Old Age in the United States, 1880

This data collection describes the social conditions of the older population of the United States in the late nineteenth century. Variables include personal characteristics such as age, sex, marital status, race, birthplace, number of children, and occupation of sampled older persons. Detailed information, extracted from the 1880 United States Census manuscript census schedules, is provided on household composition and family structure. In addition, occupational and ethnic characteristics of family heads appearing on the same sampled census page as the older person (on census pages grouped by street location) are reported. The data collection consists of three independent samples: (1) a national sample, (2) a Southern urban sample, and (3) a Southern Black sample. Older Blacks are over-represented in the Southern urban and Southern Black samples in order to focus on their family experiences in the urban and rural South.