National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97): Potential for Research on Marriage and Family

2006

The NLSY97 — Potential Opportunities for Marriage and Family Research project was designed to bring together experts with extensive experience with the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data and experts on marriage and the family to identify major research questions that could be addressed in four areas within the marriage and family arena: 1) pathways to cohabitation and marriage; 2) the relationship between family formation/marital status and employment; 3) marriage outcomes; and 4) child well-being in different family structures. The project addressed the data within the NLSY that could support such questions, the limitations of the NLSY data in these areas, and steps that would offer promise for addressing the limitations.

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While the scope of research on marriage and family formation has expanded greatly since the 1970s, the basic…