Description

For the period prior to 1976, ACTNLFLY reports respondents' main activity when they were not working during the previous calendar year. For 1976 on, ACTNLFLY reports respondents' main activity when they were not in the labor force (neither working nor looking for work nor on layoff from a job) during the previous calendar year. Only persons who were working part of the year (from 1-49 weeks) were asked this question about what they were doing during most of the remaining weeks.

Comparability

For ACTNLFLY, there is a significant discontinuity between the universe and the responses for the years prior to 1976 and for the period from 1976 on. In the pre-1976 period, part-year workers who spent all of the rest of the year looking for work or on temporary layoff were included in the universe. Thus, one of the valid responses for this period is "looking for work." By contrast, for 1976 on, interviewers summed the time spent working and the time spent looking for work, and they questioned only persons for whom this total added up to less than 52 weeks. Because time spent looking for work or on temporary layoff was thus accounted for, "looking for work" was not a valid response during the later period.

For the period prior to 1976, weeks of unemployment during the preceding calendar year is reported only in intervals (1-4 weeks, 5-10 weeks, 11-14 weeks, 15-26 weeks, 27-39 weeks, 40+ weeks) in the WKSUNEM2 variable. Similarly, prior to 1976, weeks spent working during the preceding calendar year is reported only in intervals (1-13 weeks, 14-26 weeks, 27-39 weeks, 40-47 weeks, 48-49 weeks, 50-52 weeks) in the WKSWORK2 variable. It is therefore impossible to create a universe comparable to that prevailing for 1976 on for ACTNLFLY by summing weeks worked and weeks unemployed during the previous calendar year for respondents during the pre-1976 period.

The ACTNLFLY variable is thus comparable for 1962-1975 and for 1976 onward, but it is not comparable across these two periods.

Universe

Flags

Unharmonized Variables

• UH_PYRSN_A1
• UH_PYRSN_A2
• UH_PYRSN_A3
• UH_RPRTYR_A1