Panel Study of Income Dynamics

The Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), begun in 1968, is a longitudinal study of a representative sample of U.S. individuals (men, women, and children) and the family units in which they reside. It emphasizes the dynamic aspects of economic and demographic behavior, but its content is broad, including sociological and psychological measures. As a consequence of low attrition rates and the success in following young adults as they form their own families and recontact efforts (of those declining an interview in prior years), the sample size has grown from 4,800 families in 1968 to more than 7,000 families in 2001. At the conclusion of 2003 data collection, the PSID will have collected information about more than 65,000 individuals spanning as much as 36 years of their lives. The study is conducted at the Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan and has been made possible through the generous Sponsorship of government agencies, foundations, and other organizations over the years. Since 1982, the study has had an advisory Board of Overseers, appointed by the NSF to foster input from the national community of scholars, researchers, and policy makers. The study is currently directed by a team of Principal Investigators.

The link address is: http://psidonline.isr.umich.edu/