# Question about zero reported salary in the National Survey of College Graduates

**URL:** <https://forum.ipums.org/t/question-about-zero-reported-salary-in-the-national-survey-of-college-graduates/2811>\
**Category:** HIGHER ED\
**Created:** [February 14, 2019, 12:46pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/question-about-zero-reported-salary-in-the-national-survey-of-college-graduates/2811 "2019-02-14T12:46:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![NickM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58f4c7/32.png) [@NickM](https://forum.ipums.org/u/NickM)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 12:46pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/question-about-zero-reported-salary-in-the-national-survey-of-college-graduates/2811/1 "2019-02-14T12:46:00Z")

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Hello,

I am working with the 2013 National Survey of College Graduates, and have noticed that there are several individuals who report working full time for pay, but also report an annualized salary of 0. Can anybody shed some light on this? Thank you.

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**Author:** ![JeffBloem](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.ipums.org/jeffbloem/32/40_2.png) [@JeffBloem](https://forum.ipums.org/u/JeffBloem)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 9:47pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/question-about-zero-reported-salary-in-the-national-survey-of-college-graduates/2811/2 "2019-02-14T21:47:00Z")

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This observation seems to be driven by the reference in each of the questions for [SALARY](https://highered.ipums.org/highered-action/variables/SALARY#questionnaire_text_section) and [WRKG](https://highered.ipums.org/highered-action/variables/WRKG#questionnaire_text_section). The SALARY question asks: “What was your basic annual salary on your principal job, before deductions? Do not include bonuses, overtime, or additional compensation for summertime teaching or research.” The WRKG question asks: “Were you working for pay or profit during the week of February 1, 2013? Working includes being a student on paid work-study, self-employed, or on any type of paid or unpaid leave, including vacation.” So, the WRKG question aims to capture a broader concept of working for pay, while the SALARY question aims to capture pay for an individual’s principal job.