIC, food stamps, Medicaid, TANF, and housing assistance. The questions also address other earning the family may have, such as stocks or employment benefits. The questions do not address reductions or monthly expenditures. The reference periods are over the past year.
Procedures for Administration
The non-resident father survey is completed by non-resident biological fathers of the children in the study. The survey is a paper and pencil self-administered questionnaire. Contact information for the non-resident father is obtained at the parent interview. The self-administered survey can be completed in approximately 10–15 minutes, but the time needed to complete the income and earning questions is not stated.
The resident father survey is completed by all resident fathers of the children in the study. The survey is a paper and pencil self-administered questionnaire. The self-administered survey can be completed in approximately 10–15 minutes, but the time needed to complete the income and earning questions is not stated.
The parent interview is completed by the child’s primary caregiver, which is in most cases the mother. The interview is given in a home visit using computer-assisted personal interviewing. Some paper and pencil questionnaires are used for collecting sensitive information. The parent interview should be completed in approximately 1 hour. Specific information about the income and earnings questions is not stated.
Psychometrics/Data Quality
Because the first data release is not until fall 2003, the psychometric information for the ECLS-B is unavailable at this time.
Languages Available
The interviews described in this options document are available in English.
Items Included
The interviews can be viewed at the ECLS Web site at http://nces.ed.gov/ecls/
ECLS-B Non-resident Father Questionnaire
Q21. How much per month are you supposed to pay for the child’s support?
Q22. How much did you pay for the child’s support last month?
Q29. During the past week, did you work at a job or business for pay?
Q30. Were you on leave or vacation from a job or business?
Q31. About how many total hours per week do you usually work for pay, counting all jobs?
Q32. If you do not currently have a job or business, have you been actively looking for work in the past 4 weeks?
Q33. What have you been doing in the past 4 weeks to find work?
Mark (X) all that apply
Checked with public employment agency
Checked with private employment agency
Checked with employer directly/sent resume
Checked with friends or relatives
Placed or answered ads/sent resume
Read want-ads
Something else? Please specify
___________________________________________________________
Q34. What were you doing most of last week? Would you say…
Mark (X) one
Keeping house or caring for children,
Going to school,
Retired,
Unable to work, or
Something else? Please specify
___________________________________________________________
Q35. Could you have taken a job last week if one had been offered?
The last questions are about your current living arrangements and household income.
Q37. How many other people lived with you last month?
Please do not count yourself.
|__|__| number of other people
Q38. In studies like this, households are sometimes grouped according to income. What was the
total income of all persons in your household over the past year, including salaries or other
earnings, interest, retirement, and so on for all household members? Was it . . .
Please mark (X) one
$5,000 or less,
$5,001 to $10,000,
$10,001 to $15,000,
$15,001 to $20,000,
$20,001 to $25,000,
$25,001 to $30,000,
$30,001 to $35,000,
$35,001 to $40,000,
$40,001 to $50,000,
$50,001 to $75,000,
$75,001 to $100,000,
$100,001 to $200,000, or
$200,001 or more?
Q39. What was your total household income last year, to the nearest thousand?
$ ______________________________ TOTAL HOUSEHOLD INCOME
ECLS-B Resident Father Self-Administered Survey
During the past week, did you work at a job or business for pay? Were you on leave or vacation from a job or business? How many jobs do you have now?
About how many total hours per week do you usually work for pay, counting all jobs?
Counting all jobs, about how much do you earn before taxes and other deductions? $ ____________________________________
Is this amount… Mark (X) one
Per hour
Per day
Per week
Per bi-weekly (every 2 weeks)
Per month
Per year
Other (please specify)
______________________________________________________
Q51. Are you eligible for the following benefits through any of your current jobs?
Medical or hospital insurance?
Sick leave with full pay?
Child care assistance?
Flexible hours or flex-time?
A dental plan?
Q52. Which of the following best describes the hours you usually work at your main job? Mark (X) one
A regular daytime shift - any time between 6 A.M. and 6 P.M.
A regular evening shift - any time between 2 P.M. and Midnight
A regular night shift - any time between 9 P.M. and 8 A.M.
A rotating shift – one that changes periodically from days to evenings or night
A split shift – one consisting of two distinct periods each day
Some other schedule (please specify)
______________________________________________________
NOTE: If you worked last week at a job or business for pay or if you were on leave or vacation from a job or business, please check here and skip to Q58.
Q54. If you do not currently have a job or business, have you been actively looking for work in the past 4 weeks?
Q55. What have you been doing in the past 4 weeks to find work? Mark (X) all that apply
Checked with public employment agency
Checked with private employment agency
Checked with employer directly/sent resume
Checked with friends or relatives
Placed or answered ads/sent resume
Read want-ads Something else (please specify)
______________________________________________________
Q56. What were you doing most of last week? Would you say…
Mark (X) one
Keeping house or caring for children
Going to school
Retired
Unable to work
Something else (please specify)
______________________________________________________
Q57. Could you have taken a job last week if one had been offered?
Q59. Are you currently participating in a job-training or on-the-job-training program?
Q60. About how many hours a week do you spend in that program?
PARENT INTERVIEW
Note: Because the parent interview is substantially longer than the self-administered questionnaires, only representative questions from the parent interview are included below. For the complete interview, please visit the ECLS Web site at http://nces.ed.gov/ecls/
During the past week, did you work at a job or business for pay?
Were you on leave or vacation from a job or business?
How many jobs do you have now?
About how many total hours per week do you usually work for pay [counting all jobs]?
[Counting all jobs, about/About] how much do you currently earn before taxes and other deductions?
Are you eligible for the following benefits through [any of] your current [job/jobs]? How about…
Medical or hospital insurance?
Sick leave with full pay?
Child care assistance?
Flexible hours or flex-time?
A dental plan?
References and Source Documents
The ECLS-B parent interview is available at the ECLS Web site http://nces.ed.gov/ecls/.
The User Guides and Codebooks will not be released until fall 2003.
Across Disciplines & Across Methods: A Picture of Young Children’s Development Presented at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Conference, New Orleans, LA, April 24–28, 2000
Several other papers are also available on the ECLS Web site: Measuring Father Involvement In Young Children’s Lives: Recommendations for a Fatherhood Module for the ECLS-B NCES Number: 200102 Release Date: April 17, 2001
A Birth Cohort Study: Conceptual and Design Considerations and Rationale NCES Number: 199901 Release Date: February 16, 1999
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