Description

CLASSWLY specifies whether a person who worked during the previous calendar year was self-employed, an employee in private industry or the public sector, in the armed forces, or worked without pay in a family business or farm. Respondents were classified by the job that they held for the longest time during the previous year. More specific information about an individual's job during this period is given in OCCLY, OCC50LY, INDLY, and IND50LY.

CLASSWKR relates to the respondent's job during the previous week, rather than the previous year. CLASSWKR also reports the most recent job for respondents who were not employed in the week prior to the survey.

Comparability

Along with universe shifts, the degree of detail included in CLASSWLY changes over time. Information is consistently available on five main classifications: self-employed, wage or salary worker in private industry, government employee, member of the armed forces, and unpaid worker in a family business. Beginning in 1988, the self-employed category distinguishes between those in incorporated and non-incorporated businesses, and the government category specifies whether the employer was the federal, state, or local government.

Universe

Flags

Unharmonized Variables

• UH_CLSLYR_A1
• UH_CLSLYR_A2
• UH_CLSLYR_A3
• UH_CLSLYR_A4