The Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) is a
longitudinal panel survey of
American families, conducted by the Survey Research Center at the
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
.
The PSID measures economic, social, and health factors over the life course of families over multiple generations. Data have been collected from the same families and their descendants since 1968. It has been claimed that it is the world’s longest running household panel survey, and more than 7,600 peer-reviewed publications have been based on PSID data.
As of 2025, Thomas Crossley of the
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
's
Institute for Social Research is the director of PSID.
Background
The PSID gathers data about the circumstances of the family as a whole and about each individual in the family. The greatest level of detail is gathered for the primary adult(s) heading the family. The PSID has achieved high and consistent response rates, and because of low attrition and the success in following young adults as they form their own families, the sample size has grown from 4,800 families in 1968, to 7,000 families in 2001, to 7,400 by 2005, and to more than 9,000 as of 2013. By 2003, the PSID had collected information on more than 65,000 individuals. As of 2013, the PSID had information on over 75,000 individuals, spanning as many as four decades of their lives.
Framework
The structure of the PSID started with two distinct samples. A nationally representative sample designed by the Survey Research Center became known as the SRC sample. A second sample of individuals was drawn from lower income levels, and this became known as the Survey of Economic Opportunity (SEO) sample. This second sample, though not nationally representative, allowed for more studies to investigate poverty in the United States. After this initial 1968 interview, families were interviewed each year until 1997. After 1997, the survey has been biennial, with data being collected every two years. Over time, as individuals leave their household, they are followed as they form their new residence. As time passed, the representativeness of the original sample became more and more out of line with the overall US demographic. To ameliorate the potential bias, two additional samples were added to the PSID. A third sample consisting of Latinos was added. In 1997, a new fourth Immigrant sample was added, and the other three reorganized. All three continued to be collected, but with a reduced number of households. The two "core" samples (SRC and SEO) were reduced to include 6,168 families, and the Latino sample was reduced to 2000 families. To these, a new set of 441 families from the Immigrant sample created a study group capable of tracking the current demographics in the US.
Until 1972, interviews were done in person using paper. Since 1973 interviews are by phone. Starting in 1993, interviews were conducted using Computer Assisted Telephone (CAT) technology.
Child Development Supplement
The Child Development Supplement (CDS) is a research component of the PSID. The CDS provides researchers with extensive data on children and their extended families with which to study the dynamic process of early human and social capital formation. The first CDS study included up to two children per household who were 0 to 12 years old in 1997, and followed those children over three waves, ending in 2007-08. The CDS 2014 includes all eligible children in PSID households born since 1997.
Transition into Adulthood Supplement
When children in the CDS cohort reach 18 years of age, information is obtained about their circumstances through a telephone interview completed shortly after the Main Interview. This study, called Transition into Adulthood Supplement, has been implemented in 2005, and biennially thereafter. Information includes measures of time use, psychological functioning, marriage, family, responsibilities, employment and income, education and career goals, health, social environment, religiosity, and outlook on life.
File structure of the PSID
The PSID's information is held in many files. The main head and wife responses are held in a series of "Family Files" that are uniquely identified by a Family ID number. A smaller subset of information pertaining to individuals (whether they are a head, wife, or other family unit members) is contained in the cross-year individual file, and each record is uniquely identified by a 1968 Family ID and Person Number pair. Many additional supplemental files are available with supplemental information that may have been collected for only one or a few years.
Topical information
The PSID collects data on a wide array of social, demographic, health, economic, geospatial and psychological data. As of 2009, the 75 minute interview collected data on:
* employment
* earnings
* income from all sources
* expenditures covering 100% of total household spending
* transfers
* housing
* education
* geospatial data
* health status
* health behaviors
* health insurance
* early childhood and adult health conditions and their timing
* emotional well-being
*
life satisfaction
Life satisfaction is an evaluation of a person's quality of life. It is assessed in terms of mood, relationship satisfaction, achieved goals, self-concepts, and the self-perceived ability to cope with life. Life satisfaction involves a favorabl ...
* mortality and cause of death
* marriage and fertility
* participation in government programs
* financial distress including problems paying debt such as
mortgages
A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdictions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any pur ...
and
foreclosure
Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has Default (finance), stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the Collateral (finance), coll ...
* vehicle ownership
* wealth
*
pension
A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...
s
*
philanthropy
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
Many of these areas have been included in the instrument since 1968. Hundreds of additional variables that fall into other domains have been collected in various waves throughout the history of the PSID. No identifying information is distributed to data users and the identity of all respondents is held in confidence.
Approximately 7,600 peer-reviewed publications are based on PSID data published in the fields of
economics
Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
,
sociology
Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
,
demography
Demography () is the statistical study of human populations: their size, composition (e.g., ethnic group, age), and how they change through the interplay of fertility (births), mortality (deaths), and migration.
Demographic analysis examine ...
,
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
, child development,
public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...
,
medicine
Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...
,
education
Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...
, communications, and others. The PSID was named one of the
National Science Foundation
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...
's "Sensational Sixty" NSF-funded inventions, innovations and discoveries that have become commonplace in American lives.
[National Science Foundation]
Sensational Sixty
2010
Researchers and funding
The main source of support for the study comes from the
National Science Foundation
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...
, the
National Institute on Aging and the
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. There are other important sponsors of the study as well including the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation of the
United States Department of Health and Human Services
The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the US federal government created to protect the health of the US people and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...
, the Economic Research Service of the
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and producti ...
, the
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the secretary of housing and u ...
and the Center on Philanthropy at
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...
.
See also
*
List of household surveys in the United States
The PSID has sister surveys conducted in other countries, including:
* ''German''
Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), housed at the
German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) Berlin
*
British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) conducted by investigators at the
University of Essex
The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. The university comprises three camp ...
and now merging with the
UK households: a longitudinal study
*
Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey (HILDA)
* ''Italian''
Survey on Household Income and Wealth (SHIW)
References
{{Reflist
External links
Panel Study of Income DynamicsCross National Equivalent File (CNEF)(URL accessed 2016-01-28)
Economic data
University of Michigan
Panel data
1968 establishments in Michigan
Household surveys