National Longitudinal Survey Of Children And Youth Vol 2, number 2

National Longitudinal Survey Of Children And Youth

October 1996
Vol.2, No.2

Welcome To Our Third Newsletter

This is a very exciting time for the NLSCY, and to keep you abreast of what is going on, here is our third issue of DEVELOPMENTS.

Book Published!

A book of research articles using the Cycle 1 data will be released on November 19. Entitled "Growing Up in Canada", this publication includes highlights of the survey data and several articles written by experts, each well-known in their respective fields. The articles encompass topics from single-motherhood to aggression, mathematics achievement to temperament. For information on how to order the book, see the final page of this newsletter.

Data Release From Cycle 1!

Our Cycle 1 data release is upon us! Because there is so much data, the release has been split into two parts. As you may know, the October 17, 1996 issue of the Statistics Canada Daily included an announcement of the release of the first part of the NLSCY data. The remainder of the Cycle 1 data will be released in 1997. Please see Table 1 for a timetable of the release of specific variables. Information on how to obtain the data set is provided at the end of this newsletter.

Related Releases

The Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD) is getting ready to release their report "The Progress of Canada's Children" in mid-November. The 64-page report will highlight significant factors affecting the well-being of children, youth and families. The CCSD's report draws on several data bases, including the NLSCY. The December 1996 issue of Canadian Living magazine includes an article on the CCSD report and some references to the NLSCY data. For more information about the CCSD report, please contact Ellen Adelberg at the CCSD - 613-236-8977, ext. 226.

Getting Ready For Cycle 2

We have finalized the content for Cycle 2 and will begin revisiting our Cycle 1 families in November. This collection will be completed in the Spring of 1997. As well, a new sample of babies, aged newborn to twenty-three months, has been added in Cycle 2 to allow cross-sectional analysis for this age group.

TABLE 1

First Wave Release	Second Wave Release
Child Information	Child Information
- perinatal - temperament - education - behaviour - motor and social development - relationships - parenting - child care - socio-demographics - vocabulary test results for 4 - 5 year olds	- health - literacy - activities - family and custody history
Information collected from 10-11 year old children	Information collected from 10-11 year old children
- friends and family - feelings and behaviour - parents	- school - self-esteem - puberty - smoking - drinking and drugs - activities
Parent Information	Parent Information
- depression - family functioning - social support - socio-demographics - education - labour force activity - income	- health
School	School
- math test results	- results from teacher and principal questionnaires
Household demographics	Household demographics
- relationship - age - sex	- marital status
	Dwelling and neighbourhood data

Planning For Cycle 3

We will soon be starting the content development for Cycle 3. Along with on-going improvements to the survey, we anticipate developing further self-complete questionnaires for older youth.

Research

Without meaningful research, the data collected in this survey would go unused, and our goal of bringing children's issues to the forefront would not be met. Therefore, we are currently developing a research program directed at key issues in child development.

"Developments" is produced by Income Security and Social Development Studies in Applied Research Branch, Human Resources Development Canada. For additional copies, an alternate format, or further information regarding the survey, please contact NLSCY project co-ordinator Susan McKellar.Tel: 819-953-4230 Fax: 819-994-2480 susan.mckellar@hrdc-drhc.gc.ca

How To Get Information

There are many ways to access the results from Cycle 1. For information about the survey, please contact Susan McKellar at the address above or Gilles Montigny at Statistics Canada at the address below:

Gilles Montigny
NLSCY Project Manager
Special Surveys Division, Statistics Canada
5th Floor, Section B-6, Jean Talon Building
Tunney's Pasture,
Ottawa, ON K1A 0T6
Tel: 613-951-9731
Fax: 613-951-0562
montgil@statcan.ca

For information on ordering the public microdata file ($2000- includes the whole file as released in 1997) or to request special tabulations of the data, contact Mike Sivyer. A handbook describing the data will accompany the data file.

Mike Sivyer
Special Surveys Division
Statistics Canada
Tel: 1-800-461-9050
ivyer@statcan.ca

Copies of the book, Growing Up in Canada (or the French version, "Grandir au Canada"), may be purchased for $25 from local authorized agents and other community bookstores, the Statistics Canada Regional Reference Centres or from:

Statistics Canada
Operations and Integration Division
Circulation Management
120 Parkdale Ave.
Ottawa, ON K1A 0T6
Tel: 613-951-7277
Fax: 613-951-1584
order@statcan.ca

Data Liberation Initiative

Under the Data Liberation Initiative, participating Canadian universities and colleges pay a flat annual fee for a package of Statistics Canada's survey files. The NLSCY file will be part of this package. This information is available to all staff, faculty and students at subscribing institutions. The list of contacts at the 49 post-secondary institutions which are currently involved is provided on the Statistics Canada Internet site: Statistics Canada - Internet Services - Data Liberation Initiative - Universities.
Contact:

John Berigan
Data Liberation Initiative
Statistics Canada
Tel: 613-951-1236
Fax:613-951-5904
berigan@statcan.ca

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