Australian Youth Survey, 1992: Wave 4

This is the fourth wave of a survey program based on a cohort of young people aged 16-19 in 1992, and known as the Australian Youth Survey (AYS). The first, second and third waves of the AYS constitute SSDA study numbers 561, 609 and 642 respectively. It is part of a program of Longitudinal studies known as the Australian Longitudinal Survey (ALS), which is a continuing collection of data from a separate sample of persons aged 16-25 in 1985, and 16-19 in 1990. This 1992 wave of the AYS consisted of 7633 interviews with people aged 16 to 19, split in to two files: a new cohort of 1198 16 year olds; and a group of 6435 respondents aged 17 years and over, who were previously interviewed in an earlier wave of the series. A multi-stage household based sample designed to represent all Australians in the age cohort, except those residing in sparsely settled areas, was employed. The survey aims mainly at providing data on the dynamics of the youth labour market, and in particular to address questions which are not readily covered with available sources of cross sectional data. Labour market variables include job history, job search behaviour, job training and transition from school/study to work. Background variables and topics related to the main labour market theme include education, occupation, health and attitudes to women working. Basic demographic variables include age, sex, size of household, country of birth, racial origin, parental education and occupation, religion, income, and whether resident in an urban or rural area. These data are similar to those collected in the ALS, but concentrate on a younger group to provide current data on issues such as school retention and school to work transition.