Reliability of retrospective unemployment history data -ESRC Research Paper on Micro-social Change Working Paper-

Publication type

Research Paper

Series Number

97-17

Series

Working Papers of the ESRC Research Centre on Micro-Social Change

Authors

Publication date

August 1, 1997

Abstract:

This paper examines the reliability of data on individuals' past experiences of unemployment spells which has been gained by asking individuals to recall these spells and the dates of their occurrence. It compares two sources of retrospective data; the British Household Panel Study (BHPS) Wave 2 1992, and the 1994 Family and Working Lives Survey. Unemployment histories from retrospective data are found to be reasonably reliable across these surveys. Men's records were found to be more reliable than women's unemployment records. This may be partly due to unemployment being a more problematic concept for women.

Subjects

Notes

working paper

#495973

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• Reliability of retrospective unemployment history data

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